Friendship is Dragons
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Page 459 - It's Who You Know
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It really is a wonderfully ridiculous think when new character come straight out of nowhere. Of course, usually they're comic relief or in this case, the new plot device.
* thing
* characters
* relief,
... Also, I guess I'm first? Tell a story about a shoehorned in character that was important to the plot.
* characters
* relief,
... Also, I guess I'm first? Tell a story about a shoehorned in character that was important to the plot.
The surprise twist with the changelings was pretty awesome though. I think season 2's finale was my favorite overall.
I've never had a shoehorned character that was important to the plot. Story-relevant NPCs usually get the proper time for introductions.
Now as a player, I remember one campaign where the GM shoehorned a BBEG just for me-- a T-800ish professor/programmer who wanted to kill all organic life. His motivations to bother me were kind of weak and say nothing about the left field he came out of. I think this NPC started in the parking lot. O_o`
I've never had a shoehorned character that was important to the plot. Story-relevant NPCs usually get the proper time for introductions.
Now as a player, I remember one campaign where the GM shoehorned a BBEG just for me-- a T-800ish professor/programmer who wanted to kill all organic life. His motivations to bother me were kind of weak and say nothing about the left field he came out of. I think this NPC started in the parking lot. O_o`
Edit: oh, right; storytime. In My Little Inferno: Evil is Magic, we've lost a lot of PCs to scheduling and the like, and replacements often get contrived entrances - which is actually really fun. My favorite has to be when Chaos (Laughter ported to the updated system - for those unfamiliar w/ AoH, it's like a Rod of Wonder) triggered a high-stakes game of Cards Against Equinity against a demon who leapt through a portal... And brought our new healer. Iirc, our boss (also a demon) called in a favor with the guy.
So, I had snuck a peek at the DM's notes, and caught a name. Cryanthis. Apparently she was a blind seer, and a goddess in disguise. I went and wrote in my backstory that she had sworn on her soul to be my bride, and we were betrothed. The DM, naturally, only glanced at my backstory. So when he introduced her out of the blue, my noble paladin rushed forward and lifted her in a gentle hug.
My Paladin: "My darling! How I have missed you so! I had feared you lost! I have been searching for you for a year!"
DM: "What the hell are you doing?"
Me: "It's in my backstory. We are betrothed to wed. There were three pages dedicated to it. You signed off on it."
DM: "Fine. You're betrothed."
Crysanthis: "My love! I thought you would never find me! Now we can go home and play! Oh, I cannot wait until I am old enough for us to be wed!"
What wasn't in the DM's notes was her age. She was eight.
She was a good DMPC, though. Her visions were useful, and she didn't try to enter combat. My paladin didn't have much trouble protecting her.
Kinda like Ashley from Resident Evil 4. When I needed to leave her alone for a bit, She knew to stay where I put her.
And that is how I married the virgin goddess of visions.
And before anyone asks, the virgin goddess thing is complicated. The way it works is that her virginity... grew back every time. The DM thought that would be a turn off. Poor guy had no clue.
A couple sessions later, there was a new guy. My paladin marched into the room, a grin on his face. "I just deflowered a blind maiden! You know the best thing about blind maidens? They never know where your hands will go!"
And then we spent ten minutes discussing our reasons for liking women with disabilities. My paladin and the new guy, that is. Turns out he's a devotee. My paladin, on the other hand, had developed a taste for blind virgins...
A taste for... well okay then. :)
I've played a 16-year old in an X-Files game. She was a consultant for magical research and boy did her skills get a lot of work. The Jersey Devil case turned out to involve a doomsday cult summoning those creatures to kill certain people for the blood ritual to summon a demon. Whoa...
But the other players liked to joke about my character's age. I joked too, like this exchange:
PC: "The security chief is going to look at you the same way I do."
Me: "What, that he wishes I was two years older?"
Hilarity.
I've played a 16-year old in an X-Files game. She was a consultant for magical research and boy did her skills get a lot of work. The Jersey Devil case turned out to involve a doomsday cult summoning those creatures to kill certain people for the blood ritual to summon a demon. Whoa...
But the other players liked to joke about my character's age. I joked too, like this exchange:
PC: "The security chief is going to look at you the same way I do."
Me: "What, that he wishes I was two years older?"
Hilarity.
When the DM said she was eight, my response was, "Well, she did fall in love with him for his noble heart, not his sexy bod, so no reason why he can't wait for her to grow up."
"Are you sure?"
"Oh, totally! He can personally teach her to be a splendid wife."
Not so creepy in a world where arranged marriages are common.
Christ. Reaaaaaaaally didn't want to know about the virginity thing. What you do with eight year old girls is between you, your group and the FBI.
I think she had grown up before there was any deflowering.
2nd, I have shoehorned a lot of characters because we tend to do or go through things quicker or play through the plot longer then I anticipated. My ultimate favorite was from my first time DMing, where I created an NPC (later a based off of characters). His name was Popsicle Bacon, and he was a 1083 year old human wizard on the search for immortality.
I inserted a one-off character but the group liked said character so much, I had to write more plot around it in future sessions.
The NPC was later named Sarah. And the rest, as they say, is history...
"When and how did I get babysat by a PRINCESS??"
I think we're all looking forward to seeing how the GM explains that one. Especially if (s)he goes with the idea that Cadance was her foalsitter BEFORE Twi became Celestia's student.
I think we're all looking forward to seeing how the GM explains that one. Especially if (s)he goes with the idea that Cadance was her foalsitter BEFORE Twi became Celestia's student.
This is why fleshing out one's backstory is a wise investment. Keeps the GM from throwing too much personal weirdness at you. :D
Even within the show. Why DID they decide that Twilight needed a friggin' ALICORN to babysit her?
The same reason why Twilight had to ascend and why the library had to die: so they could sell more toys.
Having been around over a thousand years must have made Celestia savvy to long-term plotting like that.
A common thought is that Cadence was using it as an excuse to get to know Shining Armor and his family better before actually starting their relationship.
Also, I tend to think that Sparkle's parents were at least minor players in the rich power elite of Canterlot and thus were a bit more likely to afford or have connections to someone like Cadence. Especially given the number of books they bought Twilight so she could attempt her entrance exam.
Also, I tend to think that Sparkle's parents were at least minor players in the rich power elite of Canterlot and thus were a bit more likely to afford or have connections to someone like Cadence. Especially given the number of books they bought Twilight so she could attempt her entrance exam.
On the nobility thing, take a look at the coats of arms scattered around the house that presumably belongs to Shining Armor.
Well, that could be fatal to my present headcanon (that she's the last surviving heir to the Crystal Empire. Methodical overlords like Sombra do seem to have a predilection for executing threats, but missing just enough to have one come back to dethrone them.)
@Disloyal Subject: Well, there was a backstory for her presented in Twilight and the Crystal Heart Spell. If you accept that, then no, Cadance really is an orphan. She was a very young pegasus found alone in the middle of a forest, and was adopted into a village of Earth ponies.
My daughter has that book. I've read it and find that "being the last heir to the Crystal Empire" could still fit nicely with the orphan thing. :3 Really, those two plot elements love getting paired together.
I was just worried new canon might be conflicting with that - I tend to be a bit orphan-happy with back stories, so I'm used to integrating previously unknown parents.
If you accept IDW canon, Cadance pretty much wants to be treated like any other pony (attending what I'm assuming is a public high school in Canterlot and such), and also runs a babysitting service that Twilight's parents hired her for. (It was orchestrated, but by Shining Armor because he really wanted to talk to her)
...hmm, helping Cadence's ancestors escape the Empire's sealing could be an interesting, if slightly textbook, one-shot campaign. I wonder if pre- gen4 ponies lived in such high fantasy worlds.
The bit about the foalsitting service is new to me, but unsurprising. Gotta start going to the comic shop again.
That's pretty much my headcanon too, and I've read all the chapter books, so you're all good!
~Until further notice, at least >D ~
~Until further notice, at least >D ~
Yeah, Twilight's upbrigging is quite surprising, when you think about it. Foalsitted by a princess, became the protégée of another one (and the actual ruler of Equestria of all thing)...
And the few times we actually saw Twi's parents, they never seemed to be anything much, just some regular ponies. Though we hardly saw them and never heard their voice. I was kind of disappointed when, after Twilight's coronation, they didn't even came to congratulate their daughter, like Shining armor did. Dunno, it would seemed only natural, given how they were there and seemed proud during the ceremony.
Anyway, still hoping we might get to actually know them at some point. And maybe get a few answers while we're at it. Like how the hell did Twi got Cadenza as a foalsitter ? Oo
Also, DM not doing anything with Princess Luna ! Bad DM !
And the few times we actually saw Twi's parents, they never seemed to be anything much, just some regular ponies. Though we hardly saw them and never heard their voice. I was kind of disappointed when, after Twilight's coronation, they didn't even came to congratulate their daughter, like Shining armor did. Dunno, it would seemed only natural, given how they were there and seemed proud during the ceremony.
Anyway, still hoping we might get to actually know them at some point. And maybe get a few answers while we're at it. Like how the hell did Twi got Cadenza as a foalsitter ? Oo
Also, DM not doing anything with Princess Luna ! Bad DM !
The IDW Pony comics offered one explanation on how Cadance becomes Twilight's foalsitter. Not sure if spoiler, so I'll just say that it was not an accident.
As for Luna... Yeah, it's a slip-up, but the DM's been busy trying to keep the game from getting derailed too badly again, & balance all the characters' development. With this, or... well, ANY party, that can't be easy.
IDW ? What's that ? And is their work considered canon ?
As for Cellestia smoothing things out for Twilight, yeah, but I always thought that she took notice of Twilight's potential after her exam. And I'd guess that Cadenza was foalsitting her way before that.
Unless there was some prophecy of some sort...
As for Cellestia smoothing things out for Twilight, yeah, but I always thought that she took notice of Twilight's potential after her exam. And I'd guess that Cadenza was foalsitting her way before that.
Unless there was some prophecy of some sort...
IDW, the comic book publisher. They release the My Little Pony comic series which has been quite good. how much of it is canon is debated, but on it's own it stands up pretty well.
As for Cadance becoming Twilight's foal sitter, the comic book shows that it had nothing to do with Celestia. Shining Armor had a hoof in that set up.
As for Cadance becoming Twilight's foal sitter, the comic book shows that it had nothing to do with Celestia. Shining Armor had a hoof in that set up.
The expanded universe (main comics, Ministories, Friends Forever and the books) are officially on a "I don't care" canon consideration, that means they dont check each other and pretty much do what they want.
So in the end its up to you if you consider them canon or not. I personally love them and add almost all of it to my own headcannon, as they add a lot more details to the story (The nightmare forces and Cadence life as prime examples) and even prefer their canon to the main series canon in some points (Cheerilee being the same age as the mane six in the series while in the comics she has shining armor and Mayor Mare age)
So in the end its up to you if you consider them canon or not. I personally love them and add almost all of it to my own headcannon, as they add a lot more details to the story (The nightmare forces and Cadence life as prime examples) and even prefer their canon to the main series canon in some points (Cheerilee being the same age as the mane six in the series while in the comics she has shining armor and Mayor Mare age)
IDW is the company producing the official comics. And of course they're canon; they're official. Also awesome.
Cannon can be a difficult thing to deal with, as it occasionally goes off at you.
From what Adser and Digo says, Star wars expanded universe comes to mind : "official", but not really "canon".
Anyway, thanks for the various answers. Might try and give those comics a try sometime.
Anyway, thanks for the various answers. Might try and give those comics a try sometime.
This is a very accurate rendition of the confusion around a table. Nicely done.
Things like that are weird, and reminders that it's intended to be a children's show. What you can do in a kid's show sometimes just gets to be too much in a story made for an older audience, at least if it isn't given any kind of justification.
My headcanon is that Twilight's family is nobility of some sort. They are Canterlot unicorns, after all. They're just... modest. And Twilight, being the youngest and quite sheltered, never really noticed.
I didn't follow the series in detail, just funny or interesting episodes, so maybe fans could argue it was because of Twilight's powers or something? I don't know, it's got a big brother who was a major influence on her life and captain of a royal guard just introduced out of nowhere, you've got to be generous to the writers and accept these things to keep the story going.
Yes, sorry, not a story about one of the many shenanigans of just doing the tabletop but a doubt about the comic.
Applejack say that it has been years in the table but that does mean the time that the mane party has been playing the setting or about the combined experienced in different adventures as a meta example?
Also, what is the longest one single party has managed to stay united in one of your settings? The longest for me was for 8 consecutive months (+ 2 months hiatus) in a Werewolf the apocalypse/Magic the gathering/ all flesh must be eaten pandemonium when I was in highschool.
Applejack say that it has been years in the table but that does mean the time that the mane party has been playing the setting or about the combined experienced in different adventures as a meta example?
Also, what is the longest one single party has managed to stay united in one of your settings? The longest for me was for 8 consecutive months (+ 2 months hiatus) in a Werewolf the apocalypse/Magic the gathering/ all flesh must be eaten pandemonium when I was in highschool.
IIRc, Twilight and Fluttershy's players are new to the hobby, while Rarity, Dash and Applejack knew each other's styles beforehand. Pinkie I'm not sure of off the top of my head.
Can't think of what Luna has been up too? Just make her a Hikkomori like they did with Tohou's Kaguya.
Well, Faust fought to have Cadance be a unicorn rather than an alicorn. Hasbro won out on that one, obviously. But it gave them a pink alicorn princess that they could use and be able to bring out a white Celestia.
Are you sure? I always read unicorn, and looking at the canon pairings (and ignoring fanon ones), they have all been between the same species of pony, with Candace and Shining being the only exception. I know that she was originally a Pegasus in the book, but Faust, Hasbro, and the rest of the team had no involvement in that. So I consider them fan-fiction at best.
"There's a comic like that. Cadance makes a deal with Shining's dad to babysit for like... two oatsicles and marriage to Shining. It's hilarious.
Here:
http://toonbat.tumblr.com/post/49043194735/headcanon"
Oh, that Lionel Hutz reference. XD Phil Hartman was taken from us far, far too soon.
Shining was probably a little ticked about finding out he's only worth as much as an old birdcage, but it seems to be working out for him in the long run.
Shining was probably a little ticked about finding out he's only worth as much as an old birdcage, but it seems to be working out for him in the long run.
Personally. I prefer the idea that Cadance just loves kids and babysitting.
I can't wait to see my players' reaction to finding this out.
I frequently shoe-horn in characters but it never looks that way; largely because I pepper the story with so many loose ends and random crap that I can pick and choose a pre-forewarned backstory as I choose.
It's more fun when the players guess at it first...
It's more fun when the players guess at it first...
Video!
I know that the focus is still on Twilight and her family/foal sitter, but I still think were forgetting something... what was it?... oh yeah, PRINCESS LUNA LIVES... and is probably good aligned now.
I know that the focus is still on Twilight and her family/foal sitter, but I still think were forgetting something... what was it?... oh yeah, PRINCESS LUNA LIVES... and is probably good aligned now.
Wow. A party member remembering something in your plot you didn't.
How come they retain only the info that ends up making a fool of you?
Also:
"I think we can all agree what a minor miracle it was that the Season Two finale and its new characters turned out as well as they did."
Oh there's PLENTY of room to disagree there.
How come they retain only the info that ends up making a fool of you?
Also:
"I think we can all agree what a minor miracle it was that the Season Two finale and its new characters turned out as well as they did."
Oh there's PLENTY of room to disagree there.
Fallout is Dragons will up on Saturday, and for the foreseeable future will continue to go up on Saturday. Sorry for the consistent delays up to this point - promising a regular update during such a tumultuous time in my life might've been a little premature. But Saturday seems to be working well for me, so Saturday it is.