Jiskastya

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

But it wouldn't have affected the humans, I take it? From where could such a thing originate? If no individual is responsible for it, yet it is coming from the war?

The only thing I can think of is that they would need to have some sort of common interest or goal that fighting a war would interfere with. But I'm still working on it...

(Side question that will need to be addressed at some point, but can be added to the list: Do humans have any sort of magic at all? Would witches and wizards and warlocks be part of the supernatural population? Do those even exist?)

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Right. The Organization...

I guess part of what I am stumbling over is how the peace even came about in the first place. I can see how the Organization would be a necessary by-product of peace, but it is a by-product of a lasting peace, as opposed to a peace because both sides are tired of dying. You know? How against each other are these guys? I mean, if it is like America vs Russia, from the cold war, even though nothing major is happening between the two countries, just skirmishes in smaller parts, we aren't about to pair up to protect each other.

Yeah. I'm just going to leave it at that before I tongue-tie myself.

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Ok. Somehow it never fully connected to me that the organization was sticking around, but that is alright. It is something I'm perfectly willing to work with. All that we need to do on that particular front is decide a little bit more how the Organization came about. It isn't something that would have sprung up by chance, since it would take a lot of effort on both sides to set up something that wouldn't fail within the first year or two. So we will just need to flesh out those details.

Two blood drinkers works just fine for me. So long as you mean creatures that must drink blood to survive, and drink little to nothing else. I'm trusting that a blood-craving won't be limited to only two?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by reversible creatures. You mean ones that don't necessarily stay on one side, within their same type? As in, a parent could go to the Daywalkers, and a child (cousin, brother, etc.) could go to the Nightwalkers? I'd rather not have any of those at all. If you mean something else by that, though, feel free to clarify.

Unfortunately, I am completely unfamiliar with the D&D system of categorization, for just about everything. I've never had anyone with which to play the game, so it was never something that I wound up doing. Because of that... I don't really have a base. If you want to choose something, I could probably be persuaded fairly easily. Otherwise,we could both just call it as we see it, and agree that we won't fight over what goes where. Or, if we do, it will be brief. But I don't think there should be any "neutral", mostly because I'm imaginignt he light and dark thing more as something racial and genetic (if genetics is a thing with these guys), than it is a species choice. Something that defines the Daywalkers and the Nightwalkers, and makes it impossible for them to switch sides. Which is part of the reason I don't think there should be any who can switch sides. The reason being, I'm not really ok with the idea that a personal choice, rather than something that "is", even if it has a lot of history backing it, would never have a single individual who decided to rebel and switch sides. Individuals do all sorts of wacky things. That would mean we would need a couple defining characteristics for each side, but it would also probably make it easier to sort things.

As far as the number of variations within a species... I don't think it is really necessary to define that. That is something that could easily change at the drop of a dime. But that does raise the question; How many humans are there in the world, and what is the ratio of humans to the supernatural? If there are a large number of supernatural species, that would mean that there is less for each type. I know what I'm trying to ask, but I can't seem to find the right words. Do you kind of get what I'm trying to say?

I am ok with any species cliches, so long as it isn't a hard and fast rule. Saying "all dwarves have beards," is like saying "all dogs have fur." Occasionally there is just an exception. Which is why I often drop a warrior monk elf and a fastidiously neat dwarf into the middle of a fantasy roleplay. Just to make a point.

My only major concern with plot is having our characters (or at least my character, I don't really get any say in yours) doing something because "it is the right thing to do." I don't mind if events do come up where they do do the right thing to do, but there needs to be a better motivation for it than that. :)

I'm fine with combining a lot of those elements. My only thought is, as soon as we start introducing different climates and different civilizations that live within those climates, we are also going to have to start thinking about the fact that not all of the supernatural species would live in each climate/area. And that is fine. It is just another layer of complication.

Umm... I'll definitely want to see the list, but I think we might want to get some of the other things I mentioned above sorted out first. Just because it might have a big impact on what winds up happening with these different species. So, later. But soon.

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

"Our kind"? Are we going back to the idea that there is an organization that tries to preserve the peace? I wasn't quite certain if that particular element was carrying through, but it does make sense. If so, how did the organization get created? Or maybe I misread what you were trying to say. Anyway. I would like elaboration on that first paragraph all the way around. :)

Sounds good. Supplemental creation is always a lot of fun. It will also be nice to have some... odder things in the mix. But I do want to make sure to include Raksasha, I'd rather avoid some of the random, creepy vampiric creatures from the Philippine and surrounding area, since they are mostly just repeats, and I think we can come up with some other cool things. Are we going to want to do "light" and "dark" versions of certain creatures? Like elves and dragons? Or do we want to pick one species for each type, give them a side, and leave them there? Because there are often numerous varieties of a single "species".

I'm not too sure what you mean by cliches in this case. Do you mean in terms of species and attitudes, or in terms of plot elements?

Hmm... A basis. I would be really fascinated about doing a world where the potential for a long fall is always hanging above everyone's head. I'm not quite sure what I mean by that, only that people have to pay attention to where they walk. I suppose that could mean living in giant trees, or having a world that is entirely made up of really jagged mountains, with narrow, steep paths and everything going up, or even floating islands. It is just a place where you have to pay attention to how you are moving, and if you closed your eyes and walked randomly you'd probably die within a minute. Unless you had wings.

Sorry it took me a bit of time to get back to you. I lost the bookmark, and kind of forgot to check in. I'll try not to do it again. :)

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Ok... but if they are at the point where they can basically tolerate eachother's presence, why is the war so close to breaking out again? Is there something specific that had happened/ is about to happen?

Did you mention something at some point about making up species? Or was it simply picking some of the more eccentric ones to add in? If we are going to make some up are we going to want to use some that have already been created as well?

Did we ever begin to touch on how they could conceal themselves from the humans?

I tend to plan by asking questions of my partner, and then just continuing to ask questions until I reach some sort of satisfactory explanation. If you ever want me to contribute a bit more, especially if it gets to the point where it seems like I'm just asking questions to be annoying, feel free to ask some of your own. :)

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Ah. You mentioned gods in the first one, so I naturally assumed that your second set of higher powers were gods as well.

My main concern with an unknown reason is that the way the different sides act towards each other would be fairly dependent upon what happened in the past. If it was a betrayal, the latent hostility is going to be a lot more extreme than if it was something that happened in a war. It would also be important to know how long it has been since they actually got along. Is it something that came about right at the creation of the world, or is it a more recent development? Since our characters are going to be on opposite sides, the way they would have viewed each other when they first meet is pretty important. Unless you want to pick general reactions, and later build a reason from that?

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Yeah, I think you did good. Most of our planning is still pretty abstract at the moment, so it doesn't matter too much. This is the important part.

I think I would rather avoid making gods the main reason for the conflict. Unless the gods are very significant in everyday life (which is, of course, a possibility), we might as well go with "a reason long forgotten". It has the same amount of significance. Most conflicts in our world have reasons to have begun, even if they are different for both sides. People tend to keep track of reasons to hate someone else.

The problem with slaves is that the conflict would be over a lot quicker. A fight for freedom is good, but after that point it goes back to "business as usual". American history as my evidence.

Cultural reasons/ differences in customs are usually a good one, as is supposed assassinations, if the supernatural populations has kings/emperors. Or, if we want to make gods very significant, we could go back to some godly reasons.

This, That, and The Other Thing ~ PopeAlessandros x Jiskastya

Right. Let me think...

What is creating the conflict between the Daywalkers and the Nightwalkers. I mean, they are different, and that is naturally going to create tension. But usually there is a reason/justification for them to hate each other. That seems like a really good place to start.