OOC - Story Ideas - Open to all of LBTL

[Sir Nichtmar]

How do people feel about the MM King thing... Maybe we should have an NPC King or Queen?

Not everyone pays attention or takes part in our little crazy RP, but Telemachus died in RP recently. I've been playing at Demons and enemies from the underworld. But I don't know. Been thinking of the Azoth gate and getting to some point out in The "Lands beyond" and maybe if the gate is taken somewhere it opens a gate to Hell or maybe it resets the Land Between... just random thoughts...

Thanix has a great take of the creation of the LBTL, it's in the library if you want to read it.

Where do you all want to go with the story.

This is an oppurtunity for a new storyline for us. We got Moruliima(the monster city) but they haven't threatened us so... and really we've got monsters too, but we live with humans.

So post your thoughts, ideas, I really want to hear them.

Maybe people could come with storylines and then we can vote on them?

[Anvil]

I like your king/queen, you just need to get someone who won't disappear shortly after getting it.

Instead of having trouble come to M.M. what about going out and looking for it? Basically a chance for nore map development and with the mist the chance to bring in npc towns and cultures.

[zalos]

I definitely think we need leadership of some sort. Npc sounds better to me b/c an NPC will always be there and can act the role completely (ie, kings usually dont go to battles). However, if we did away with a king and went to a more militant structure, you could have a general or warlord as leader. That would work better for a PC as they would be in battle and have a more relevant (and believable) role on the field. Ya know, for when it comes time for us to act out all of our nerdyness.

[Batu]

In my opinion I would like to see some epic war fought on Stormhaven's ground.

Stormhaven being in the middle of Ft. Wayne, Indy, and the Anderson/Elwood/etc. region. It lessens the drive from one polar opposite to come to the other and there are a few connections from Stormhaven to said places, i.e. Ematai, Spoons, etc.

Suppose a fight over Stormhaven between two or three factions? NS and MM (or Kanthea, or whoever) is that isn't a trite concept. Perhaps even units fighting over claim to the desolate land of Stormhaven. If your country wants to not worry about its citizens being decimated, grab some land as a buffer.

With this sudden battle, the Stormhaven inhabitants are caught off guard and they forge their own backstory after this cataclysmic battle?

[ziglerrobertson]

I like the idea of exploring the 'Lands Beyond' No telling whats there, plenty of opportunities, and whose to say that that and the final fate of the Azoth Gate cannot be entwined.

[Anvil]

We could try to go back and work up a map with sites that can be fought over. (i.e.- bridges, mines, keeps, etc)
Maybe we could even look at something like Darkon with resources and such

[Dorian Prior]

It is unfortunate, but Anvil does have a point: the position of King or Queen of MM does seem cursed. Of course, there really is no way of realistically ensuring their presence once they are crowned. Just a sad pattern keeps continuing. I hope it doesn't last.

Personally, I miss RP. I miss the Jovians (which was the ongoing struggle when I joined the game). I never ended up completing the account of Shatar's death (though I know I'd really wanted to), but I enjoyed writing up to the point I had stopped. And I remember doing a little RP with Zigler (even though that ended rather abruptly as well). I feel like I really do/would enjoy RP.

At this point however, there just isn't anything to interest me anymore. Our RP board is almost entirely dominated by other realms, one in particular, and the stories get drawn out further and further away from the main idea or supposed plot. Lately, it seems that the only thing that's been going on is the introduction of newer, minor PCs that nobody (at least from our realm) even knows. I, for one, find it quite hard to RP with someone I don't know or have not met in person. And honestly, for the current "conflict" going on, there really should have been some sort of resolution by now. It's stagnant and boring to me. I don't read the RP boards anymore because of that; I had no idea that Telemachus had been killed (nor Thrawn or Dradd until recently). Rittir (spelling fail probably ) is still alive, from what I can tell, and honestly he is an interesting character; as is the gnoll Ghrull (more sp fail probably). I'd love to see more of them in action.

I guess the problem that I can perceive is this: there are plenty of talkers. Voices. Probably too many. And not enough MOVERS AND SHAKERS. People that truly DRIVE the story, not add and add and add and add ad nauseium.

I like the idea of Moruliima. I'd love to see more interaction with them (for the better or worse of Mittelmarch RP-wise ). And while I can only hazard educated guesses as to what Thannix's beginning truly means, I am intrigued to see what can come of it.

Oh, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about NPC kings and queens. NPCs are rather fragile (obviously), and if we want their role to be important, it seems easier to have a PC king/queen that not only makes a consistant appearance, but RPs prolifically. Really, those two things are crucial if we want to have strong RP ties to Mittelmarch leadership.

I know I'm only stating the obvious really, and this post has gone on long enough. These things have just been on my mind. Since I've moved away, I still wish I would have more interaction with you guys and the realm. Mittelmarch still is, and always will be, MY realm. I've always been proud to call it home. I just figure RP would be one more way for me to keep up with you guys and still feel involved. But that's enough soapbox.

Just my two cents.

EDIT: In the meantime, I'll try to come up with suggestions for storylines. While my creative faculties have been steadily failing over the last two years, I'll see what I can dredge up.

[ziglerrobertson]

@dorian, yeah man. That was my fault. Some serious shit went down and I had to focus on other things around the time both you and Carneth were wanting to become my 'evil minions' I still think that if I coulda had both the time and a lil luck the massacre of the remaining Jovians in the arena woulda been sweet. But, as I said I had to take care of some serious shit.

A gotta agree on the movers and shakers things. To me it seems like we let only one or two people really move the story along, usually those most invested in it, or those who are most interested....Dorian if you wanna kick start something in the Cedric's Inn thread I'm game. Now that the elven witch is rescued I'll be gettin back to MM.

[Stubbie]

I've gotta agree the RP section seems dominated by people who type much and fight little; with no ties or concerns where it takes Mittelmarch. I haven't kept up with RP either, as I had been but just quit feeling the jones to write.

I'm liking the idea of being out and spoiling for a fight. Maybe the cities repaired after the battle with the Jovians and there are too many vet's sitting idle, all itching to campaign again. The leadership is casting wary looks at the coffers, then at the mounting costs of rebuilding, keeping those soldiers, etc...

As for WHO that leadership it; PC / NPC, doesn't really matter. If it's NPC, it'll just be (a real) someone out there proclaiming "So and So says we do THIS!" instead of a real someone saying "I say we do THIS!"

[Sir Storm Brightblade]

I'll admit I'm getting bored with rp as well. The last couple of RP's I've been in have always been rescuing Lady Elestirne. How that really involves the well being of Mittelmarch, I don't know. Sure Telamon died in it but it wasn't any of our doing, just Lady E's. I'm all for the exploration of new lands, I think it sounds like a terrific idea!

As for the king and queen, I'm more leaning towards a pc ruler than npc.

[Anvil]

All good comments by everyone!

I will say I agree the king/queen needs to be a real person.

[Carneth]

Ditto on the "real person being king/queen" thing. Just gotta get our ruler out there

When I first joined Dag I was very excited by the RP aspect. Lately though I rarely visit the RP threads, especially since I keep coming across new people that have nothing to do with MM. I'm all for getting RP moving again, and I really like RP battles as well.

I'd be up for something with Morulima or exploring new areas. If I come up with any ideas, I'll see if you guys like 'em. Feel free to reach out to me with story ideas as well, if the mood takes you.

[oof]

I think everybody here knows i don't particularly like rp but, part of the reason i don't enjoy it much is that every bad guys seems to be this huge epic monster who has no good in them. My opinion? the best "evil" npc we have ever faced was thrawn, and that was more because he was believable, he didn't have some evil intention of destroying the land, he felt he was saving it. All the others seem hellbent on destroying it. I would love to see the LBTL frankly fall to internal pressures, similar to the fall of rome, creating anarchy, and allowing each person/realm the ability to create their own destiny, either as aggressors, or defenders, but lets face it in the stories the Land has been decimated to the point where everybody should essentially be a city stae on their own, our evils should not be some terrible evil that we all need to team up against, but instead each other

[Sir Nichtmar]

I like what everyone is saying. Dorian you still should write up your epic kill of Shatar. I will totally put it in the LBTL Journal. I agree I prefer pc ruler, but what if they stop showing up or don't do anything? Should we have a clause that they can be fired. My thoughts were that the ruler would guide the RP, but we haven't had a King who grabbed the storyline.

Maybe we should have it be like Zalos suggested a Warlord and one that can be challenged whenever. I don't know...we could see it changing hands a lot that way.

I miss the Jovians too, they made for an interesting foe, but don't worry their still out there, I'm sure they're going to want some pay back.

That's why I wrote the Broken Empire.

I love Anvil's idea of fighting for supplies and territories, but only problem is other realms participation is limited and getting everyone to get it going. We tried before and it seemed to fizzle out. Istvan had a great format and plan written out, but I don't know why it never got going.

Honestly I like how in Role Models, they had that huge battle for King, I 'd love to be in a battle for King of the Land Between. Then each year we go to that King's realm and have a big multi-realm battle.

From what I learned, you can't expect all the realms to jump on your RP storyline. Sure they come out for the RP battle, but they have their own threats etc etc in their land. I don't know if it's just proximity, but Dunland and Mittelmarch love to Marvel team up on some foes and I love it.

Maybe we should Have a Thane (Militant Ruler) of Mittelmarch...I don't know....Keep talking...Carnath what ya got?

[ziglerrobertson]

I like the LBL's King Battle thing. The tough part (he says mildly) will be getting the other Realms to go for the idea. If that were even possible I'd lead to some interesting RP.

As is, I think that Oof's idea of some sort of internal struggle for power (but within MM itself) would be the more practical, with a side story of a group or two scouting the surrounding lands and reconnecting with whatever small towns/villages are around.

If we can get other Realms, beyond Dunland involved in the RP I could see all the LBTL Realm's fighting for control of the known Lands Between. I could also see it ending up rather badly.....having said that *shrug.

I got nothing more idea-wise ATM, time to go to class.

[Baethor]

i think at the moment mittelmarch as a whole has observed a peace they havnt seen in almost 4 years, outside of our walls and unthreatening to our city are battles and land wars that we dont even know about. after the jovians spent their time clearing out the surrounding areas of non-humans theres nothing really in the forest that poses a threat to the warriors who slew the jovian hordes. at the moment our walls are restored leadership is in the rightful place, crops are strong and we have no major enemy. we had the lich but we pretty handily finished that storyline.

moruliima being on the other side of the mountains poses no gain for the MM armies to attack, and the same can be said of moruliima who are just getting their city in working order.

Baethor atm is in possession of the azoth gate, but nobody knows that yet (shhhh)

i agree with oof thrawn was our first real threat since grishnak and was a much more believeable enemy being a conquering king.

perhaps a civil war is in order wherein our own city is divided among itself, as i understand oof's thieves guild hasn't been found, there could be an entire web of deceit waiting to happen during before and after the next kings war.

[Carneth]

Nichty- I will be sending ideas to you guys soon.

[Wulf]

Alright, well i has a few ideas, but i'm not guna guarentee their great ideas.
1: Introduction of a new race of people made by someone. Have them end up traveling a long way in order to find a land that has been at peace, (Mittelmarch) because their homeland was taken over by someone or something. Then that someone or something follow them here to finish the war that they started.

2: Have the mist play some important role such as it suddenly bringing in something bigger than just a person. Maybe an entire city full of some kind of creature that doesn't speak our language. Maybe even get a creative streak from things we've seen on tv and use something along the lines of a floating island or something like that that would be a bit harder to be reached.

3: Shapeshifters. They work great for when you want to have a filler or an all-out story. You could end up fighting yourself, or worse a freind or loved one. You could have either a gang of them causing trouble in the city or a large group ready to suddenly take over and mirror the original city in hopes of a semi-normal life.

Those are all the idea's Wulf's got for now. I'll think of more later.

[Kaida NyteClaw]

I agree with wanting to beef up the whole story thing. Myself and a few others cant keep writing to keep the story flowing. And as far as the comments go dorian and all others that are bored. Not my fault......just trying to end it like a story should be. I hate uncompleted tasks.

[Giggles "Adguin"]

I agree about the story but each time we leave or make a opening it is left untouched for weeks. And for those who want to see the story's end that is unbearable. We have no idea if someone is planing something big, or if they want to post at a certain point but either missed it or couldn't get to it.

So if you want the story to flow or feel it's just adding then do something about it! PM the one who's adding and gave them some ideas. Tell them to make it less about one thing and more about another!

I do agree with the NPCs and derailing the story though. But it's hard for those who can't fight at the moment to find a way to introduce a new story or element any other way.

Also as for the talkers and non fighters, yes some of us are at the moment just talking. Some because they are job hunting, others for healing from a wreck, or some are physically incapable of fighting until a certain time passes. That's life. But We still want too feel a part of Dag even if it's just RP wise until we can get back in.

Now I agree with Oof on Giggles and other bad guys too. That's why Giggles had to be defeated. I made a guy who wasn't believable and needed to get some character development. In order to do that he had to fall hard. The whole point of the battle was too see all of MM unite and take him out to make him grow later.

That's all i got for now. Any comments please PM me or make a post.
Thanks guys!

[Giggles "Adguin"]

You know for story ideas. I do think a internal power struggle would be a great change of pace though.

[Sir Nichtmar]

We gave a green light some members to start developing a great story idea they came up with. It involves a little deceit, death, betrayal, and a little trouble within Mittelmarch. This could lead to something big.

There's also the Azoth Gate...which does anyone have an idea for that one? Baethor has it, thought it would be cool we need to travel to the uncharted lands because of it, not sure the why's and etc.

Also, is Kanthea free of the Fallen then?

Anvil, I think once this this story Arc our mysterious writers have going on we could lead to a "fighting for locations, etc" In the mean time, do you want to come up with some places to discover, if anyone else has some ideas we could use em?

[Anvil]

Nichtmar, I'd be happy to start working on something next week along those lines

[Kaida NyteClaw]

Kanthea is free of the Fallen Grasp. However, the fallen itself has taken up as a "Unit" of the survivors.

[Sir Nichtmar]

Cool I'll make changes to the map. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them undead.