Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[NAV]

You could focus on a different protagonist character for each mission, whoever had the most relevance there but hasn't been focused on yet.

[Ozarck]

w

whaaaaa

interest happen

I feel like if you're going to have any one character as the person we follow for most of the novel then Milno's probably the best option for that, he was pretty much the longest-serving PC, one of the only ones (or maybe the only one) to ever get to 10 missions completed, and had more of a character arc than most, one that ended up involving the Armory Master at that. Plus his dry snark and practicality make for a good fit with the wacky yet bleak tone of the ER-verse.

Though perhaps a good way to structure it would be having each mission follow one or more viewpoints depending on how many teams the participants were split up into, but focusing on the most influential character for each mission - ie perhaps Faith for the first mission since she did that bodysurfing thing, someone else for the next one, etc etc.

Milno was suggested as the main protag by someone else also (not by Caellath). I'm sure he'll figure prominently, especially early on, but he'll likely fade a bit into the background toward the end. I believe Caellath specifically held back with him toward the end so other people could have the limelight.

Also, currently I have the body surfing bit edited out, but Tiruin commented on that in Discord, with a touch of disappointment, so I might edit it back in. I'm trying not to be so wacky as to lose readers who are unaware of the story, butI should probably focus more on you guys' story than worrying about what some mythical reader might want.

You could focus on a different protagonist character for each mission, whoever had the most relevance there but hasn't been focused on yet.

This is a good idea, and one that I've toyed with a bit. I'll probably do a variation of this. Otherwise it will be a collection of short stories rather than a novel. Making it a collection of stories might not be the worst idea though.

Edit: Also, this first chapter has been rather experimental and I realize that I failed to do some planning before writing - I need to start doing outlines for hte chapters before I start, and I need to have some notes on the characters' persopnalities set up so I can keep each person consistent, and so that more of the player character's personality comes through rather than just my own.

[Xantalos]

...there's a discord?

Probably the wrong thing to catch in that reply.

As far as editing the overly-wacky actions and whatnot, I'd say that going that route with a lot of the on-ship stuff could safely be done, and random RP actions that never actually got run by piecewise, but actual processed actions in the game itself should probably be let in, at least so long as they weren't completely mission-irrelevant.

[Ozarck]

Yeah, I should probably leave more in, and see how the overall feel of the story goes.

There's a discord, but it's not primarily for discussing the novel. it's PW's discord channel, for ... well, for us degenerates to hang out and be degenerate.
I don't currently have permissions to link an invite, but I can probably get one pretty quick.

[Xantalos]

Yeah, I should probably leave more in, and see how the overall feel of the story goes.

There's a discord, but it's not primarily for discussing the novel. it's PW's discord channel, for ... well, for us degenerates to hang out and be degenerate.
I don't currently have permissions to link an invite, but I can probably get one pretty quick.

Well, it depends I think. Like on mission ... 12 or something, when we had to defend Hephaestus against the forces of the UWM and everyone got split up into 4 or 5-person squads but there were still well over 30 people participating at once (and probably multiple people doing secret actions - I know at the very least that I made my secret backup clone during the mission that I later used during the epilogue to become the enigmatic plague on sapient society that I eventually became), so some of the more extraneous stuff during missions like those could likely be cut or just happen offscreen, in order to form a more cohesive portrayal of events.

Ah, I see. That'd be up to the people in the discord itself, I think - I was fairly active in ER, but I haven't really substantially played in any other PW games save for Infinite Heavens post-epilogue. If they wanna let me in on that merit, then that'd be good, but if not, no biggie either. Mayhaps float the question to them, if that's alright? Can't promise that I'd be active in the actual chat ... at all, but eh. Mayhaps.

[Ozarck]

Discord link

https://discord.gg/YfEmeQ

I added it to the OP as well

There's no reason you should be excluded from the discord, Xan. They keep me around, and I'm objectively terrible.

As for extraneous stuff, yeah,, some things will undoubtedly be cut out for the sake of coherence and not getting bogged down in too much detail. Prominent PCs will likely get a little extra attention, especially as they affect the end game, so your secret clones will almost certainly be written in. I don't have access to game secrets - neither GM's secrets nor player secrets, so whatever of that people want in the book will need to be unveiled for me.

[syvarris]

Huh.  This isn't dead.  Truth be told, I had been completely certain you were drunk or something when you made this thread, and that it'd quietly die pretty much as soon as you sobered up.  Guess not.  Uh.  Good luck, I guess, I certainly wouldn't have the will to complete a project like this.

One thing, I highly recommend that you pursue an episodic nature, following the missions.  Most missions had very clear plotlines, and obviously they had nice neat starts and finales.  It also just gives a very nice structure to the story; main arcs (missions), which would be more serious and focused, with short fluffier segments between to develop the characters (on ship bits).  It would have a pleasing tempo to it, if done well.

I also feel that you should really try to include most stuff that isn't just completely worthless, even if it's tonally inappropriate or jarring.  When you're done with the drafting in, uh, three years, the project will likely have evolved in a different direction.  Maybe it'll be more comedic, more tragic, certain characters will feel more or less important, or something else entirely--regardless, you'll have a better idea of what should be cut after you've reached that point.  You'll likely also have quite a bit of feedback from readers on what early parts they liked, and which they didn't, which will be invaluable.


...I can't resist asking.  What, if anything, will you do with Tinker?  I'd presume it'll fade into the background and become just a minor side-element that's mentioned offhandedly, but I'm curious all the same.

[Ozarck]

I had been batting around the idea of making ER into a novel for a while before i started this thread. I hesitated for a few reasons, including the same concern over having the resolve to finish it, eventually. It's a big task and I'm already much slower to write than I'd hoped to be by this point. But I'm dragging along nonetheless.
 
I might very well switch to an episodic structure for the framework of the story. it's almost going to do that naturally on it's own anyway - most of the action will be concentrated within the missions, which mostly happened one at a time anyway, up until close to the end.

After having written as 'much' as I have, I agree that including material, even if it's somewhat out of place, is better. As you say, easier to edit out alter than to add in.

I hadn't really thought about tinker as a separate entity to be attended, really. I figured I'd just include it as it affected the characters involved - like, if someone improved or designed a weapon or item, it would get a mention. And Hephaestus would be a thing, I'm sure. Worldbuilding-wise, it seems significant. So, yeah, there would be an R&D department once that came into play.

As for armor thickness testing and long chains of debates and discussions ... well, if it amused some of hte players, I could add a lot of that as an appendix or something.

One other major thing I am considering is opening up the writing effort so that others can contribute more than simple edits. I started with just myself as able to add content for a few reasons, but I've always been open to the idea of content coming from others, at least to an extent. after all, it WAS a group game, and I was not a major player except in one aborted mission.

Thank you for your encouragement and interest. I do plan on adding some content over the next couple nights. Hopefully I'll be finished with the very rough draft of Chapter 1 by Wednesday or so. Maybe get started on chapter two this weekend.

[Eschar]

PTW. I want to read this.

[Ozarck]

good to know! I'll try to start working on chapter two soon. It's gonna be slow going unless i quit my job or something, though.

[Tylui]

Poooooke.

EDIT: An extra 'o' for each 2-months that passed since last update. I really hope you find the passion for this project again <3

[Eschar]

What or who is "Tinker"?

[Radio Controlled]

We do not use that word around here anymore, this is a safe space.

[Eschar]

Okay. Why? And why will it be only a fragment of the book?

Tinker tinker little star...

[NAV]

Do you want to read a novel, or some sort of deranged disjointed technical manual full of bad ideas, most of which never come close to leaving the drawing board?