Friendship is Dragons
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Page 496 - Questions About Questions
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73 Comments:
I had to laugh at the Tumblrbot joke. Nicely done, Spud.
Also, this ties in nicely with the shoddy quality of Dash's costume. Her player came up with it at the last minute.
Also, this ties in nicely with the shoddy quality of Dash's costume. Her player came up with it at the last minute.
Raxon, I believe you missed the part where you actually make a joke about tumblr. Unless you're secretly Rainbow Dash's player, then it makes sense.
Tumblr is a bit crazier than you, Raxon. I'm entertained by your kind of crazy. Tumblr's got stuff that I don't even.
Unfortunately that's the kind of stuff that get's hits so I have to play along if I want visitors to my corner. :3
Unfortunately that's the kind of stuff that get's hits so I have to play along if I want visitors to my corner. :3
No, I think you underestimate me. You have seen the kind of crap I pull, my horrific character concepts. You have seen the kind of logic I can pull out of my arse. You have not seen me get crazy. I can talk the lingo, and I am well versed in that variety of thinking.
You know, I know otherkin, I know folks with PTSD and PDSD, I know furries, I know transgendered persons, I know multiples, I know bronies.. I probably know people who are in nearly every category that gets mocked for their writings on Tumblr.
Funny thing is, so far I have no evidence that anyone writing the babble demonstrated above this comment is anything but a grown man trolling children, or someone whose brain has not matured.
Funny thing is, so far I have no evidence that anyone writing the babble demonstrated above this comment is anything but a grown man trolling children, or someone whose brain has not matured.
However, there is a culture of shouting down others and willful ignorance on Tumblr. There is rampant racism and doxxing of people with contrary opinions, and a lot of "your documented facts are wrong because I want them to be wrong!" It has a lot of hatred and bigotry. It is worse than 4chan ever was.
Let that sink in. Tumblr is more hateful than 4chan. At least with 4chan (before Moot ruined it), you could argue with someone on equal grounds. Sure, it was a shouting match, and racial slurs and epithets would be thrown around, but you wouldn't be doxxed or be harassed in real life by hundreds of people because you had a disagreement on the internet. Hell, there are people there that can and will doxx you and accuse you of rape.
That does not go away. That is crossing a big line. Even 4chan never did that. Tumblr has become filled with cruel, petty people. And these people call themselves noble. They call themselves saviors of the world. they think they're crusaders, and I suppose they're right. The original crusaders were bigoted, misguided people who also tried to put others to the sword for their beliefs. The actual crusaders, however, were superior in that they knew what they the hell they were actually fighting for.
...Huh. Maybe I should lay off the tumblr for a while...
Honestly, Digo, one would think he's given us enough of a glimpse-tease to get into his psyche, but Raxon's a little harder to get a mark on than I am.
Oh, Raxon, good you ever make that character? I think you were talking about it on One Piece 3.5, but it was that really crazy fun sounding character you were conceptualizing. Did ya ever finish them?
Oh, Raxon, good you ever make that character? I think you were talking about it on One Piece 3.5, but it was that really crazy fun sounding character you were conceptualizing. Did ya ever finish them?
All I said was that his kind of crazy is amusing and entertaining compared to what I usually see on Tumblr. :)
There is quite the difference between manufactured and spontaneous insanity, yet in the end, both are insanity nonetheless. See also, the 2011 election of miss Youmu Konpaku, or the Nyx Wars.
Spontaneous insanity is me, in the cooking, laughing maniacally as shred the chicken or chop veggies. It is me telling them that everything is gonna be okay, and describing to them in the kindest, gentlest way that they're never truly dead, they'll live on in me forever. telling them not to be sad, because even though they disappointed me, and I have to punish them now, I still love them very much.
No one's underestimating you. You're boring and obnoxious.
I used to be on Tumblr, but it got to the point where even I thought I had an unhealthy addiction to the site. (You know, as opposed to all of the healthy addictions out there.) It was fun, but there are other things I want to with my life.
The end is nigh. Homestucks spill out of your closets and ventilation systems. The world is vibrating with pounding footsteps and chanting voices. Your family and friends rip off their clothing to reveal Homestuck cosplays. Grey paint is everywhere. People are screaming. Only the chosen few shall ascend in the Rapture, leaving the rest to drown in rushing seas of grey paint. The Gigapause is over. The Gigaupdate is announced. Prepare and repent. Become a Homestuck while you still can. The Gigapocalypse is upon us. Repent.
Meh, I liked Problem Sleuth better.
When you open up a blog for questions, "Tumblrbot," an automated system blog, sends you one randomly selected from a small list. One of them is "WHAT IS YOUR FIRST HUMAN MEMORY?" The human is emphasized and the question is in all caps because a robot is asking you.
Ahh Character Questions, some of my past GMs liked to toss those at us, mostly to annoy us, I like to use them to give players more to roleplay with.
In the Pathfinder game I'm currently in, the GM gave us all a HUGE questionnaire -it's easily 5 pages in small type of nitpicking questions about every aspect of my character's background, daily life, and characterization.
I ended up answering it mostly in character, which made it a lot less boring.
I ended up answering it mostly in character, which made it a lot less boring.
Oohhh, a mute character? Were they hard to RP? A friend of mine wrote a story called 'The Mute Octave' where Octavia gets teleported to a human world (neither ours nor the EqG one), and befriends a guy with PTSD from watching his mother get killed at the age of eight. Thanks to his mom telling him to be quiet until she said he could speak again, he hasn't spoken since, and feels as if he's a nobody because of that, but starts setting that the people who hang our with him aren't doing so out of pity, and actually because he's a nice, friendly, I'd somewhat silent guy.
The last chapter we got put up before my workload forestalled further progress inflicted 2d6 per round of feels damage. It Was... quite satisfying, I've gotta say, being able to move someone to tears.
The last chapter we got put up before my workload forestalled further progress inflicted 2d6 per round of feels damage. It Was... quite satisfying, I've gotta say, being able to move someone to tears.
"The wolf silently stood and nuzzled her cheek. It nudged her to her feet, and grasped her free hand in its jaws, leading her into the cave. Inside, it lead her to a bend, where it pulled a torch from a crate, along with a flint and steel. After a few attempts, the wolf looked up at her and pawed at the torch. Taking the hint, she lit the torch, and followed it inside.
Along the walls were less detailed statues of animals, of trees, fruit, and a few of frightened women. Deeper inside, there were men with spears and bows. A statue of an old crone, a child statue, and a hunter. As she looked at the statues, the wolf ran out, and brought back a log like the one it had carved her statue from. Carefully placing the log in the back, the wolf gently took the statue he had carved of her, and placed it on the rough wooden pedestal."
...
"The wolf took her by the hand, and pulled her aside. It pulled her down to sit on the cool stone floor, as it went and fetched the hunter statue, and the child statue. Placing them before her, it then brought a statue of a deer. Checking to make sure **** was paying attention, it moved the hunter closer to the deer, then gently knocked the deer over.
The wolf went and fetched the crone statue, and placed it near the child. Nudging the crone towards the child, it quickly moved the hunter between them. The wolf took the hunter statue and laid it down. The crone was moved closer, and the child removed and replaced by a wolf statue.
The wolf was moved away from the crone, and the crone was put back. It fetched a woman, and placed it, nudging the wolf closer. The woman was moved away and replaced by the men with spears and bows. It knocked over one man with a spear, and then moved the wolf away, whimpering.
It picked up the wolf statue, and placed it gently on the ground in front of her and nudged it towards her, then backed away. The wolf sat down a few feet from her. Glancing briefly at the exit, the wolf lowered its head and looked away, refusing to meet her gaze."
No, communication was not an insurmountable obstacle. An animal like a dog or cat generally has a wide enough range of expression that basic communication is doable. Wolf was able to say some things with his statues, and though he couldn't read or write, he could do other things. He could carve little statues, tell you yes or no, ask you to go somewhere, etc. I didn't have any real difficulty playing the character.
EDIT: Yes, I know parts of it got pretty repetitive. He had a name, but that wasn't learned until much, much later.
...I may steal this statue communication scene....or something like it anyway.
My inspiration for this character came from two sources. Beast from Beauty and the Beast, and Jack from Titanic. You know the scene.
The funny thing is this was just a one shot character, a cute little gimmick. People liked Wolf. A lot. So now I use him sometimes.
... Now I'm sad I never got Newbie's question thing for Fallout since I had no idea how the game system worked (Aspirations of Harmony (right?)).
Either way, figured out how it worked (cause I found a manual), and this is a multi-part series of about 2 hours.
You and me both. I found the comic around the time they were doing the third session of the game and I found myself asking "What the heck?" But that's besides the point...Still wish I could of joined. Sorry, I'll get back to the point.
Anyway, questionnaires. I've never had a DM actually ask me any questions about my character before. Usually I come up with questions for my own character to answer in my attempt to flesh him out as I find it helps me roleplay better. The only time I haven't is with my current cleric and that's mostly because the background stuff I had to roll up for him and the events of the last few sessions have basically defined who he is at this point.
As for the video...yea, that pretty much sounds like my current group right now. Complete with book hitting even.
I like questionnaires because it helps jog my players' creativity on what their characters are like. Nothing too hard though. Most of the ones I like to give out are related to what kind of adventuring they like to do. That way I have ways to keep the characters invested in the plot and thus, keep the players interested. :3
Well, the players are human, and this is an OOC conversation.
Oh, well, if you want ’em . . .
Big fat 12-pager for major characters: http://fav.me/d7q9vgl
Medium-size 4-pager for secondary characters: http://fav.me/d7qq5un
Teeny-tiny 2-pager for minor characters: http://fav.me/d7qq19b
The original was developed for authorial purposes, but I ’ve reworked these extensively to make them more broadly useful. No, they don’t ask about bedsheets or refrigerator contents or Hallowe’en costumes. At least not directly.
Big fat 12-pager for major characters: http://fav.me/d7q9vgl
Medium-size 4-pager for secondary characters: http://fav.me/d7qq5un
Teeny-tiny 2-pager for minor characters: http://fav.me/d7qq19b
The original was developed for authorial purposes, but I ’ve reworked these extensively to make them more broadly useful. No, they don’t ask about bedsheets or refrigerator contents or Hallowe’en costumes. At least not directly.
So yeah, got a little caught up in the FNDM, but I am here now.
Also, most of those questions are rather dumb. I've never liked them.
Thou shouldst not judge such person by mere appearances, lest thy find thine self in a most unpleasant way.
(Translation: Have you seen that guy move? He's going to be able to annihilate just about everything what stands in his way, or my name's not Nathan.)
(Translation: Have you seen that guy move? He's going to be able to annihilate just about everything what stands in his way, or my name's not Nathan.)
I was a little irritated by how they had Blake behave around Zwei. Surely there are dog Faunus, yet she was calm at the White Fang meeting... I dunno, I guess I was used to thinking of Faunus as humans with a few furry pieces tacked on, but it seems they've got a more animalistic side. Even so, it felt like they were playing it for cheap laughs, which the mail tube already had covered.
Still, professor Oobleck made it all worthwhile.
That said, I have to wonder if this is the place for RWBY discussion. /co/ has a dedicated thread chain, but given the host site it's a little caustic.
I bet Ooblek was the hunter for Team Cfvy. He seems to like coffee.
It's possible that she just doesn't like dogs, or is allergic, or sees the the dog as a distraction from their mission, and thinks that the group has too many of those already.
Also, who else thinks that the pack Ruby carries in the next scene after Zwei doesn't just contain traveling supplies?
Also, who else thinks that the pack Ruby carries in the next scene after Zwei doesn't just contain traveling supplies?
29th Sep 2014, 10:34 PM
Why Am I commenting, I'll only feed the out-of-place thread
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Ruby's pack: probably. But I hope not. No offense to the corgi, but I just wanna see the characters established in volume 1 shine a bit.
It's odd looking at this and other RPG-Show webcomics, but in my experience I've actually found several GMs who really weren't that interested in PC backstories. Often they wanted the party to get on with the adventure the GM had planned for them.
Although I will admit that this was in high school and when you give people the ability to write whatever they want for their character, they can get a bit... immature.
Although I will admit that this was in high school and when you give people the ability to write whatever they want for their character, they can get a bit... immature.
-a lifetime of raiding and mercenary work resulting in the deaths of his wife & kids, which he's so traumatized by he represses it and thinks they're alive
-working with Space Marines in the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition and being mind-wiped
-growing up on Volg Hive. I lost 13 pages he sent me before I had time to read them, but I know slavery was involved.
And then there's my character, a Hiver Assassin who's lived on the streets since infancy, killing as necessary. The Venator Crimson Guardsman was the only one with less backstory than me.
Funny that character questionnaires come up.
Last few weeks I've been working on a Pathfinder/Fallout crossover game*, and one thing I've been working on lately is an exam for the party (all from a Vault) before they enter the Wasteland. Basically the GOAT from Fallout 3, except their answers help suggest character classes rather than "tagged skills." Dunno how well it works yet, in theory or in practice, but even if it bombs it'll be worth a laugh.
*Before you ask how, I point you towards the "Technology Guide" Paizo put out a little while ago.
Last few weeks I've been working on a Pathfinder/Fallout crossover game*, and one thing I've been working on lately is an exam for the party (all from a Vault) before they enter the Wasteland. Basically the GOAT from Fallout 3, except their answers help suggest character classes rather than "tagged skills." Dunno how well it works yet, in theory or in practice, but even if it bombs it'll be worth a laugh.
*Before you ask how, I point you towards the "Technology Guide" Paizo put out a little while ago.
And then there's Dread, the horror RPG in which your character sheet is nothing but a questionnaire.
Also Jenga is involved.
Also Jenga is involved.
Hey Spud,
For those questionnaires, were they about the character or the player?
For those questionnaires, were they about the character or the player?
9 actually gives me some pause because I guess I've never actually thought I'll gain anything from playing any character really....Actually I take that back, there is one pair of characters I made for a forum rp for the purpose of exploring a few themes I had kinda become interested recently. For those that are curious, the two are a mad scientist/AI assistant duo. The scientist came from a world that was a scientific minded meritocracy that had hit stagnation after essentially solving all their problems and achieve perfection through melding of body and technology. Essentially, they became tech wizards that ran out of things to do and our good doctor (everyone keeps insisting on calling him that despite the fact that he refuses to mess around with time) got shot to the sun for doing a social taboo after he ticked off the ruling party. Somehow he missed the sun and ended up on Earth. Superhero rp, go figure. He ended up doing freelance stuff for the government and found his AI assistant in an abandoned research facility. The AI in question was actually the research head's daughter who was born blind and crippled and so he basically transferred her soul into the mainframe in an attempt to free her from her body with every intent on figuring out a way to get her into an android before everyone was killed in an accident. Because superhero rp. So the duo run around the metropolis helping where they can, the doctor motivated by the fact that he can finally do whatever the heck he wants without people saying that it's been done before and the AI finally gets to see the outside world for once in her life. Though now that I'm actually thinking about them and Halloween (thanks to the current story arc), I'm wondering how they would react to the event. Both have no concept of the holiday and they both already look like they are in costume (the AI has a holographic "ghost" that runs around with the scientist) so I can see them being utterly confused as they investigate why everyone is dressed up in silly costumes and having everyone compliment them on theirs.
Sorry, I kinda rambled a little bit there. At least that means I finally feel comfortable posting here, so that's a plus.
Regarding #13 and clerics, I actually prefer loner clerics of individualistic or reclusive gods like Fharlanghn or <setting's resident mysterious neutral druid god>. Largely because I don't 'get' organized religion, and doubt my ability to do it justice unless it's a much bigger part of the character than I've yet been comfortable with.
For clerics, I guess having been a missionary myself, I'm comfortable playing a representative of a god or group of gods and I understand the motivations and reasons why someone would do that knowing that the party they will be keeping will likely not care one way or another as long as they get healed and enemies blow up.
Write what you know, eh?
That said, it's not quite a life for me. Just don't screw with a monk who carries a staff. They tend to be able to swing quite hard. Then again, How tough could they be? The guy I met accidentally broke his staff, so he ripped a branch off a tree to use. They can't be a threat if they're that clumsy, right?
Waaaaait... How about a god of theatrics and drama? Guy! I could make a cleric whose sacred rites are long, dramatic monologues! Imagine this lunatic saying grace over a meal!
"Our dearest god, Karmathrusta, the time draws ever nearer. The fools, they know not our plans. They dare not move against me, for they know I alone hold their lives in my hands! I think they will be quite surprised as I do your work, my lord.None shall suspect our true motives. And now, my lord, as I draw this prayer to an end, please bless this food, that they might sup well in their final hours. Amen. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
so trying a new game a friend 'highly suggests' we try. cant think of the name off the top of my head. Its like D&D but with some steampunk-ish 'goblin inventor' technology. (simple mechanics, crude explosives, etc)
were playing the starting campaign.. with empathies on starter as is our our charaters getting going to well become adventures. (getting licensed, training, etc)
Our two 'Travelers' have stopped at a tavern the night before our entrance exam. We are siting at a large table (made for 6-8) with a sevral other people. One is a local citicen (farmer) and the other 5 are all adventures. Cleric, ranger, mage, Warrior... and a rather grubby dwarf gunsmith. By sheer chance I see a theif steal a bag from someone and try and slink off. I yell at him, he throws a knife at me and starts running/jostling to make an escape. I grab the dwarf's 'musket-gun' point it in the semi-general direction of the thief and yank the trigger.
BOOM.
next think I know my charater is half squshed into the wall, staring at the giant smoking hole where the other 3/5th of the buling was.
Seems the dwarf had loaded an explosive round... and my shot hit the storeroom full of ale.
And that's why my character hates dwarves.
were playing the starting campaign.. with empathies on starter as is our our charaters getting going to well become adventures. (getting licensed, training, etc)
Our two 'Travelers' have stopped at a tavern the night before our entrance exam. We are siting at a large table (made for 6-8) with a sevral other people. One is a local citicen (farmer) and the other 5 are all adventures. Cleric, ranger, mage, Warrior... and a rather grubby dwarf gunsmith. By sheer chance I see a theif steal a bag from someone and try and slink off. I yell at him, he throws a knife at me and starts running/jostling to make an escape. I grab the dwarf's 'musket-gun' point it in the semi-general direction of the thief and yank the trigger.
BOOM.
next think I know my charater is half squshed into the wall, staring at the giant smoking hole where the other 3/5th of the buling was.
Seems the dwarf had loaded an explosive round... and my shot hit the storeroom full of ale.
And that's why my character hates dwarves.
My only experience with one of these was for a Dark Heresy campaign that I was adapting to the Adeptus Arbites (think US Marshals meet Judge Dredd plus Supernatural).
I had each of the characters undergo an interview with the precinct captain, which helped both to flesh out the characters and to give me some kind of idea of what the players had in mind for them.
I had each of the characters undergo an interview with the precinct captain, which helped both to flesh out the characters and to give me some kind of idea of what the players had in mind for them.
You know, like a fake rat, or a spider, or a mannequin crouched in the backseat. MWAHAHAHAHA!
I can recall trying to join an online D&D campaign and the DM wanting a 3 Paragraph treatment on the character's motivation, family history, upbringing, schooling and their relationship to the community as described in his 12 page Ebberon fanfiction. needless to say everyone he invited to play preemptively quit.
See, I usually ask for 1-2 paragraphs of that, but it's optional and if you *DO* write it out I award bonus Exp on the spot for taking the time to write it.
Proper reward for the effort usually works. :)
Proper reward for the effort usually works. :)
29th Sep 2014, 8:19 AM
5 pages is my cap for required reading (aside from rulebooks)
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It's twelve freaking pages. That's ten minutes of reading. Sheesh.
on my very first time I played, I was the only one that actually wrote a background. wrote about 2 paragraphs while everyone else wrote tops 2 sentences. It being my first time I wanted to come overprepared, how was I supposed to know M was going to completly igonre it anyway?
For example, a lot of questionnaires ask about your character's family. Most games don't touch on that information, or if they do it's in passing. I've played games where my family matters (one time my character went missing in the middle of a crisis, so the other PCs ended up going to his dad for help finding him... my character's dad was his dimension's equivalent to Odin, Zeus, etc.), but not that often.
More often, if my character's family comes up at all, it's because I brought them up. Another character I play is an older man, so sometimes when we go to a new place I mention that I buy various knickknacks to send home to the grandkids. It's basically a fun gold sink for a character who would otherwise never spend money, but it's not a huge detail that NEEDED to be sorted out at character creation for the tone of the game.
Things that are more likely to come up would be your current reputation with the place you inhabit, notable rivals there, etc. It's not that your character's family, hopes, and dreams aren't relevant, but a lot of games don't bring them to the spotlight because a lot of GMs don't really think about them.
Granted, I do have to bribe them to get answers and even then, some of them are kind of meager, but still.
That said, some questions are better than others. (These are real questions, by the way.)
Speaking of Fallout is Dragons, I'm getting up very early this morning to finish off the editing for the latest session. It'll probably be an extra hour before links start showing up.
Session 23.5: Libsyn YouTube