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Theme of the thread is nature, because it really enhances a story to be able to convey a vivid picture of the landscape around the characters (in my opinion, at least).

So just post nature pictures that you think will inspire people.

>>93150823
Thats exactly what I DONT want to have happen. My whole point was that a lot of my characters are already at such a power-level that mere "basic horror" isnt capable of really affecting them anymore

>>93155552
>>93148366
So introduce new characters who are less experienced.

>>93156956
>who's the random character Ive never met before, why is the author trying to make me care about them and their plight, why would I be worried for their fate when I know full well that if any of the [main characters] show up they can handle this

Once your setting as a whole passes a threshhold you cant really unpass it anon. Its like trying to make a gritty war scene in your typical dbz episode. You can show soldiers and a normandy-esque landing and shit, but everyone's just waiting for goku to show up.

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I want to have a scene of a group of characters simply hanging out at a big once a few months festival. The world they inhabit is a shitty post-apoc nightmare where death prowls at every corner, so this festival is an opportunity for safety and general entertainment. What are some fun activities I could show off a few of? Show the characters interacting a bit in moments that arent just high-octane stress or life/death peril.

The setting is modern, so you can include general carnival games and coasters and such. No bumpercars though cause I already had a scene like that a while ago.

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So I wanted to write my setting's backstory like those old game manuals, particularly Diablo and Starcraft.

Are there any other games with cool backstories in the manual like those? I'm kind of a zoomer so I never got many of those growing up.

>>93141137
>>93141729

>>93144709
i am somewhat happy with most of the answers i have (and so was the DM from what i saw), but i am really struggling with the questions
>which secrets does she have?
and
>How would the Story of this character end? How would she die?
And i feel like the answers to "What is the basic Motivation of the Character?" is still a bit weak and basic. Especially in regard to that this character is supposed to be a bit more alien. I was thinking for the secret maybe something like "Ate a human before she really knew what humans were" to showcase the somewhat animalistic origins, but i have the feeling that might be a bit too edgy?

>>93160056
You've already established enough of a personality to fill the blanks accordingly, unless you want something very different from the rest here.

She wants to be accepted by humans and socialize with them, you can go along with this.

>Which secrets does she have?
Something that would result in her being shunned and cast out by humans if discovered - or maybe it wouldn't, but she's convinced that it would. Maybe it's a part of her nature that she has to conceal from humans. Maybe she did something that was unacceptable among her people, but not necessarily among humans, though she's not aware of that.

>How would the story of this character end? How would she die?

What happens to your character isn't completely their choice, I guess the question would be "Where do they WISH to end up" or where would *you* want her to be.

Do you see a good end for her? A bad end? A bittersweet one?

In a good one, she might find a place to be among humans and peacefully live out the rest of her life among them. If you're a sucker for romance and it makes sense within the setting, she might marry a human man and give him a dozen of halfbreeds or something. In a bad end, she is cast out, pursued or even killed by the very humans she trusted. In a bittersweet one, she might be shunned and cast out by everyone, except for a single human who likes/loves her and decides to stay by her side.

>>93159672
What's so appealing exactly about retro game manuals that you want to base a setting on them, and how vidya backstories are a better source than books? You sound like you mean they're good because they're old.

>>93163582
>What's so appealing exactly about retro game manuals
No I just like the way they concisely explain the backstory. I already have the basic ideas of my backstory written up.

I think I already have a good idea of how to write the backstory after taking a look at Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders manual, but any more is appreciated

>>93164294
The way you mentioned generations and how you "missed" those when growing up suggested you're trying to ride some nostalgia wave/"golden age" here and emulate it within your writing. I'd be reluctant to recommend such stuff if someone asked me, but if you say that it has already worked for you, then whatever.

Help yourself: http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php

>>93159340
Anyone got any good suggestions?

>>93164558
Depends on whether you want a generic answer and generic activities which might as well take place in an amusement park, or whether you want those to have some meaning in relation to what those people are going through. If it's the former, you'll probably come up with something soon enough.

In the latter case, more context is needed. What are the dangers of this world, and why is it so grim? Who are the characters? Where does the festival take place? Is there any occasion or holiday connected to it? Does it have any theme? Is the celebration calm or loud and energetic? Are the people trying to gather their strength, or just forget about everything for a moment? Maybe if you consider all those things, you'll come up with an answer yourself.

>>93164491
I admit I do have some nostalgia for the manuals of older games, especially because those manuals don't really exist for modern day games anymore.

But I mainly just wanted a concise and interesting draw for a backstory. Since manuals have to keep the player interested in the game, I thought those would be a good reference.

What I have so far:

>On the quest for more entertainment and amusement, the Celestials wandered the cosmos slaughtering and brutalizing all they could find. The Celestial's mystical powers left them without a need to toil or labour for sustenance, and they found inflicting death and pain an effective way to relieve their boredom.

>>93164742
Actually I do want more of the first case. I've already had a lot of the character based drama and interactions written out in this particular scene. I just want to show off the characters having fun for a bit doing some sort of interesting activities, eating something tasty for once, getting smashed, that kind of thing. Im just looking for some ideas worth exploring.

>>93165056
Then I'm running dry, sorry. Maybe someone else will suggest something, but it should be a lot easier for you in this case anyway, and you have an abundance of real life examples to take inspiration from.

>>93165118
Well maybe Ill write out the context to the questions you asked previously, maybe it can lead to some interesting ideas. Gimme a minute if you wanna stick around.

>>93165118
>What are the dangers of this world, and why is it so grim?
Demons, horrific monsters, eldritch abominations, to name a few, but the two biggest ones are:
A. The fact that "Death" Doesnt work. Several years back in the story, due to the actions of the main characters, the Avatar of death on the world got sealed up, kinda fucking up the natural order of the world. Which leads into the eventual creation of the festival in question.
B. The sun also doesnt really work. Over time, night expanded beyond just 12 or so hours, and currently 6 out of 7 days of the week are spent in near total night-time. Most characters so far presume this is because of the same apocalyptic events they caused that lead to death not working, but it is in fact the direct work of a Demonlord they accidentally unleashed (So, kinda similar but important distinction)

>Who are the characters?
Ill skip this for next post since its quite a few and idk how long this'll go.

>Where does the festival take place?
The festival takes place in a holy city, one of the several remaining safe places in the world. This city is placed in a valley that flooded over time, so imagine it a bit like Venice with canals and connecting piers and such.

Cont.

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>>93165118
>>93165389
>Is there any occasion or holiday connected to it?
Quite a few celebrations actually. This is the Festival of True Death. See, without death, when someone bites the dust, their souls remain trapped in the agony of their mortal bodies. Slowly, these souls and bodies crystalize and decay into horrific wraiths, a gnarly fate to be sure. Luckily, there do exist a few methods of granting True Death to these tormented souls, and these are the powers of some of the main characters (who are known "guardians/hunters" of the city).
The second aspect they're celebrating is the fact that its a new day of sunlight, yay.
The third, and this is a "new" one, is the fact that a few days prior to the festival, one of the aforementioned demonlords attacked the city. (They didn't actually, they just attack the main characters at a small outpost close to the city but still a demon so close to their holy land is a terrifying thought) During this attack one of the Main characters basically beat them back singlehandedly, saving the city. So this particular festival is also thrown in her honor.

>Does it have any theme?
Aside from the main sacrament, there's no strict theme, but there's a lot of dias de los muertos type atmosphere. Makeup, candles, bright lights, cheery vibes.

>Is the celebration calm or loud and energetic?
Loud and energetic for sure, especially after the entrance one of the characters pulls.

>Are the people trying to gather their strength, or just forget about everything for a moment?
The main group is definitely trying to recollect themselves and lick their wounds after the thrashing they got a few days prior, but for most everyone its a sort of "hey lets just enjoy the day, remember when every day was like this?"

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>>93165118
>>93165389
>>93165422
I just noticed I ommited an important reason for celebration earlier. During opening of the festival, theres a ceremony where the people that have "died" recently in the city are granted True Death by the main character and her powers. This is important for later.

>Who are the characters?
So there's a lot of people in this scene, but ill focus on the important ones. We've got the main group of four close friends, and two sort of mentor/caretakers.
>Mentor 1 -
This guy's the guy in charge of the Demon Hunters of the city, and the main group of 4 by extension. He's the top dog, mentor and superior to the others. He's generally your typical wise, intelligent mentor with a bit of sass, but right now he's quite pissed because of a stunt one of the MCs just pulled. He also has a demonlord's soul trapped within his right arm and lately the thing's been desperately trying to rip its way out, so that's a bit of extra stress.

>Mentor 2 -
This Lady's the spiritual mentor of the group, and more like the mayor of the city. She keeps things running so that they dont run out of food and water (as little as there is around given yknow) keeping the perimiter safe, preparing missions, general post-apocalypse business. She just showed up to stop Mentor 1 from chewing out his underling too hard and now she's just hanging around at the festival.

Main Group
These are who I wanna show off doing stuff at the festival, so they're the important focus.
>Cool Dude -
Hes the cool guy. Party animal, and defacto leader of the bunch since despite his apparent idiocy, hes actually the one most capable of keeping his cool and planning things out. Hes also the only fully human character of the bunch, lacking any inherent supernatural abilities, ignoring his mechanical holy revolver gun-hand prosthetic.

cont

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>>93165574
>Cool Demon Girl
Despite the name and appearance, she is very much not an actual demon. She just looks very, very scary like one. Villain turned protagonist over time, she eventually fell for Cool Dude and the two are now a pretty fun couple. She's very much like him, extroverted, energetic, but a bit more restrained, and a lot more of a powerhouse than he is. She is also capable of granting True Death with her abilities.

>Not-so-Edgy Goth Girl
Unlike Demon girl who looks demonic but isnt, Goth girl looks human (ignoring a special seal/eyepatch she wears) but is arguably the most demonic person of the bunch, thanks to her parents being a fullblooded demon and a half-demon. Despite that, she's actually the most chill of the bunch by far, basically a complete sweetheart thats only ever scary in a life or death fight. She's got a crush on Mentor 1 (which is reciprocated, though neither is aware) and is very much the glue holding the group together. Which is necessary considering the problem child. She's also mute, so she speaks in sign language.

>Very Edgy Goth Angel
The problem child in question. Aside from earlier cool guy, this is the Main Character in question whose POV we follow during the chapters. She's the main event of the festival, having the ability to grant true death, and also saving the city just a few days prior. Despite all that, she's a complete fucking disaster of a person.

Last Cont.

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>>93165679
In the events leading up to the current state of the world, She fell in love with Cool Dude's brother-from-another-mother and fellow protagonist, Coolest Dude. Lets just say Coolest Dude hasnt been around for a while now, and she's still not over him. On top of that, add in the fact that her battle against the demonlord took a HEAVY mental toll on her - she spent so many years training and becoming powerful, and despite all that she still almost died the first time she faced a real challenge again. Unlike the citizens, she didnt see that battle as a win, but as more proof as to why she sucks ass and is weak. Too weak to protect the city, her friends, herself or anything she cares about. This self-destructive mindset is also amplified by the fact that she's part angel. Her emotions are naturally a lot more "intense" than a regular human's. That's why in recent years she chugs vodka like its water, to keep herself numb and "empty". This is exactly why Mentor 1 was so pissed at her, because she was late to the Festival and basically showed up like a drunk F16 when she felt like it to grant True Death to the unfortunate people that died.

Well that was fun. If anyone's got some fun festival activities that you think seem like they could be interesting to explore with this cast, let me know. Like I said, I've already written out all the drama and such, I'm just looking for some ideas to show them hanging out and doing things that dont involve just moving the plot forward.

>>93163582
>Something that would result in her being shunned and cast out by humans if discovered - or maybe it wouldn't, but she's convinced that it would. Maybe it's a part of her nature that she has to conceal from humans. Maybe she did something that was unacceptable among her people, but not necessarily among humans, though she's not aware of that.
that sounds fun, but im sort of drawing a blank here :(

>>93170035
>>93163582
also after further consulting he understandably wants to have more concrete Character motivations for the long term, which is something i struggle with a lot.

>>93170035
You already had a good idea - her struggling with her carnal origins. You already have a long-term motivation here ("Get over my animalistic nature, become more humanlike, get accepted by humans and live along them"). You just have to come up with how her primal nature manifests and show how it is problematic when trying to live in a human society.

>>93172178
You alone decide whether the idea you had with her eating a human before is "edgy" or not, but I think it's as good as any, and really fits with the whole thing of her struggling with her origins. This could work well, you could have her feel more guilty and terrified with what she's done as she gets more attached to them humans. Maybe she even really enjoyed taste of human flesh back then, more than any other prey, and when she thinks about it now, she's terrified and thinks herself a monster?

>>93165389
>>93165422
>>93165574
>>93165679
>>93165734
Are you the anon who was afraid the scene he wrote a while ago ended up weirdly sexual? If so, hello again. The thing you do still sounds interesting, and I'm surprised how many similarities are there between it and the one I'm working on right now myself.

As for the carnival activities, I'm drawing blanks too, but there's one thing you can try to lighten the mood. You said the angel girl shows up to the carnival dead drunk, you can have it end up with comic shenanigans if you want to, depending on whether you've already established what she's like when drunk. Maybe she's running around doing embarrassing or troublesome things, and the rest of the group is chasing her Benny Hill style, which at the end of the day ends up with laughs being had?

>>93172508
I do think that was me, though I dont remember exactly what scene that was.

As for the suggestions, unfortunately the Angel is one of those sad mean depresso drunks. Luckily I have a few of the comic moments and such planned out by the other members of the party.

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>>93172508
hmm so i guess this what i came up with for a more detailed backstory, so far i have:

A couple of years ago there was a magic whale that died and his carcass fell to the bottom of the sea. A bunch of Squid/Octopi ate the whalefall which resulted in the formation of the Character. She stayed a while near the whalefall to try to comprehend her Exsistence but she inherited some memories of the whale that come to her as dreams and she seeks to go out in the world to understand them. After a while of Searching the Ocean she came across a small commune of other "Schrats" where she was seeking guidance from an old crablike Schrat. With his guidance she followed a sort of magic ley-line of magic(Water Magic specifically) that followed the place of her birth through the commune down a river leading into a big lake (like Lake Victoria size) where she lost track of the Leyline and is now searching for new clues to further search for the origins of the foreign dreams, which lead to her coming into contact with one of the seafaring members of the sorta "guild" that we will be part off. Altoguh i am unsure if this is sufficient.
(Pic related is a piece of "Concept-art" in the collage the DM uses for the Titlecard of the Campaign)

I also decided to pitch the Human Eating thing because it sounds quite interesting/fun to the DM but he hasn't answerd yet.

>>93172926
>>93172508
oh i forgot to mention that i hope to tie in the Magic Whale thing into the main storyline so my longtíme motiavtion is sort of finding my origin / the fate of that whale.
oh and actual quote from my DM:
>In no case should the main motivation of the character be "The DM will serve up something nice for me"

>>93172926
>>93172959
You want my honest opinion? I think you're good to go. You've established enough of a backstory fr the character, and you'll figure out the rest naturally as the story unfolds. Your DM might think otherwise, but it's their opinion.

>>93172898
I was talking about this post (gosh, it's been a while): https://desuarchive.org/tg/thread/92296438/#q92313787

Well, then maybe the comic relief would not be in how she behaves herself, but the situations/misunderstandings she ends up causing and especially how the other characters react to it. This is my best and only guess anyway. As I said, I think there's enough of IRL material to take inspiration from if you're looking for some examples for general carnival activities.

>>93173988
wow holy shit that chapter was 86 and this festival one im talking about is 87

Im so fucking slow its fucking JUNE

>>93159340
Having something like a play could be a good chance to do worldbuilding. What's important is that the in-universe fiction reflects something of the world that produced it.

Here's a good example- the Fallout Franchise has several different fictional franchises within that universe which reflect the 1950's culture that inspired it. You can listen to in-universe radio-plays or play in-universe video-games that help tell you about the culture of that world. For instance they have a version of Donkey Kong where Donkey Kong is replaced by 'the Red Menace' showing you how Red Scare ideology so thoroughly permeated the culture. But it also shows that the pre-war culture is one where people would sit back and play video-games, you know?

What you want to avoid is a story that wouldn't tell you anything unique. Like say a romeo/juliet story that doesn't innovate on the concept. Like if you had a romeo/juliet story about two major factions in your story it can be used to characterize how those factions are viewed in universe. OR: You could have the in-universe fiction just be backdrop to something else in a seen like characters talking over it. Maybe their opinions on the play can be used to help characterize your characters- maybe the play has major themes that the characters discuss (like say what is the value of life in a very hostile world) and that informs us what values your characters have.

>>93173988
yeah my DM also seems quite statisfied with that. Already looking forward to playing the character!

Some Multi-Omniverse or something thing I'm thinking about :

Captain Farndril sighed. This would help restructure this Omniverse his Second-In-Command had said. This would turn up legal profits with the G-Men-Syndicate his Lieutanant had said.
The S`pht-Compiler turns his facialless Helmet towards his pale subordinate. He left the whole "mystical race with great knowledge"-act behind himself. Well since the 3rd Omniverse War (definitely around the 400th-Transcendence-War he was sure), but others like his Lieutanant still hung to some mannerisms.
For example, not telling their superior what their actually getting dragged into in this Multiversal cleanup.
"Tell me what I´m looking at" he said to the tall humanoid.
"It looks like a small hive cluster of the Flood. Some Necromorph-Elements could be in there too. Size is about half a planet" the Lieutenant reports.
"You know, you could have told me that you took a job involving cleanup of a Sector with weaponised Galaxies-Debris" he dryly responses.
"As far as I noticed not many other Crews would take the Job. Many of those who would, would also likely have sold any weaponry they found from the Second Omniversal War on the black-market" the Lieutenant answers.
"Altruistic. But please tell me next time what you are up to when you sign deals on my behalf" Farndil defeatly replies.
"Will do Captain" said the Lieutenant emotionless.
"Now", Captain Farndril asks, "have the Scout Ships detected anything else?"
"Scans are not completed. The Green Pioneer Commander says the hive could have some metal from an M.P.T., but what metal exactly, he could not ascertain" said the Lieutenant.
"Great. Multiverse Defense Trooper-parts. What we are flying is a modified World Devastator with an equally modified Ring-Cannon. Not enough firepower or strong enough shields for my liking, discounting the Greenships, if the hive also gets in close." Farndil pauses for a moment then he continues.

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How do you write
>humans enslave dwarves and orcs
and
>elves want to save the enslaved dwarves and orcs
without sounding preachy? My idea is to make elves save humanity by proxy because slavery is evil and causes a race to fall.
For context: the humans only managed to conquer the dwarven and orcish homelands after their catastrophic defeat at the hands of the elves a few years prior.

>>93181985
*shrug*

I think the important part is to have politics in the setting derive from the setting rather than outside of it. As Tolkien said 'allegory is for pussies'. It's okay to have parallels with the real world, but those parallels should exist because of the history of the setting, rather than just because.

Anyway- a lot of inspiration could of course be taken from the civil war. Slavery allowed for a monopolization of political and economic power by the slave-holding class of the South. This of course manifested as the Democratic Party essentially acting as a bloc for slave-holders, who'd routinely bully the Federal government for pro-slavery legislation (one of the most infamous being the Fugitive Slave Act that had bounty hunters going into the north and abducting random freemen to sell on the auction block in the south- this also massively antagonized Haiti and Jamaica as southern states would enslave black sailors stopping in their ports).

It even led to the crowding out of other slave industries, as Cotton started pushing out dye-production, or tobacco (Virginia was a notable holdout on tobacco cultivation). This sort of crowding out is why most white northerners opposed slavery rather than out of a sense of equality or civil-rights. Slave-holders would buy up all the land preventing the livelihoods of small farmers who wanted to grow corn or pumpkins. This also is why southern cities to this day aren't as large as northern cities (with notable exceptions like Richmond, Atlanta, or New Orleans) as small-scale stores in urban communities were also crowded out by the power of slave-holders or those of adjacent industries. Which in turn is what caused the economic depression after the Civil War- once the pillar of slave-labor had been removed, there weren't other industries for most of the rest of the South to rely on (again there were exceptions such as New Orleans being a major port). (cont.)

>>93182572
One of the big casualties of the slave-holder class was of course industrialization (the only major example being Richmond, hence it was the capital of the CSA). Naturally I don't need to explain why doubling down on an agrarian economic model during the Industrial Revolution was a bad idea.

However after the war, there was still a huge anti-industrialization sentiment. For reasons that can only be really be boiled down to spite, attempts during reconstruction by the North to diversify and industrialize the economy were fought back heavily against by white southerners, with northerners coming down to do so being characterized as 'carpetbaggers' (by the way white southerners who supported the north or voted republican were deemed 'scallawags' these terms being used to entirely dismiss any value of their opinions on how much less racist their society should be). Hence the South never really recovered economically from the Civil War up until the World Wars where the Federal Government in DC started investing federal and military industries in the South, particularly Virginia (mostly in WW2 and then some more in the Cold War).

Anyway to resummarize, you shouldn't just straight up copy all that, but I hope you can find some possible parallels and come up with some similar themes that could inform the history of your setting.

Ice Ice Baby

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Working on my magic men:
Thus far I have "not!warp" dimension from where wizards and sorcerers (and warlocks) draw their magic from.
Through training/drugs/bloodline they are gifted with increasing capacity of drawing the power from the dimension into their own bodies.
Problem is that I used initially dnd based magic system with no basis
Essentially:
The mage draws magic into the well and by casting they consume a part of the well's reserves that have to be renewed with dangerous rituals that can be a weakness to the caster. The more powerful the mage, the longer is the ritual/ recovery time. Of course mages can and will circumvent this, by overdrawing on the power but they have to constantly expunge the excess energy, lest they start to mutate.

Yet if magic is thrown around too much, the energy coalesces and creates portals for allowing things to come through that want to shut down the source and return to their realm that was interrupted by thi.

I figured that instead of tier spells of Vancian magic, I can retool it that spell level is arbitrary as given by authority in magic.
cantrips- uses so little power that don't drain the reserves at all
Level 10- spell drains 1/10th of the well of a mage with average reserves
Level 1- consumes all of the well, needs drawing immediately
Level 0- needs constant stream of drawing upon magic to enact the spell

Mutations include- discoloration of skin and hair, unnatural eye colors, hands and feet becoming slightly clawed, various mental side effects.
This of course leads to some friction with the Temple of Creators, who condemn the mages as apostates and the true magic comes from the Aspects (gods), yet they are savy enough not to demand their extermination, but make them work for the Temple. Given that most of continent's history has been dominated by mages and warriors,the Temple cannot antagonize them too much without looking like petty pricks, but they can heal with magic, whereas mages cannot.

Cont.

>>93187921
The organization of Wizards

Organizations
-> Official- (registered with a kingdom, need to fight in wars, benefits etc, has to swear a Geass)
-> Hedge Mages- (Ancap, wont register, almost always forced to register if caught)
-> Forbidden- (Necromancers, Diabolists, Droughters- death penalty)

Mutations wizards, classiffied
->Purists- Mutated wizards are scrubs
->Misshapen- Fuck Purists man, they are mean to me for being a shitter
->Sculptors- mages who mutate and enhance themselves for fun and profit

Specializations:
Tharean Classification:
->Scribes- enchanters and fortifiers
->Shapers- Transmuters and Alchemists
->Oracles- mages trained only in scrying and truthtelling
Can't be quantified sufficiently
->Universalists- all spells all magic
->Spellsavants- specializes in a type of spells excluding the first three
->Spellknight- knight that knows magic of some sort, most often can't compare with direct wizards

Hierarchy: Different countries have different ranks, but they often follow the ranking system of: Archmage, Mage Lord, Mage, Apprentice, Pupil

Big Orgs:

Mages of Tharea- Magic organization beholden to the Crown
Magi Berissi- Theocratical wizard-kings of Beris
Astillan Brotherhood- Loose confederation of Astillan most powerful wizards that protect their interests and each other
Supplicants of Scales- Dragon worshipping sorcerer cult
Evergreen Sages- Elven Druids
Magi Necroi- Necromancers
the Conclave- Surviving Moonlight Sages and their descendants

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>worldbuilding a land with only animal magic because I feel like it’s underused and elemental magic is a dime a dozen nowadays
>pause that project to write a short story about a Necromancer for some writing practice
>Necromancer story keeps getting longer
>realize out of the blue that the setting of the story perfectly fits an unexplored area of the map of my beast magic world
>an idea forms in my head of how I can connect the plot of this short story and tie it very nicely into starting a massive conflict and get the ball rolling on the conflict of the main story I’m worldbuilding
I really wanted to do beast magic style avatar the last Airbender but fuark, I think I’m gonna need to compromise and add necromancy and possibly even magic p*rtals

Can someone help me design a quick song, one for parties like the one Merry and Pippin sing about the green dragon at rohan?
My brain is only coming up with almost 1 to 1 ripoffs of that same thing

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I have a hard time coming up with drug dealer characters without resorting to Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul. Any suggestion?

>>93196363
Trainspotting? Requiem for a dream?

>>93198335
I'm not sure this is helping, but thanks

>>93182572
>>93182630
Thank you for your input. My first idea was making humans Ayleid-like while the (stereo)typical "orcishness" and "dwarvishness" are signs of trauma.

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>>93154742
How do you make sure that you are writing characters with mental conditions like DID well/accurately?

>Major story arc is spent trying to find the true name of a demon so it can be defeated
>At the last minute the MC figures it out: The demon hid its name in the slave it always keeps at hand (when the demon acquired the slave's soul it ate his name and hid its own in its place)
How big of a twist is this? This demon is introduced early on and I want it to be as much of a surprise as possible.

>>93204113
>when the demon acquired the slave's soul it ate his name and hid its own in its place
Can you explain this in more detail?

>>93204633
When the demon obtained the man's soul it ate most of his memories, including his name, then the demon put its own name in its place. So the slave only remembers that he's bound to serve the demon for all eternity, and believes that that is truly his own name, since he doesn't remember having his original name eaten.

How often do you guys redescribe your character's outfits? Do you just skip the bother until they dress differently? Or do so every couple of apperances just to remind the audience?

>>93205262
A lot of the time I don't even think to describe what they're wearing at all. If it's relevant - if they sweep back their trenchcoat to draw their sword, or reach into the pocket of their waistcoat, or pull down their cap to hide their face - I mention it, but I don't really bother about outfits in detail. That's just me, though I can see it might matter more to some people.

>>93208526
I personally love describing characters outfits and have to stop myself from doing it all the time. I find it such an easy way to give a character "character" and as well as giving them a varied and interesting fashion sense.

>>93204092
Generally I just stay away from that sort of thing altogether; characters with mental illnesses are such a minefield. Even if you get it mostly right it can feel a little gimmicky, you really need a compelling plot reason to have something like that.

>>93204113
Reminds me of the twist in Skyward Sword. The guy you're fighting the entire game straight up tells you he's a lackey of the Demon King he's trying to resurrect. Except you get to the end and it turns out he's not just a minion of the Demon King, he is his sword in animated form.

Anyway I think it's a fun idea for a villain to hide his true nature- and hiding behind like a giant ugly demon that LOOKS like a final boss is a fun one, because I think it makes sense. Why does the giant boss demon look like a boss demon? Because that's what most people would THINK the demon in charge would look like.

I think it also lines up well with christian mythology where Satan is portrayed less as a physically intimidating force, and more someone who is just charismatic and can convince you to indulge in your worst nature because your dumbass overestimates your ability to not get conned. At least in well written stories that is.

>>93214949
>I think it also lines up well with christian mythology where Satan is portrayed less as a physically intimidating force, and more someone who is just charismatic and can convince you to indulge in your worst nature because your dumbass overestimates your ability to not get conned. At least in well written stories that is.
Oh hey, thats how my main badguy is. One of his very first scenes is him walking around vibing and then he gets into a conversation with a random hobo. He just talks to him for a while and slowly breaks him down, tempting him into a demonic deal. In exchange for some cash, the demon makes him drink fuck and murder a bunch of people before unaliving himself. The hobo "takes" the deal by stealing his money, but later he ends up doing exactly what the demon proposed and more.

i was just sitting around and i had a random idea for a story about chaos in warhammer but written like a story from the bible.

And it came to pass in the land of blood and fury, there dwelt a mighty warrior, a devoted follower of Khorne, the God of War and Rage.

He was known far and wide for his valour in battle and his unwavering dedication to the Lord of Skulls.

One fateful day, the warrior faced a great and terrible beast, a creature of immense power and fearsome visage.

With the strength granted by Khorne, the warrior slew the beast, and with his blade, he severed its head, offering it as tribute to his god.

And Khorne, in his brutal glory, beheld the offering and spoke unto the warrior, "What use have I for the eyes of this beast? Remove them, for I see all from my throne of skulls."

The warrior, obedient and true, did as commanded and plucked the eyes from the beast's head, casting them aside.

Khorne then demanded, "What use have I for the flesh of this beast? I am the devourer of souls, not of flesh."

And the warrior, with unwavering hand, stripped the flesh from the skull, leaving it bare and exposed.

"What use have I for the horns of this beast?" Khorne thundered next. "I wield weapons of destruction far greater."

Thus, the warrior broke the horns from the skull and discarded them as commanded.

Khorne's voice roared once more, "What use have I for the teeth of this beast? My wrath is sharper than any fang."

The warrior, relentless in his devotion, pried each tooth from the skull until none remained.

At last, only the bare skull of the beast remained, devoid of eyes, flesh, horns, and teeth. The warrior presented it to his god, expecting Khorne's satisfaction.

But Khorne, in his insatiable hunger, looked upon the skull and declared, "What use have I for this skull when I desire yours?"

>>93218490
Cool concept but I'm not sure it's quite what Khorne would do. Story makes him seem a bit pedantic, I think if someone brought him a still-bloody severed head he'd be like 'cool gift, throw it on the throne and we'll just leave it to rot down until it's like the rest of the skulls'.

Khorne actually treats his followers pretty well compared to the other chaos gods. As long as you're honourable and actually good at fighting, you'll have a great time following Khorne.

What I could see Khorne doing is when the guy brings him the severed head, it's added to the throne, then he goes off and gets attacked by another monster. Then another. Then another. One of them finally lives long enough to tell him that Khorne sent them, and he goes back to Khorne with the head and asks him 'have I done something to piss you off? Because you keep sending monsters to kill me.' And Khorne is like: that's not a punishment, that's a reward. And the story ends with the guy finally getting killed by a monster and his skull is added to the throne. And Khorne is satisfied either way because whether the guy had lost or not he would have added the skull of a great killer to his throne.