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Race Change Debate - Printable Version

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Race Change Debate - ZacharyVolfire - 06-17-2015

So My little RP group in Behemoth hit a comedic dilemma. One of our participants (me OTL) Planned to change race immediately once the horn Au Ra were announced.((i wanted a tall race for Zach when i started but it was only Roes or Elez until the Au Ra came ;-; )) In the story plot I'm in (The group is unnder the affiliate of Rondo of Souls) the character is a side character with influence. (guild master of the main characters). Not wanting to make the change just some POOF Your An Au Ra Zachary.  We discuss and came to a 4 way voting tie between these options( 4 votes each OTL). Which one sounds the most plausible to you guys?

1 Zach's mother is already unknown all he knows she was From Eastern continent. So she was Au Ra and he had Au Ra Appearance all along his dad just had his horns and tail glamoured?-Suggested by Right hand guild mate

2 In his lab Zach was testing a new elixir concoction one of his subordinates made to have produce and sold. "SURPRISE!" It's an accidental Fantasia that gave him horns and a tail.-Suggested by our  fourth WoL

3 Zach interested in the fashion and appearance of the Au Ra started wearing his own custom made 'fake' horns and tail- Suggested by a stranger

4 Thanks to the events of the Missy Missus Misadventure! (( a funny event of cross dressing/ sex changing which Ill put on Zach's wiki page later involving fantasia canon and mammot lalafel magitek cyborg.) Some after effects suddenly kicked in and Zach Awoke as an Au Ra- Suggested by the second WoL of our group

Also if you have suggestions I'd love to hear them too.


RE: Race Change Debate - Aaron - 06-17-2015

If you want to be lore accurate (You don't have to because I don't think it'd impact much) the four and two are kinda lore breaking as the devs said Fantasia is a meta game item.

But hey if you want it go for it. I doubt anyone hasn't used a Fantasia before even if it was just to change the nose option.


RE: Race Change Debate - Spethah - 06-17-2015

(06-17-2015, 05:26 AM)Aaron Wrote: If you want to be lore accurate (You don't have to because I don't think it'd impact much) the four and two are kinda lore breaking as the devs said Fantasia is a meta game item.

I would hold a paraphrased, casual interview with a grain of salt. 

Despite that statement, I would avoid the Fantasia route. It feels cheap not to mention that such a legendary item would be extremely rare, just accidentally making one is like saying "Oops I accidentally made TNT!" and then a cartoon explosion happens. 

Aetheric accident, teleportation accident, sudden body switch, rebirth/reincarnation, the Void ooooh scary, cursed to take a more demonic appearance (doesn't make them Au Ra but it makes them look similar at least). Those are some ideas from the top of my head that are creative, makes decent RP and can be used in a way that doesn't seem like a cheap ploy to get what you want OOCly.


RE: Race Change Debate - C'kayah Polaali - 06-17-2015

How about saying Zach retired to a life of leisure, fantasia/name change into an Au Ra, and then develop your character as an Au Ra? Wink


RE: Race Change Debate - Magellan - 06-17-2015

Personally, I very much prefer C'kayah's recommendation. But this is you. You do what you like best,  and what seems most fun for your character.


RE: Race Change Debate - Nero - 06-17-2015

Assuming that you're against rewriting the character and/or complete retconning, only the first and third options are really that plausible, and the third option is quite silly unless your intention is to be Zaak Flash, the amazing Null Ra salesman. So if you are hellbent on keeping your character and making the change to Au Ra IC, then having been in Au Ra the whole time and hidden with a glamour would make the most sense, seeing as how glamours exist fairly easily in Eorzea.


RE: Race Change Debate - Gaspard - 06-17-2015

I've found myself in the same dilemma recently. I think I've also found a solution to it.

I would suggest going the route that C'kayah mentioned, since that is what I'll be doing.

You could also simply wait for the expansion and see how big the actual bonus EXP will be for all MSQ we will get. According to the patch notes, we'll get a little boost up to level 50 for the MSQ's. So leveling time for alts may be cut short considerably. That way you can keep both your current character and the new Au'ra.

The most expensive alternative (one I might opt for, not sure yet), Is to fantasia/rename two toons. My most leveled main I'll rename into the new Au'ra/Fantasia, and create an alt with said toons old name (or a pseudonym incase the game wont allow me to assume the old name). 


Ofcourse, going the route of 'I look like Au'ra but am not Au'ra' is also possible. And granted how vastly different Au'ra can look between eachother (Due to skin color / horn / eye variations) It wouldn't be too strange for a creature to waltz around with features akin to your off the mill Au'Ra, but not quite just like it.


RE: Race Change Debate - K'nahli - 06-17-2015

Three sounds the most reasonable to me but C'kaya's suggestion sounds the most ideal even while ignoring the benefit of the extra twist and plot it could create with him being "replaced" by a fresh face.

A glamoured tail and horn is unfeasible to me since I can't comprehend how he wouldn't notice they are there at any point, haha.


RE: Race Change Debate - Spiritual Machine - 06-17-2015

5. Retcon. He was an Au Ra the whole time but no one ever made a big deal about it because it isn't a big deal.


RE: Race Change Debate - Cato - 06-17-2015

If you're willing to change something as major as a character's race then to me that's a sign that you might as well just create a completely different character and avoid all the awkwardness that comes with the 'big reveal' of him conveniently being a completely different race all along.


RE: Race Change Debate - Kismet - 06-17-2015

I agree with a couple of others in that just rolling an entirely new character concept seems more efficient. It's just less of a hassle. You see, I'm an extremely lazy person, so I don't see why one should bother jumping through so many loops and workarounds to salvage something so easily replaceable... But this is your character, not mine.

If you MUST go with one of your poll options, 1 and 3 are probably the best sounding ones, imo. With a strong bias towards 1, because 3 is bit too silly for my tastes. (Although it may have the potential for telling a more interesting story than going with Fantasia does.)


RE: Race Change Debate - ZacharyVolfire - 06-17-2015

Hmm.

Well after a good 2 hour debate and 3 visits to the wolves den. Its came down to 1,3, and pulling a DMC like Spiritual Said.

Honestly I kind of want to keep Zach currently and have enough trouble maintaining him and the other 7 alts I have on the server. 

Which brings me to these questions.
If something is glamoured do the physical properties remain? Such as hey I have horns that were made to look like my dad's ears. But somehow they still Jab stuff.

Maybe make it a dark influence of Zodirark? He unfortunately was once basked in Zoridark's Light? or something like that i forgot what the cultist did it just ended up with him being Cursed for a good Two months I have to find the log for it. Maybe he slowly got corrupted by it?

Final Suggestion 
In a upcoming Arc we're doing. Zach helps fund and mobilize the 3 WoL in his care to inspect the Argis providing a small boat. As well as coming along to see if there are any materials or items he can sell later. Maybe i should have him get 'Cursed' by Midgardsormr although i worry this might be ot be really good lore because it would end up him being posssessd?


RE: Race Change Debate - Lilia Lia - 06-17-2015

(06-17-2015, 12:00 PM)Graeham Wrote: If you're willing to change something as major as a character's race then to me that's a sign that you might as well just create a completely different character and avoid all the awkwardness that comes with the 'big reveal' of him conveniently being a completely different race all along.

This would be my feeling also.  What we're seeing right now in the RP community is a lot of enormous story changes taking place entirely to justify a non-story-based event (the introduction of a new player race).  So no matter how good it is, it will always feel forced.  It's kind of like when an actor quits a TV show so the writers have to come up with a reason that this happened.  It's because you're making the IC story secondary to an OOC preference that is external to your story.

However, based on the OP I'm guessing you're really just asking which of your options is plausible, regardless of whether they are in good taste or not, so I won't try to talk you out of it. 

Because Fantasia's lore status is arguably disproved I would chuck out 2.

As for 3, "I started wearing horns and a tail because of how they look" means you're going to have to explain that to every character you meet who assumes you're an Au Ra.  "Oh these?  No they're fake I just wear them because I like the look of them."  You can see that becoming kind of a nuisance can't you? 

And is that really the kind of character you are?  If so, that's kind of peculiar.  I'm sure you want horns and a tail because they look cool, but you aren't your character.  Do you think your character would be the kind of person to do that?  If so, by all means go for it, but again keep in mind it's going to create awkwardness down the line.

4 would be a good option because of the minimal impact on your backstory, and since it's rooted in an event where your RP circle all agrees that outlandish, extreme story elements are the norm, you woke up one day and discovered you were an Au Ra because of wizard shenanigans.  That's plausible and it would probably not be all that difficult to pull off, and you aren't asking your RP circle to retcon anything.

Actually the more I think of it the more I think 4 is probably your best bet.


RE: Race Change Debate - Flickering Ember - 06-17-2015

I'm not  a fan of any of these options but that's just me. Don't seem my style. They seem heavily on the comedic side. While I do like comedic RP, I like to keep backgrounds kind of on the serious side, myself.


RE: Race Change Debate - Valtiere - 06-17-2015

I think option one would work. I'm not sure on exactly how glamours work in Eorzea but I'd assume the horns and tail would still be there, just... not visible. But like the others above me have said, it's really up to you since it is your character.

I don't really side with the idea of ditching the character completely though, especially if you can come up with ways to make the change in a way which is fun and plausible to you and those you RP with. If you're attached to the character and have put a lot of work into him, ditching him completely might be hard (not to mention the complications caused ICly, especially if the character is in a position that affects others). And you've already said that you don't want to go down that route anyway.

I think option one would be a good one, but that's just personal opinion. I'm not a fan of the 'oops I accidentally grew horns and a tail' idea, though I have seen it done before and it was a fun little episode (it was more for silly comic relief at the time). Fantasia doesn't exist within the lore, but glamours seem to be fairly common and lore abiding. Whether the tail and horns would be gone completely or whether they'd still be there but invisible I don't know. Then again, if he's been hiding it for this long then I'm sure he's mastered the art of not knocking everything off the table with his tail every time he turns around.

That said, I think you should go for whichever one seems the most interesting to you. I think that is option 1, but like I say, that's just an opinion. Personally I like the simplicity of it and the fact that your character can control the reveal somewhat rather than it being 'Oops. Surprise!'

Edit: I may have misread your first post initially. I was assuming that he'd be aware of the glamour and possibly keeping it up himself to help protect his disguise (I don't know if there is an actual time-limit for glamours or whether once applied to a living being they would stay put forever). If he isn't aware of it and the transformation comes as a surprise to him as well as to everyone else... it could work, but like K'nahli said, surely he'd have noticed something at some point?