Dice Avatar Legends: The Northern War - OOC

[PatriasLover]

im in favor of more of a "defeat the fire nation" deal?

 

[D. Rex]

I'd also be pretty cool with a straight up war sort of story. I think it could lend itself to plenty of dramatic moments and narratives.

 

[Wandering Owl]

Yup, that was definitely the one I was leaning towards as well

 

[jaydude]

Okay. So far this is looking like it's going to be a war story. In that case, I'll get to brainstorming plot hooks, but at the same time, we need to come up with our inciting incident, i.e. how our characters end up meeting and deciding they want to band together.

Looking at the quickstart, the inciting incident's largely akin to a short, three-act story, with different options available for each act:

• Act 1:
  • We befriended [ally] who gave us access to [valuable item]
  • We discovered a secret hidden by [powerful figure]
  • We did something fun, but drew the ire of [powerful figure] in the process
  • We learned the frightening plans of [powerful foe]
• Act 2:
  • We stole [valuable item] from [powerful foe]
  • We discovered a terrible truth about [location or powerful figure]
  • We defended [ally or place] from [powerful foe]
  • We destroyed [valuable item] and drew the ire of its owner, [powerful foe]
• Act 3:
  • We fought and barely defeated [powerful foe]
  • We narrowly escaped capture by [powerful foe]
  • We saved or rescued [ally] from [powerful figure]
  • We were saved from [powerful foe] by [ally], to their own detriment

I suppose it wouldn't also hurt for you guys to start putting together basic character ideas. At the very least, it'll give me an easier time figuring out how you all might come into conflict with the Fire Nation.

 

[PatriasLover]

alright, so i was thinking Firebender The Idealist.... i have a weird subclass i homebrewed, a bending specialty.... heat manipulation, wich i can expand more. I'm not entirely sure on backstory though...

 

[jaydude]

alright, so i was thinking Firebender The Idealist.... i have a weird subclass i homebrewed, a bending specialty.... heat manipulation, wich i can expand more. I'm not entirely sure on backstory though...

For backstory, each playbook gets five questions they have to answer, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start with them. In the case of the Idealist, the questions are:

• What tragedy befell you at a young age?
• Who do you hold most responsible for the tragedy? Why? (This character will be an NPC)
• Who helped you through your grief? What did they teach you? (This character will also be an NPC)
• What symbol, heirloom, or mark do you carry to remind you of what you lost?
• Why are you committed to this group or purpose?

As far as that heat manipulation ability goes, besides the nine generic basic techniques that everyone gets, you only get to start with a single combat technique that's based upon your playbook. When appropriate, you can certainly have heat manipulation feature when you have your character use the move "rely on your skills and training", and depending on how you plan to use it, you might be able to have it factor into your character's fighting style, but you wouldn't get a dedicated combat technique for it.

 

[Wandering Owl]

I suppose it wouldn't also hurt for you guys to start putting together basic character ideas. At the very least, it'll give me an easier time figuring out how you all might come into conflict with the Fire Nation.

Definitely looking at an Earth Kingdom native, Guardian playbook, probably someone who works on the support side of conflict. I think it'd be interesting to explore a more spiritual side of earthbending, because it doesn't get as much focus on that as the other three.

 

[jaydude]

Hey Pumpkin Spice Cyanide , you still following this?

 

[Pumpkin Spice Cyanide]

Hey Pumpkin Spice Cyanide , you still following this?

i...i haven't checked back since i asked to join....sorry.
What are we talking about exactly?

 

[jaydude]

i...i haven't checked back since i asked to join....sorry.
What are we talking about exactly?

No worries. We've really just been discussing the planned plot of this game. So far, we're thinking of having it take place during the Hundred Year War, with our characters going up against the Fire Nation.

 

[Pumpkin Spice Cyanide]

I like the Hundred Years War and Earth Kingdom/Fire Nation centered setting/plot direction!
My vote would be;

• Act 1:
  • We discovered a secret hidden by [powerful figure]
• Act 2:
  • We stole [valuable item] from [powerful foe]
• Act 3:
  • We narrowly escaped capture by [powerful foe]

 

[D. Rex]

Okay. So far this is looking like it's going to be a war story. In that case, I'll get to brainstorming plot hooks, but at the same time, we need to come up with our inciting incident, i.e. how our characters end up meeting and deciding they want to band together.

Looking at the quickstart, the inciting incident's largely akin to a short, three-act story, with different options available for each act:

• Act 1:
  • We befriended [ally] who gave us access to [valuable item]
  • We discovered a secret hidden by [powerful figure]
  • We did something fun, but drew the ire of [powerful figure] in the process
  • We learned the frightening plans of [powerful foe]
• Act 2:
  • We stole [valuable item] from [powerful foe]
  • We discovered a terrible truth about [location or powerful figure]
  • We defended [ally or place] from [powerful foe]
  • We destroyed [valuable item] and drew the ire of its owner, [powerful foe]
• Act 3:
  • We fought and barely defeated [powerful foe]
  • We narrowly escaped capture by [powerful foe]
  • We saved or rescued [ally] from [powerful figure]
  • We were saved from [powerful foe] by [ally], to their own detriment

I suppose it wouldn't also hurt for you guys to start putting together basic character ideas. At the very least, it'll give me an easier time figuring out how you all might come into conflict with the Fire Nation.

I'm also pretty cool with the suggestions put forth by Pumpkin Spice Cyanide.


It implies a narrative that we discover something bad about to happen, and we do something to prevent it. While we succeed(or fail) to thwart the plans, we incur the wrath of the one in charge who strikes at us, showing he was someone who we really should not have messed with. Barely getting away.

Setting us up for another three acts, and setting up a villain who was built up throughout the three acts.

 

[Wandering Owl]

Those are definitely good choices, I'd be happy with those. I can also see "We learned the frightening plans of [powerful foe]" for Act 1 or "We destroyed [valuable item] and drew the ire of its owner, [powerful foe]" for Act 2.
The narrative I'm seeing, considering the setting, is that someone (likely Fire Nation), aided by the war, is going to attack or destroy something/someone that's important to us, so we band together to try and stop them. I also like that the narrowly evaded capture ending leaves the story open to being developed further if we're all still on board, or closing off at that point if not.

 

[jaydude]

So, looking at the stuff you guys have said regarding the inciting incident, I'm thinking something along the lines of the following;

• The characters start off in a location in the Earth Kingdom controlled by the Fire Nation - perhaps a prison of some kind - where they learn of the Fire Nation's impending plans to conquer a nearby area. (We learned the frightening plans of [powerful foe])
• They try to leave/escape the starting location, but along the way, they either steal something of strategic importance to both nations - war plans, a map of troop deployments or the like (We stole [valuable item] from [powerful foe]), or destroy it if it's too big to carry (We destroyed [valuable item] and drew the ire of its owner, [powerful foe]).
• Finally, they manage to complete their escape from the Fire Nation - at least for the moment - but leave with the earned wrath of the local Fire Nation commandant.

 

[Wandering Owl]

So the scope would be the building it takes place in, then? Sounds good though!

 

[jaydude]

So the scope would be the building it takes place in, then? Sounds good though!

Probably not that narrow, since the characters would presumably want to leave it once they've ticked off the local Fire Nation.

 

[Wandering Owl]

Probably not that narrow, since the characters would presumably want to leave it once they've ticked off the local Fire Nation.

Oh yeah, fair, Act 3 at least is gonna have to have a bigger scope.

 

[jaydude]

Oh yeah, fair, Act 3 at least is gonna have to have a bigger scope.

Yeah, scope as defined in the manual refers to what it's going to be for the overall game, not individual "sessions".

 

[Wandering Owl]

Yeah, scope as defined in the manual refers to what it's going to be for the overall game, not individual "sessions".

So perhaps a particular region or city then?

 

[jaydude]

So perhaps a particular region or city then?

Yeah. The location of the inciting incident would either be in the region, or we'd flee to this hypothetical city from there if that's the scope we wanted to go with.

 

[jaydude]

Hey all! Definitely haven't forgotten this!

So, here's what I've come up with for the inciting incident:

1. For various reasons, the player characters end up imprisoned within a Fire Nation fortress, alongside an Earth Kingdom partisan named Luhan. Luhan reveals that the Fire Nation is planning a major military operation that will give it control of the entire surrounding region, and he had infiltrated the fortress in order to steal important documents that, if given to the Earth Kingdom forces, would enable them to better defend themselves against it.
2. The player characters and Luhan escape their imprisonment, before breaking into the fort commander's office to steal the important documents (Luhan will insist on doing this before attempting to escape the fortress). During this, they catch sight of General Daizun, the man in charge of all Fire Nation forces in the region, and learn that he is not one to be trifled with.
3. Daizun discovers the group's escape and theft, and immediately attempts to capture them, but Luhan uses his earthbending to tunnel himself and the player characters out of the fortress and into an ancient cave network beneath.

Does this work for everyone?

 

[Wandering Owl]

Hey all! Definitely haven't forgotten this!

So, here's what I've come up with for the inciting incident:

1. For various reasons, the player characters end up imprisoned within a Fire Nation fortress, alongside an Earth Kingdom partisan named Luhan. Luhan reveals that the Fire Nation is planning a major military operation that will give it control of the entire surrounding region, and he had infiltrated the fortress in order to steal important documents that, if given to the Earth Kingdom forces, would enable them to better defend themselves against it.
2. The player characters and Luhan escape their imprisonment, before breaking into the fort commander's office to steal the important documents (Luhan will insist on doing this before attempting to escape the fortress). During this, they catch sight of General Daizun, the man in charge of all Fire Nation forces in the region, and learn that he is not one to be trifled with.
3. Daizun discovers the group's escape and theft, and immediately attempts to capture them, but Luhan uses his earthbending to tunnel himself and the player characters out of the fortress and into an ancient cave network beneath.

Does this work for everyone?

That sounds great!

 

[jaydude]

D. Rex PatriasLover Pumpkin Spice Cyanide Wandering Owl

Hey all. How are things? Is everyone onboard with my proposition for the inciting incident? Anyone need any help regarding characters?

Also, just to warn you all, I'm going to be on holiday for about a week come next weekend, which may impact my ability to post.

 

[Wandering Owl]

D. Rex PatriasLover Pumpkin Spice Cyanide Wandering Owl

Hey all. How are things? Is everyone onboard with my proposition for the inciting incident? Anyone need any help regarding characters?

Also, just to warn you all, I'm going to be on holiday for about a week come next weekend, which may impact my ability to post.

I'm doing alright, is this the point where we start actually making the character sheets based on the playbooks?
And that's no prob, I hope you enjoy your holiday!

 

[jaydude]

I'm doing!
alright, is this the point where we start actually making the character sheets based on the playbooks?

Aye, assuming everyone's okay with the plot so far.