VOYAGER RPG: Rules, Questions, Player Signup and OOC Chat

[Mums]

I read a book in the wheel of time series when I was like 10-11, don't remember much of it sadly.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

That's pretty much the extent of my experience; read the first two of them more out of a sense of duty than anything else, but my GOD it was hard work. He is not a friendly author.

[Mums]

I read it in english also, and sure I was pretty decent for a ten year old Swedish kid but I mostly remember the struggle reading it. So I see what you mean

[Lurkon]

Oh god. Have I read any Robert Jordan? He's my favorite goddamn author. The Wheel of Time is my favorite book series of all time. It's really a shame he died before he could finish it, though Brandon Sanderson finished the job admirably.

If you had trouble with the first two (and I totally understand how someone would), the remainder are worse. Though The Dragon Reborn (the third one) serves as a semi-decent end to the series (it was originally going to be a trilogy).

[AdmiralMemo]

I love the WoT series, but I certainly hate two things about Jordan's writing.

1. He describes frickin' everything. Nobody can just walk into a room or something. We have to know what they're wearing, what the room looks like, etc. etc. It's like 2.5 pages of text for each action.

2. He keeps spawning more and more characters, and I feel the threads of the Pattern unraveling as he continues to do so. The first rule of tabletop RPGs for the GM is "Don't split the party." Jordan loves splitting the party, having them meet new people, forming their own parties, splitting those parties, etc. etc. Reading through Winter's Heart made it feel like actually trudging through 3 feet of snow due to that.

Regarding basing the Nomad off Jordan's books, is he like an Aiel?

[Hepheastus]

Pretty much what Memo said. I read about half way through the series before getting bored and moving on. Jordan was certainly a very talented writer but he really loved dragging it out. Also I kinda got the impression he had some issues with Women, that translated into his writing or maybe I'm reading too much into things

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Hepheastus, I think I've figured out a way to work you into the game. It'll have to wait until the party moves on, but keep an eye on your inbox.

[Lurkon]

People talk about Jordan's "issues" with women, and it's probably true that he had some... kinks... but on the other hand, he also makes an effort to have "strong female protagonists," which I've heard an equal number of people laud him for. I've never had a problem with the way he wrote women, but that's probably not saying much, as a guy.

I did find some of the sections where it followed Elayne/Egwene/Nynaeve to be pretty boring, though... That's when he really starts describing dresses. God he loved dresses.

[AdmiralMemo]

Well, one thing I hear often from people... "The women in the Wheel of Time are pretty messed up... but so are the men!"
Jordan was very much an equal-opportunity person when it comes to writing people as screw-ups.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

OK, promised currency system. Gold coins are Dalks, pronounced like 'walks' (named after some ancient King who introduced their large-scale production and use)and worth the equivalent of about £5 ($8 ish) in today's money. There are fourteen silver Herls the Dalk and eight copper Fens to the Herl; I will now proceed to hate myself attempting to convert into this currency for the rest of the game

[DSmaster21]

Use any of this you like Ix:

I like to envision Clive as a person with a tragic backstory that he forgets about half the time. His family was minor nobility until the Good King Robert "Bob" the Just and Nice was assassinated. Then King Bald the Not as Nice came to power and had all the noble's rights stripped. He took away voting from the commoners. Then he abolished GKR"B"tJaN's Food Act which gave everyone all different kinds of foods. So now as my family owned land in the potato district that is all we ever ate. Until KBtNaN nearly choked on a potato and order all the adults including my eight brothers and my parents and all our peasant friends killed. And they were. Then the land was burned with all the children still inside its confines except me because I hopped the back fence while the other called me stupid because the King was probably smart enough to station guards there. Hint: He wasn't. I also took all the potatoes in my pockets (thus training in sleight of hand). Then I stole a slaver's knife and he caught me and then he "accidentally" fell on it eight times. (Training Small Blades) No one cared because he was a slaver and ate babies anyway. I ran out of potatoes and tried to steal a slaver's purse and he had a stick and beat me unconscious with it and I wound up here.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

The governmental structure I've been thinking of for this world consists of basically this: mayors for each town, a few landowners operating a semi-feudal system, with Dukes and Petty Kings (who have the castles) basically running protection rackets over these lands. However, since each landowner and mayor is free to declare their allegiance (and pay their taxes) to whoever they like, this turns into a strange game of political manoeuvring whilst trying to avoid the attention of Logan; the city at the top with that basically ensures that outright war doesn't break out. Logan's political structure is more like that of a merchant republic; a semi-republic where the electorate and candidates are the same noble families, and the high ruler (who we can call the King for the sake of simplicity) is answerable to a council of the same people. Don't ask why it is this complicated.

Therefore, a couple of tweaks to the potential backstory: minor nobility (ie landowner) is all well and good, but I would suggest that a scenario that better fits the bill is a clumsy attempt on behalf of a family member to switch allegiances from (Petty) King Bald the Shrewd to Duke Robert the Just that basically ended up in a 'bandit attack' directed by Bald. From there, feel free to go wild with the details.

[Hepheastus]

Hepheastus, I think I've figured out a way to work you into the game. It'll have to wait until the party moves on, but keep an eye on your inbox.

Realised I should probably reply to this Yeah will do

Also typing out Hepheastus can be a pain so Hep of Heph is fine

[DSmaster21]

When can we begin training?

Can I train on the cart? Is money management (Counting more quickly and Knowing how much we have)?

Running tally of money (converted to Fens):2700

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Money total is just a smidge over 2700 fens. You can train in pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want to, so long as it's appropriate to the situation (so you wouldn't want to be practicing swordplay on the cart, for instance). Bear in mind you can only train once per day.

[Mums]

Sorry for dropping of the grid. This week has been cray and will continue like that, I will try to find time to look here at least once a day.

[DSmaster21]

I couldn't think of any way to contribute since my character probably doesn't care about something he never bothered to learn to do (He doesn't care about magic because he can't do it).

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Yeah, it was kinda Memo's thing. Don't really matter.

[AdmiralMemo]

I was trying to foster communication, since few of our characters had actually talked to each other.

[Hepheastus]

What are your thoughts on Orcs with bad Russian accents inspired by Papers, Please?

[My pseudonym is Ix]

That would be the precise opposite of a problem.

[DSmaster21]

Several Questions

What is my character wearing? I like to think that my character had a vest/overshirt with many hidden pockets and some visible ones too. Did it, 1) not exist, 2) get taken by the slavers and not found, or 3) remain or return to my possession?

How did my lying training go?

I grew up around pickpockets and rogues, Is there some symbol or thieves' cant that I can use to gain their trust?

Just to make sure my math is right we have the Nomad, Cecily, Desmond, and Clive right now (and Hepheastus coming in at some point but our characters don't know that) so 4 people to share 2700 fens-value?

[AdmiralMemo]

Just to make sure my math is right we have the Nomad, Cecily, Desmond, and Clive right now (and Hepheastus coming in at some point but our characters don't know that) so 4 people to share 2700 fens-value?

Markus doesn't get any?

[DSmaster21]

Very sorry Memo
I forgot that you joined. I don't know how but I did.

[Hepheastus]

You didn't look down?

SORRY, COULDN'T STOP MYSELF