Heroica RPG General Discussion

[Sandy]

I already have a name for my male dwarf:

Geðlæknir Dauður

Pronounced somewhat like "Cath-like-near Doythur" (like in boy and Arthur). If it was female, she could have a nick: Cathy :D

or

Geðlæknir Heimsk [Cath-like-near Haimsk]

If I may be honest, the problem with those names are that they would have to be copy&pasted into a post every time, unless there was a nickname to use in common talk.

You asked earlier where to post your character information. You need to post your statistics (power, health, inventory etc.) to the Hero Statistics topic and introduce your character (meaning you need to make a post as the character) in the Heroica Hall topic.

[CMP]

How would you rework the story to cut Quest 1 but still have important events.

Add in some inter-party conflict?. It's what makes the later Quests so interesting from a characters' angle. Players almost never get along so easily. Or, not every Quest is going to be the same. The action in this Quest is what made it memorable. A group of newbie heroes cracking down on farmland critters couldn't go wrong no matter how you slice it. A greater focus on the action would suffice. Quest 1 was primarily around combat and strategy, Quest 2 around decisions and how to go about getting a job, and Quest 3 ended up being hilarious for roleplaying.

Namely: a lot of important action happens in the hall, but in a movie, it would be boring to sit around and talk so long. Same goes for a book, or a television show. How would you segment the talking there with other cool events?

More barfights? Not every moment in the hall would have to be cataloged in the media, it'd just have to be trimmed a little. Not down to the bone, though, some of the funniest interaction happens there.

[Scubacarrot]

Okay. Let's break this down and see how a pilot would work, this stuff is interesting. So let's take a series that we could lay out the structure for and perhaps deconstruct into setting it up how it would be if there was: Heroica, now on HBO, available never! That's a joke because it's impossible for me to watch season two of game of thrones, GG hbo...

Two series whose structure would kinda work that come to mind are Heroes (I only watched the first season) or Lost. These because they have a large cast of main characters, have no real frame of reference (source material, Heroica obviously has but not in a way that you can go and compare it to each other) and the fact that they introduce a lot of characters, very quickly. Heroes had 12 main characters, Lost 14. I'm talking about first season.

So a Pilot, what it could be is this: The scene starts with a couple of heroes, doesn't have to be the actual heroes from Quest 1, sneaking around sheep in the fields. I imagine there being 5 or 6 heroes, one can possibly die in the first part. Suddenly, fighting with the Direwolves breaks loose! I personally think this is a very memorable part in Heroica's history. Insert action scene, you know how it goes. When over, the heroes go on to collect their reward, and they take a cart back to Eubric. This is where you see a scenic view of Eubric, and where the intro rolls, obviously. Then it goes either over to the streets, where perhaps another hero is introduced, possibly like the way Peanuts introduced his character, or you see the big, impressive doors open and a new hero coming in. Otherwise it could cut right to the gambling and big talk of the heroes that was iconic for the early days of the hall. Heroes pickpocketing each other, stools pulled together, booze and food being thrown around left around. When suddenly, Blam, new assignment on the Questing Board, and every hero rushes down to see...

This could just be the first 10 minutes of something like this, it could work. It could!

[Endgame]

...That actually could work.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Endgame

[Zepher]

See, this is why we talk as a group. What a fantastic way to include Quest 1 while still keeping it short. The relationships of the heroes would be introduced perfectly right there. What a wonderful intro, Scuba. Whenever drafting, I would always start in a Hall, which isn't a compelling opening. Fantastic.

And CMP, just read the hall. 25 pages before anyone carts out... perhaps even more, I don't recall. That's a TON of dialogue, even cut down. You'd need to block it out, and figure out how to introduce important characters while intercutting it with action. Film (and television) are both VISUAL mediums. They do NOT (or at least should not) have an abundance of dialogue, so it would have to be told some how else. Cutting between quests and hall for later heroes was something I thought of for later heroes. While Quest 2 and 3 were being told, you could start to intro the heroes who made their appearances in 6 and 7, etc.

Alright, further challenging the great mind of Scubacarrot - how would hero deaths be dealt with? Would the low low low mortality rate carry over into the television series, or would we axe heroes? How would we deal with it, and how would we redistribute their actions later? This is open to everyone.

I really do love that opening, Scuba. I would also like to publicly thank Sandy (and everyone who plays) for the engaging game. I can honestly say that this game has made me improve at what I want to do for a career. It has forced me to write in a voice of one character for over a year (something I've never been able to do before, but a great exercise), helped me develop a HUGE cast of characters (the amount of unique NPCs QMs are forced to produce is incredible), and write where I can get feedback on character and plot structure. Also, introducing characters with brevity has become easier. XX had few lines total in the Dastan Trilogy, but received positive reviews and was understood as the character I wanted him to be. I credit all of you for helping me improve, so thank you.

[CMP]

You probably couldn't keep all of it, but some could be spread out in some of the more quiet gaps between Quests.

That sounds awesome, Scuba.

[Pyrovisionary]

Snip

I think a bar fight would be necessary, and you can't have a barfight without sarge! Though, as Sarge wouldn't be any major role, the fight could be used to introduce a slightly more lawfu; character, in the process of stopping it.

[Scubacarrot]

I think if something like this would happen, you need to really let go of what happens, here, and take the basics and the bigger events. A lot of stuff is fluff, even full quests could and should be left out for it to be a good thing, and some heroes would prematurely die, absolutely. A hero would not need to die every episode, and I would really suggest sticking around that 12 main characters rule. Other heroes could either be recurring characters, or basically redshirts. For example: I think Guts as a character would not work. How you could implement him is as following: You stick him in a village, inn or the hall or whatever, have him be an old grumpy man with an attitude, and later have the heroes (read main characters) learn he is actually a hero too. You can't do something like: Quest, hall, Quest, hall. Maybe in a video game, that's what the first assassin's creed did, and it was heavily critized for it. Things should not be predictable in a pattern, really. At the same time, you have series like stargate that do exactly that and are watchable. (only watched atlantis)

[CorneliusMurdock]

If I may be honest, the problem with those names are that they would have to be copy&pasted into a post every time, unless there was a nickname to use in common talk.

Cronk would never be able to talk to you. Too much work.

[Pyrovisionary]

Cronk would never be able to talk to you. Too much work.

I don't even think I can pronounce that name. Edited November 2, 2012 by Skyrimguy

[Endgame]

No longer am I a greasy bum - I am Rhodus, prince of the Proggs! Mwahahahaha etc. etc.

In more serious news, you are doing a good job of whittling down The Bleeding, 48ers.

[Scorpiox]

Fascinating discussion going on here guys, It is really interesting to see everyone thinking how this great RPG could fit into a series. One of the biggest issues in making it work would be the lack overall plot and problem to resolve.

Just so long that Haldor can be voiced by the guy who voices that Whiterun pub dude in Skyrim, I'll be happy.

[Dannylonglegs]

No longer am I a greasy bum - I am Rhodus, prince of the Proggs! Mwahahahaha etc. etc.

In more serious news, you are doing a good job of whittling down The Bleeding, 48ers.

Thank you, I bet he never saw it coming! He won't know what hit him! But seriously, an empty arena would be a sight for sore eyes. Bwahahaha!

Oooh, a Heroica show? I could be seen in the shadows during the bar fight feeding my pet bat like one of the shady types in the Star-Wars Cantina.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

Edited November 2, 2012 by Dannylonglegs

[The Legonater]

Fascinating discussion going on here guys, It is really interesting to see everyone thinking how this great RPG could fit into a series. One of the biggest issues in making it work would be the lack overall plot and problem to resolve.

I remember thinking about this before. The conclusion I came to is that in order for it to work properly, the major arcs of the game (Wren, Dastan, Doc's quests, etc.) would have to be the main plot points of the series, with smaller quests put more into the background, perhaps through some nice Continuity Nods. The problem with this, though, is a lot of these smaller quests offer large character developing moments.

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Regarding the TV plot, how about there is none? Well, there is, but something like "Hawaii 5-0" if anyone's seen it. Each episode pretty much has no connection with the next. So each quest in Heroica is an episode. But the big events of course, like Dastan, Wren, would be the main stuff. (Like in Hawaii 5-0, there's the constant mention of "Shelburn.")

[Dannylonglegs]

Endgame, If you end up auto-playing subsequent rounds, I will try to keep The Bleeding blind as my action until it happens.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

[Flipz]

Regarding the TV plot, how about there is none? Well, there is, but something like "Hawaii 5-0" if anyone's seen it. Each episode pretty much has no connection with the next. So each quest in Heroica is an episode. But the big events of course, like Dastan, Wren, would be the main stuff. (Like in Hawaii 5-0, there's the constant mention of "Shelburn.")

It's actually quite possible, a la LOST, to have several plotlines going concurrently. So, for example, Quests 1, 2, and 3 could go on at the same time, interspersed with bits from the Hall. Not unlike how things are currently run, actually.

Speaking of Dastan, it, naturally, would have a season all to itself.

It'd also be possible to have a "main series" that followed the "primary" plots at the time (generally speaking, this would be the Sandy Quests interspersed with material from the bigger Quest arcs like Wren, the Lion Knights, the Proggs, and Haroka), with a series or two of "webisodes", which would cover the smaller, one-off Quests (i.e. Cave Sounds, Winter Problems, etc.)

[Palathadric]

I like your thinking, Scuba! Excellent plan.

I think I would use more a 1 quest/1 episode approach. We already have over 50 quests ready to run and some quests would definitely take up more than one episode. The Dastan quests for example, would probably take more than three episodes. Just the last fight would probably be an episode of its own, along with the ending, etc. As far as the stuff in the hall is concerned, a lot can still happen. The hall is a fairly exciting place although it wouldn't work for the approach of 1 episode/1 quest. However, something that could be done is that a lot of the interactions from in the hall can also be played out during quests. I think the series would be more centred around Heroica as an organization than any specific individual characters. Obviously some characters would be seen more than others, but instead of the story revolving around certain key heroes, it would be more about the explots of the the organization's members. As far as Quest #1 is concerned, it would be a bit difficult to translate it into an episode, but what could be done, for example in the corn maze battle, is that you just greatly multiply the number of the enemies, and make them a whole lot scarier. Seriously, think about a demon-possessed scare crow. You could make that bad megablocks!

[Masked Builder]

Quote of the month! What on earth did you expect the Priestess' response to be?

Good question, but you never know.

[Endgame]

Whew! 32 enemies dead in one battle? is that a record?

[Flare]

If you want to equip a different artefact during a battle, does it take an extra turn?

[Endgame]

Good to have you on board, captain!

[TheBoyWonder]

I think it is Endgame!

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Argh! I am onboard! I've always wanted to go on the Progg quests!

[Endgame]

And you're on the finale, too.

Compared to most plotlines, The Progg's plotline is relatively small compared to Haroka, Wren, etc. Just two quests, really.