|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
01-12-2016, 08:12 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
Hi Folks,
Having recently watched the first season of the “Sword Art Online” (SAO) anime series, I became interested in the idea of using the “ALfheim Online ” (ALO) setting (from the end of the first season of SAO) as inspiration for a GURPS RPG setting. For those who haven’t seen/read about SAO/ALO, the idea is that in the future they develop full immersion Virtual Reality MMORPGs, and AFO is one of the game settings. The ALO setting is a realm of fae, where player avatars are different races of winged fairies (each with their own racial magical powers/skills and other special powers & attributes) who compete against each other plus monsters for different quests/goals (there is an online Wiki and other resources if you want more details). I’m not interested in the whole game-in-a-game FIVR MMORPG angle for this exercise, just the ALO setting as an inspiration for a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy Setting. A Fantasy setting with Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic seems like it would be a fun draw if I use the setting for one-shot games at Cons and FLGSs (a large part of my gaming these days). But it would also be an interesting setting for use in a campaign with my own gaming group. For this thread/exercise, I thought it might be interesting to bring up different elements of the setting, state my ideas and get other folk’s thought and/or alternative ideas. This will help me finalize the setting in my head. I know GURPS Fantasy has great advice for refining a Fantasy setting, and I will be pulling out my copy and using its advice too. I would appreciate some other opinions, so that I don’t end up with a setting that is fascinating to me, but a bore to everyone else. So thanks in advance for any help! -Dan P.S. What I will do, after this introduction post, is set aside a couple posts (2 and 3) for a TOC of later discussions. I will then bring up each discussion topic/element is a separate post. As time permits, I’ll populate the TOC noting the related post number. This will be useful for me tracking down thoughts, but others will hopefully find it useful too. Last edited by DAT; 01-13-2016 at 07:47 PM. Reason: Fix AFO for ALO |
01-12-2016, 08:14 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
TOC
A. General Goal of the Setting: (see Posts 4 - ) B. Available Races: (see Posts 5, - ) C. Magic “Colleges”: (see Posts, 9,10, - ) D. Number and Types of Magic to Use: (see Posts, 10, - ) E. Powering Magic: (see Posts, 10, - ) F. Flight – Time (see Posts, TBD, - ) G. Flight – Hitting/Damaging Wings: (see Posts, TBD, - ) Last edited by DAT; 01-23-2016 at 03:40 PM. |
01-12-2016, 08:16 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
<<Reserved for future expansion as needed>>
|
01-12-2016, 08:18 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
A. General Goal of the Setting:
Ideas: 1) Match ALO 2) Start with ALO and add on (e.g., model the stated setting, then add other races/magic etc.) 3) Similar to ALO (e.g., remap some of the magic skills /power for better balance in GURPS) 4) Similar to ALO and then add on (e.g.,as 3 but 2) 5) Only the General Idea of AFO (e.g., new/different races and different magic/powers) My Thoughts: Matching ALO gives some recognition benefits for Con games, where someone familiar with the setting may try the game. Modeling an existing setting means some decisions are made beforehand too, which can be a time saver bonus. But trying to model a setting exactly can lead to some clunky game artifacts of an inconsistent setting. Starting with ALO and then adding on has the same disadvantage as just Matching ALO, but adds the time issues of new creations. But it does allow for fun expansions and customizations. Similar to ALO would mean there isn’t a clunky issue to worry about. Similar to ALO with add on, has advantages and disadvantages Going crazy with just general idea appeals to my creative side, but my time management size recognizes the scope … I’m leaning to #4. Thoughts? Last edited by DAT; 01-13-2016 at 07:49 PM. Reason: Fix AFO with ALO |
01-12-2016, 08:32 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
B. Available Races:
Ideas: 1) Same as ALO (Cait Sith, Gnome, Imp, Leprechaun, Pooka, Salamander, Spriggan, Sylph, and Udine) 2) Slightly Different (e.g., name/power tweaks) 3) Different number (fewer) 4) Slightly Difference AFO, add additional The plan will be to generate templates for each of the races. But since each of the races have their own magic, race and magic decisions are somewhat tied together. Flight and special powers gives rooms for other racial tweaks (e.g., Cait Sith are faster level fliers, Sylph have a faster climb and dive speed, Udine have longer endurance, …). I’m starting to think that keeping the existing races (only modified slightly for balance/consistency), and then adding on others for spice. I'm thinking #4. Thoughts? Last edited by DAT; 01-13-2016 at 07:49 PM. |
01-13-2016, 06:04 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
Unless there was an info dump I missed somewhere, I don't think the characteristics of the races in ALO were all spelled out in detail. Yet the setting (overall, not just ALO) is still being added to by the author. You run the risk of enticing players with familiarity, but then disappointing them because you missed some obscure reference about their favorite group. I think you're better off with "inspired by ALO". Then you can make it as close as you like, while maintaining balance and papering over any references you missed.
By the bye, you've been confusing ALO with "AFO" off and on. Specific comments: The key characteristic of flight in ALO is that it is limited, both in duration and in altitude. There are mountains too high, and presumably oceans too wide, to fly over. How you replicate that in GURPS is going to have a profound impact on the setting. Do you tie flight to FP, giving an advantage to characters with high HT? Can the limitations be exceeded through Extra Effort? Or are they just arbitrary? You should probably ignore anything Kirito does. He clearly benefits from Main Character Fu in ways that I imagine will break the setting if anyone else could replicate them. Some of his internal monologues about the differences between SAO, ALO, and GGO may be useful, however. |
01-13-2016, 08:20 PM | #7 | ||||
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
Quote:
But you make a very good point. More "inspired". Oops. Thanks. I'll go back and fix them. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
||||
01-14-2016, 09:44 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
FYI Below is a summary table of my notes from the Wiki:
1 Cait Sith Description: Cat like with cat ears and tail; Magic: Animal Powers: Flight, Monster Taming, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Eye sight (telescopic), Wall run 2 Gnome Description: Brown-styled; Magic: Earth Powers: Flight, largest (+1 SM ?) 3 Imp Description: White Skin with Purple tint, Bat Wings, Powers: Purple-styled; Magic: "Dark Magic" = Necro? or Light/Dark? Flight (in dark too), Night vision, Wall Run 4 Leprechaun Description:?; Magic: Making-Breaking? Powers: Flight (Mechanical Wings - (extra duration/height of flight?)), Blacksmith 5 Pooka Description: Gold-style; Magic: Mind Powers: Flight, Record/Enchant?, Song Magic 6 Salamander Description: Red-styled; Magic: Fire Powers: Flight (not underground), Enhanced ST 7 Spriggan Description: Black-styled; Magic: Illusion Powers: Flight, Treasure Hunting Magic, Multi-Weapon, Night Vision, Wall Run, 8 Sylph Description: Green-styled; Magic: Air Flight, Stealth Magic, Enhanced Speed, Wall Run 9 Udine Description: Blue-styled; Magic: Water Powers: Flight, healers/support magic, Underwater combat, Wall run 10 Pixie (NPC) Description: Small (SM-6); Magic: Knowledge Powers: Flight 11 Alf Description:? Magic: ? Powers: Flight (unlimited?) After reading over the ALO Wiki and thinking about it some more, “Inspired byALO” is the way to go. The level of detail varies enough that I would have to fill in gaps, and as I did chances are I would drift from the Author’s cannon, and as thrash said, disappoint some one Although I may end up using some of this, I think I am going to restart from scratch. One of the base ALO ideas I like is that each race is affiliate with a type of magic. So I am starting to thing it make work best to: 1) establish a pool of race name, 2) establish a list of magic types/colleges, and then 3) match the two. |
01-14-2016, 09:50 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
Race Name Pool:
Used in ALO = Cait Sith, Gnome, Imp, Leprechaun, Pooka, Salamander, Spriggan, Sylph, Udine, Pixie, Alfs New = Dryad, Faun, Nixie, Nymph , Siren, Bucca, Brownies, Hobs, Gremlin, Jinn, Sprite, Kijimuna, Yokai, Yakshini , Vulcans, Tengu, Magic College Pool: 24 Magic Colleges from GURPS Magic: AIR SPELLS ANIMAL SPELLS BODY CONTROL SPELLS COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS EARTH SPELLS ENCHANTMENT SPELLS FIRE SPELLS FOOD SPELLS GATE SPELLS HEALING SPELLS ILLUSION AND CREATION SPELLS KNOWLEDGE SPELLS LIGHT AND DARKNESS SPELLS MAKING AND BREAKING SPELLS META-SPELLS MIND CONTROL SPELLS MOVEMENT SPELLS NECROMANTIC SPELLS PLANT SPELLS PROTECTION AND WARNING SPELLS SOUND SPELLS TECHNOLOGICAL SPELLS WATER SPELLS WEATHER SPELLS A Mapping: Sylph - AIR SPELLS Cait Sith - ANIMAL SPELLS Nixie - BODY CONTROL SPELLS Bucca? - COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS Gnome - EARTH SPELLS Vulcans? - ENCHANTMENT SPELLS Salamander - FIRE SPELLS Faun - FOOD SPELLS Alf? - GATE SPELLS Nymph - HEALING SPELLS Spriggan - ILLUSION AND CREATION SPELLS Pixie - KNOWLEDGE SPELLS Sprite? - LIGHT AND DARKNESS SPELLS Leprechaun - MAKING AND BREAKING SPELLS Hobs? - META-SPELLS Pooka - MIND CONTROL SPELLS Alf? - MOVEMENT SPELLS Imp - NECROMANTIC SPELLS Dryad - PLANT SPELLS Brownies? - PROTECTION AND WARNING SPELLS Siren - SOUND SPELLS Gremlin - TECHNOLOGICAL SPELLS Udine - WATER SPELLS Jinn? - WEATHER SPELLS Used from Pool = Kijimuna, Yokai, Yakshini , Tengu, Thoughts? Last edited by DAT; 01-15-2016 at 08:24 AM. |
01-15-2016, 08:35 AM | #10 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
|
Re: Help Brainstorming a Fae Races w/ Flight & Magic Fantasy RPG Setting: Alfheim
Ideas on Magic for Setting:
All fae races start with Magery 0 [5] + 2 levels of Magery, some aspected or limited (e.g., song) Each race has an associated/aspected magic college Each races starts with a number (3 – 5, [5] each) of magic charms in their associated college Charms ignore prerequisites, and skill level are IQ+Magery Level, but can be raised for 4pts a level Other Spells can be learned normally (with prerequisites), assuming race’s magery allows, but spells from an enemy race’s college require and unusual background Advantage Spells cost Mana Energy Points (MEP), not FP Mana Energy Reserve (MER) (total MEP) = Will x 5 MAP Recover is a leveled advantage, not a spell. Level 0 [0] returns 1 MEP per 10 min., Level 1 [5] returns 1 MEP per 5 min., Level 2 [10] returns 1 MEP per 2 min, Level 3 [15] returns 1 MEP per 1min. Spell use also causes Chaos Corruption (Threshold), Average Threshold is TBD?, Recovery Rate is TBD? per night of rest. Threshold Table starts with FP loss, MEP loss, HP loss, temp MER reduction, Chao effects … Idea: Rune Magic Casting is slower, but costs less MEPs (Normal Cost/10, min 1). Enchantment can only be done with Rune Magic. Idea: Random – Faun use Music Rune Note Magic Thoughts? Alternatives? |
Tags |
alfheim, alfheim online, fantasy, sword art online |
|
|