Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago
Zeroth Post
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Zeroth
inspired by the art of Chris Campbell, the music of Massive Attack, the novels of Lewis Carroll, and other things.




“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

a tale to tell

Here in the Tangle, nothing really much happens, not really -- the sneaklings play their tricks and the flapdribbles ruin the good linens and the woofhowls make for noisy nights, but the folk mostly keep to themselves in their cozy corners of the labyrinth; but now, now, folks are turning up stone. Statues! Just here and there, one frozen in his garden, another at her breakfast table, another (embarrassingly) in the loo. About the same time this all began, certain walls of the labyrinth -- which had stood for epochs at least -- moved or sank or disappeared, making paths where no paths were before. Grandmother Wicker says that someone has stolen the heart of Gobbledygook ...

... and that unless someone brings it back, we all will be stone before long.

A call went out to the folk of the Tangle, encouraging adventurous souls to seek out and retrieve the heart of Gobbledygook. Any folk interested were asked to please kindly meet up early in the morning at Gobbledygook's forest, where the crime was committed and where clues may be had, for the King's court had nothing of the sleuthing sort on staff, and no one yet has had a clue what to do.
a curious place

The Tangle is anything you'd like it to be; worldbuilding and ideas are encouraged, and the map can be constantly updated. Though it is a maze, don't worry; your characters know exactly where they're going. Mostly.

  • Through Ozzy's CS it is established that The Tangle has a network of ceilings called The Cobwebs.
    • Let's say The Cobwebs are sort of a network of inverted bridges and rooms that crisscross above the open passages of the Tangle. They are a maze of their own, though much less complicated. This means that those with the ability to use the Cobwebs to travel can take very different routes to their destination.
  • Through Basira's CS it is established that the Door of the Tangle is open by day, closed by night and at times of peril, and is guarded by the riddling sphinx.
  • Through Finn's CS it is established that the animals of the Tangle don't usually talk, but can be quite knowledgeable. Bees in particular are very proud.
  • Through Alara's CS it is established that a part of the Tangle is steamy with natural hot springs and a plethora of mushrooms.
  • Through Lily's CS it is established that the folk of the Tangle will go out of their way to summon and befriend faeries, perhaps to avoid their tricks.
  • Through Calliope's CS it is established that there is a doorless, windowless tower called Ash Tower that never appears in the same place twice.
  • Through ECG's CS it is established that the rock and stone within the Tangle has a level of sentience.
  • Through Lady Leaza's CS it is established that the Greenery lies within the Tangle, and Death is Leaza herself.



a few volunteers

Your character has only ever known the Tangle: a city-sized labyrinth of wide and narrow passages and angled open spaces, with walls made of stone or gemstone or thick dark wood draped in bright foliage, houses and buildings both tiny and magnificent, and inhabitants of much the same sizes. Characters may be of unusual and whimsical races, or mostly human as the player decides. A bit of worldbuilding where it concerns your character's backstory is encouraged, but bear in mind that the GM may use and manipulate it to the needs of the plot; in actual gameplay the player controls only their character.

The one thing I ask is that all characters should care about finding the heart and returning it safely. This is one motivation that all characters should share.





gameplay

The characters' forward-moving decisions and actions are what propel the story. A character which stands still and merely observes will have a very different experience from a character that makes decisions and acts upon them. The plot will react to what your character does -- and there is no wrong action.

Take risks.

Your character's aspects may become important. The GM or other players may at any time invoke your character's aspects (acting upon the aspect and thus calling for a response from the character), so choose them with care. Similarly, NPCs, settings, and even inanimate objects might be assigned aspects that PCs could then manipulate in their posts. The GM will make a concentrated effort to post hider'd aspect lists at the end of each post, depending on what the PCs should logically discover. If I forget, or something seems like it should have aspects that doesn't, definitely drop a note in OOC. If you'd like your character to study someone or something to glean more aspects, this can be done through OOC, PM or Discord.

If (roughly) five days have passed since the last IC post, or 10 days have passed since the previous GM post, the GM will post to move the story along. Declare that you're working on a post, and you'll have one more day to finish. I'll post and tag everyone when the deadline approaches.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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Mokley aka windyfiend

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All character sheets, questions, witty sarcasm and poignant memes shall be posted herebelow!
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Nieszka
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Nieszka A Nymph, or Nearly

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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Dusty
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Ozzy Strings reminds me of a younger, happier beldam from Coraline.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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Hey hi hullo!

I made a few edits to the 0th post, including a map and a bit of worldbuilding from Ozzy's CS! I'm debating drawing out The Cobwebs on top of the maze -- it might look confusing but might be interesting to note.

Everybody please do offer your worldbuildy ideas, either here in OOC or in your CS! :)

Edit:
Ozzy Strings reminds me of a younger, happier beldam from Coraline.




Oh my!
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Girlie1Bomba
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@MokleyHeya boss! Looking good!

Sooooooo like can you please help me understand this?

The GM or other players may at any time invoke your character's aspects in the OOC: you may be called to act or react in a certain way based on your character's aspects, so choose them with care.


Like WUT? Does this mean that if my chara "Hears Vanilla Ice songs and dance, dance, DANCES till she sweats out the daemons!" Then like some other chara would play Vanilla Ice songs and then like peeps up here would be like: "Ohh hey now! So your chara has to bust out those moves now! Dance for me mortal, dance, I said!" Cuz that is some serious fustercluck in wait right there boss! 😕

Edi-soooooo like basically how much power do RPers have over other RPers chara aspects?
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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@Girlie1Bomba Less of a command, more of a reminder/call-out. In your example, a player in OOC (not the character IC) could say something like "My chara plays a Vanilla Ice song cuz I know Girlie's character likes to dance!" ;D She wouldn't HAVE to dance, but it's acknowledgment that the decision was made while thinking of your character instead of some freak accidental Vanilla Ice song.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Girlie1Bomba
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@Mokleymakes sense... but like how many aspect buttons can you press at once? Cuz we would have 3 each... so like could you callout all three of other chara aspects at once? And like is it even more pressure if others decide to call out your chara aspects too?🤐
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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@Girlie1Bomba Legit concerns! :D Honestly I'm feeling out how to implement some of the cooler concepts of the FATE rpg system without actually using a rpg system, haha. So definitely I'll be changing around some wording and loosening up how it's set up now, especially following your advice.

I can't see any player going out of their way to call on another person's character's aspects all at once just for the sake of it, honestly -- especially in the Advanced forum, where players generally know better. If a player seems to be abusing the system somehow, I'd certainly put a stop to it.

The ultimate goal with this is to give the players a clear method of interacting with and creating stories among themselves, instead of just interacting with the GM.

An example of what I mean, using Danny's CS: a PC might horribly break a rule that Danny stands by, thus forcing him to punish the PC -- but they then try to weasel their way out of it by giving him a logical way to let the PC go while still following the rules, thus calling on his "No Mercy but No Cruelty" aspect. This is the player's intention with their actions, but it doesn't have to succeed. Maybe Danny's having a bad day and punches them anyway.

Another example: a PC shines a bright light on Ozzy to make him go away, thus calling on his "Spinsters are not fans of bright lights" aspect. Ozzy can very well stand his ground, but again the acknowledgment of the aspect is there and the player would likely give a good reason why he resists it.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Girlie1Bomba
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@Girlie1Bomba Legit concerns! :D Honestly I'm feeling out how to implement some of the cooler concepts of the FATE rpg system without actually using a rpg system, haha. So definitely I'll be changing around some wording and loosening up how it's set up now, especially following your advice.

Yeah, so like i been in other RPs where GMs have you sum up personalities or skillsets with cute or succinct sayings but like never where you could press a button and 'remind' or 'request' someone to act accordingly. Soooooo like I guess I just need to deal with it and see how it goes in IC.

I can't see any player going out of their way to call on another person's character's aspects all at once just for the sake of it, honestly -- especially in the Advanced forum, where players generally know better. If a player seems to be abusing the system somehow, I'd certainly put a stop to it.

True but all manipulative and good RPers check other RPers sheets and pick out the weakness and strengths to exploit. Not necessarily a bad thing but I just never been in a RP where you could press the aspect button to call them out on what was on their sheet. But like you said: we're in ADVANCED and in just a short time with you as GM I trust you and respect your decisions and how you deal with unrest. So yeah! 😘

The ultimate goal with this is to give the players a clear method of interacting with and creating stories among themselves, instead of just interacting with the GM.

True but again, the whole 'callout' system seems a bit ewwww to me partially because its new to me and partially cuz anxiety. But I'll give it a shot and will defo try to not be such a downer anymore ☺

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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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@Girlie1Bomba I try to do a bit of experimentation in every RP I do -- the aspects is the experiment in this one. I've never done it either! But yeah, we'll feel it out and tweak it as we go, depending on how it's working. All I can say is that not all aspects are bad, and they can definitely be called upon for good things! (Like reminders that your character probably knows the way to a place, or would be good at solving a certain problem, or is important in certain ways because of her aspects!) Trust your fellow players to value your character as much as you do -- ya might be surprised! :)
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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Edit:
<Snipped quote by Dusty>



Oh my!


Grandma?
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Nieszka
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The sheer amount of choices available to me is sort of daunting, but I am working on a character! Does my character need to be in the Tim Burton style, or can I go the more flamboyantly absurd Alice in Wonderland sort of direction?
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@Nieszka Totally any direction you wanna go! :D

Just to give you even MORE options. xD
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Nieszka A Nymph, or Nearly

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RIP

Here lies Nieszka, who drowned in the Sea of Possibility.

XD
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by The Mad Hatter
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Greetings!

Here's the concept of my character. If you need more, let me know and I'll try to fill it out without breaking my brain. Hopefully, I won't have to write 1st-person IC, 'cause that'd kill me.


Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Nieszka
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Nieszka A Nymph, or Nearly

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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by 13org
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13org Stay fresh!

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@ShwiggityShwah brought me here and after reading a little bit... its so freaking awesome! lol

Very interested!! XD

@Mokley
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Astarael42
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Character sheet incoming hopefully today. Don't want you to think I've forgotten.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Mokley
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@The Mad Hatter most definitely IC posts will be third person, no worries! Actually, sorry, can I ask for the aspects to be written OOC, for clarity's sake? Alarah shall be approved though! :)

@Nieszka Basira is approved, though I'm interested in your approach. Since this rp will depend upon decision making, multiple choices and paying attention, I'm not positive how Basira will navigate the rp. What sort of things will motivate them to act? Frankly, indecision makes my job very difficult haha.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by ShwiggityShwah
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ShwiggityShwah Good Diet, Sleep, Excercise, and Leeches

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@The Mad Hatter most definitely IC posts will be third person, no worries! Actually, sorry, can I ask for the aspects to be written OOC, for clarity's sake? Alarah shall be approved though! :)

@Nieszka Basira is approved, though I'm interested in your approach. Since this rp will depend upon decision making, multiple choices and paying attention, I'm not positive how Basira will navigate the rp. What sort of things will motivate them to act? Frankly, indecision makes my job very difficult haha.


I'm getting a very odd journey to the west with this. A single traveler meets a wild man and then a guardian who the traveler convinces to join them.

Indecision can be resolved with team effort :)
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