Story

[Blizzard]

AD is right. This is what is called brainstorming. Add a bunch of stuff, whatever comes to your mind. Then sort out the useful things and start working. Trust me, the end result will be so much different than what you can read in the first post right now.

[Hatsamu]

I guess I'll post random ideas coming out from my mind, here =P


I was thinking that in some part of the story it would be great to have the party face the Creators or the Overgod itself in a human shape (or maybe they've possessed someone)

If this is "too much" maybe just the Main Character in some kind of dream or vision gets to face them.


Also, by "face them" I don't precisely mean a fight; it could also be a parallel/special quest in wich they get to learn skills/secrets/something or maybe just getting deeper in the story by having the Creators/Overgod version of the facts.

[WhiteRose]

I guess I'll post random ideas coming out from my mind, here =P


I was thinking that in some part of the story it would be great to have the party face the Creators or the Overgod itself in a human shape (or maybe they've possessed someone)

If this is "too much" maybe just the Main Character in some kind of dream or vision gets to face them.


Also, by "face them" I don't precisely mean a fight; it could also be a parallel/special quest in wich they get to learn skills/secrets/something or maybe just getting deeper in the story by having the Creators/Overgod version of the facts.

Not a bad idea; maybe the climax of the game could be that, despite the party's best efforts, the Cult manages to release the Creators. Using something (yet to be determined the magic of friendship?) they acquired on their adventure, the party would be able to stand against them and actually defeat them, unlike the war, in which they could only be fought back. Just an idea; it might be a bit too over the top.

EDIT: Here's an idea - just an idea, mind you. I'm not even sure if I like it, and it's my idea.
What about putting the story in a sort of 'frame' of having it being told by the bard character in a tavern or something? A possible intro would play out something like this:

Possible Intro Idea (Rough Draft): ShowHide

The tavern was the same as any other night; even from the outside, the noisy racket and clatter of the patrons could be heard. The bard gave a light hiccup as she drained the last few drops of ale from her glass, sliding it across the table to join its rapidly growing congregation of brethren. "Alright, alright, one more," she said with feigned reluctance. Despite her obvious intoxication, her voice was surprisingly clear. There was a roar from the boisterous crowd as she hoisted her thin frame up on the table; the barkeep's smile lessened a little as she set her muddy, travel-worn boots upon a chair. Paying him no mind, she unslung her instrument from her shoulder. After a few sour and dissonant chords, her slightly fogged mind remembered how to play the unusual contraption, and slowly, a flowing, lilting melody filled the room, piercing the murky din like a fresh breeze. The atmosphere settled into one of quiet, almost reverent, anticipation. She added several extra bars to the tune as she mentally stumbled about her drunken mind, finding all of the shards of the tale and quickly knitting them together as best she could. By now, there were few that hadn't heard this particular yarn, but it had quickly become a favorite - possibly because there were still those trying to pick out the truths from the typical bardic embellishments. The bard allowed herself a grin; she was one of the few people who knew for a fact that the whole thing was true. The last few notes of her prelude still hanging in the air in silent resonation, she began her tale.

[AliveDrive]

What if after the Creators are released, they are weak and need to retreat to one of the oblivion gate type places (you'd be weak too after being asleep for thousands of millenia!) The party learns that the Overgod is the overall collective conscience of the Creators, and the only way to stop them from destroying the world is to destroy the Overgod itself...how? I dunno, I'm busy wrapping my mind around wut I just said.

[WhiteRose]

What if after the Creators are released, they are weak and need to retreat to one of the oblivion gate type places (you'd be weak too after being asleep for thousands of millenia!) The party learns that the Overgod is the overall collective conscience of the Creators, and the only way to stop them from destroying the world is to destroy the Overgod itself...how? I dunno, I'm busy wrapping my mind around wut I just said.

The main flaw in your theory is that the Overgod is the one who helped trap the Creators in the first place (at least, in the current version of the story.) To make your idea fit, we'd need to change the backstory considerably.

[Hatsamu]

Perhaps a mix of both... William (or the whole party) have this quest with the Overgod (or one of his servants/messengers) where they get something (an item, a weapon, knowdlege, a secret magic of friendship) so they can lately face the Creators.

What if after the Creators are released, they are weak and need to retreat to one of the oblivion gate type places (you'd be weak too after being asleep for thousands of millenia!) The party learns that the Overgod is the overall collective conscience of the Creators, and the only way to stop them from destroying the world is to destroy the Overgod itself...how? I dunno, I'm busy wrapping my mind around wut I just said.

Just read this.

If this is used, you could end up with something like a new beggining maybe. Like a new group of creators being released or something...

Also, the backstory thing about they fighting against each other came to my mind too but, you know, they are gods, they make things we cannot understand :V

[AliveDrive]

right forgive my inability to follow a story. I have one last thing to post, an upgrade to Upgrade! and then I need some sleep. I will be on tomorrow and it will be a productive day!

[WhiteRose]

So, no thoughts on the frame thing, then?

[winkio]

I like the frame a lot.  Just remember that we have to frame the ending of the game so that the whole world doesn't know what happened (no catastrophic events, etc.).

[WhiteRose]

I like the frame a lot.  Just remember that we have to frame the ending of the game so that the whole world doesn't know what happened (only mildly catastrophic events, etc.).

Fix'd. Without technology like cell phones and internet, news would spread slowly and not go nearly as far, provided it's not too over the top.

[AliveDrive]

The "Seal of the Gods" would likely have carried its legends with it, and peoples would have avoided settling near it. We can have a dense forest have overgrown these (ruins) so that it is far from society.

[winkio]

Also, how are we portraying the 'corruption' from the magic realm?  Is it just evil human nature, or the appearance of monsters, or what?

[AliveDrive]

Good point. We could have physical establishments, such as a courthouse, casino, bars, black markets, slums, etc.

All of these can be twisted negatively.

The always classic: People can be conscious about not wandering too far into the wild, due to monsters.

We can have cutscenes portraying corruption, such as having the team get mobbed at some point and losing some goods.

Maybe the bad guys are aware that the group intends to undo them, so they have members try to lead them off track/ generally make things more difficult for the team.

[WhiteRose]

My original idea of the corruption was that there are actual physical regions that have been damaged by the demonic influence, turning them into dark and sinister areas that are dangerous and uninhabitable; monsters are formed in these regions, though they spread to other places as well. I was also toying with the idea that it caused the darker parts of human nature (lust, excessive violence, etc.)

This was just my original thoughts, though; we should go with whatever we agree would be best. I think that whatever the case, the corruption should be responsible for the creation of monsters through one way or another.

[AliveDrive]

Agreed. What do you think about still having some of the above mentioned areas?

Question: The closer to the dangerous areas you get, the more powerful the monsters get?

[WhiteRose]

Agreed. What do you think about still having some of the above mentioned areas?

Question: The closer to the dangerous areas you get, the more powerful the monsters get?

If we decide to go with this idea, then of course the areas would still exist. Remember, the corruption has permanently damaged the planet and can't be removed - this is why the Creators thought the planet was fit for destruction. If the corruption just faded with time, then the first war wouldn't have happened at all.

As for the idea of monsters being more powerful closer to the areas, I think that could work well, though we'd have to be careful with our implementation, as we don't want players to accidentally wander to close to a corrupted area and suddenly fight something exponentially stronger than them.

[winkio]

I have an idea to explain the existence of the Netherealm on a world created by the supposedly perfect Gods (I'm reiterating some of WhiteRose's story just to keep the context):

Millenia ago, our planet (Planet Name) was created by a race of super-powerful immortal beings, the Titans.  They created the brown soil, the fresh wind, and the roaring ocean.  Then they populated the world with plants and animals.  Finally they topped their creation with their crowning glory - based on themselves, they created humans. Satisfied with their creation, they left the young planet to its own and left to pursue other interests in the far corners of the universe.

This is the story you know so well, however, it lacks one very important detail: mistakes.  The process of creation was one of trial and error, and the Titans ended up producing many abominations.  They created a realm in the core of the planet called the Netherealm, and sealed all their mistakes away, never to be seen on the surface.

[WhiteRose]

I have an idea to explain the existence of the Netherealm on a world created by the supposedly perfect Gods (I'm reiterating some of WhiteRose's story just to keep the context):

Millenia ago, our planet (Planet Name) was created by a race of super-powerful immortal beings, the Titans.  They created the brown soil, the fresh wind, and the roaring ocean.  Then they populated the world with plants and animals.  Finally they topped their creation with their crowning glory - based on themselves, they created humans. Satisfied with their creation, they left the young planet to its own and left to pursue other interests in the far corners of the universe.

This is the story you know so well, however, it lacks one very important detail: mistakes.  The process of creation was one of trial and error, and the Titans ended up producing many abominations.  They created a realm in the core of the planet called the Netherealm, and sealed all their mistakes away, never to be seen on the surface.

Not a bad idea; not how I originally imagined things, but I think it fits well. This does raise a question, though - if the Netherealm is in the core of the planet, would that still be where the Creators were sealing following the first war? It would be poetic justice, in a sense, to have them sealed away with their own mistakes.

[AliveDrive]

I think it's the perfect solution.

@WhiteRose: I meant what do you think about corrupt human establishments such as a casino, or slums as a result of an unfair economic situation, or what have you.

[WhiteRose]

I think it's the perfect solution.

@WhiteRose: I meant what do you think about corrupt human establishments such as a casino, or slums as a result of an unfair economic situation, or what have you.

Casinos and slums aren't fundamentally evil; they are, however, an indirect result of greed - the rich preventing the poor from acquiring enough to live in proper standards (slums) and greedy people trying to manipulate other's greed (casinos.)

@winkio: I was thinking about your idea, and it fits even better than I expected. If the Creators were sealed in the Netherealm, then it would explain why the Cult would have Titanium - being the link to the Netherealm (allowing magic,) it would also be the key to breaking the seal on the Creators.