Hydaelyn Role-Players

Hey guys, 

So, after going through a -weird- Botanist fugue for about a month, I'm back to playing my good old fashioned Scholar. And I'm within reach of my Relic Weapon too! (As in, one bottle of oil to put out the hottest fire in all known creation close). 

So, I've been thinking about how exactly to roleplay this sort of thing (And feel free to open this thread to a discussion of other Relic Weapons as well). So, I'm asking my fellow Arcanists/Scholars/Summoners - how do you treat your Grimoires (And please correct my spelling) in terms of roleplay? When it comes to the lore behind the Omnilex, it's described as -the- complete military history of Nym... But what does that mean in terms of use in combat? Is it actually a chapter book full of information on various battles, or a bunch of geometric diagrams to focus aether around? 

Also, if anyone has a compilation of the lore behind Nym and the Scholars, please send it my way. I'm currently working on developing my Scholar into someone's sort of mentor character - and I need something to reference! 

Pretty much all I know is that there was some kind of conflict between a bunch of magic using factions, and the Scholars sort of kicked ass. And that a Scholar/Marauder team is described as an excellent combat unit.

The only problem with roleplaying it is that it is supposed to be the only copy in existence. It's the same with Thyrus for WHM, etc. Roleplaying your character as in possession of it is a little on the poor side of RP etiquette.

I'm not familiar enough with the lore on Scholars/grimoires and such to comment on that specifically but:

Relics are a dangerous thing to RP in my opinion. It steps on a lot of toesies of other RPers! Buuuut there are ways to get around it!

I know someone who RPs with a Curtana. It's not the Curtana, however. He had it specially made for him by another player, and it is just a unique sword for his character, not the relic of olde. There's also the option of calling it a replica of whichever weapon, if your character would be privy to such things. 

Much like the AF (in most of the storylines), relic weapons are another way SE tries to make our characters special adventurers, thus something we have to confront as RPers. Just like the AF, we just have to remember to be tactful about how we use it!

(12-02-2013, 02:44 AM)Devin Farraday Wrote: [ -> ]Hey guys, 

So, after going through a -weird- Botanist fugue for about a month, I'm back to playing my good old fashioned Scholar. And I'm within reach of my Relic Weapon too! (As in, one bottle of oil to put out the hottest fire in all known creation close). 

So, I've been thinking about how exactly to roleplay this sort of thing (And feel free to open this thread to a discussion of other Relic Weapons as well). So, I'm asking my fellow Arcanists/Scholars/Summoners - how do you treat your Grimoires (And please correct my spelling) in terms of roleplay? When it comes to the lore behind the Omnilex, it's described as -the- complete military history of Nym... But what does that mean in terms of use in combat? Is it actually a chapter book full of information on various battles, or a bunch of geometric diagrams to focus aether around? 

Also, if anyone has a compilation of the lore behind Nym and the Scholars, please send it my way. I'm currently working on developing my Scholar into someone's sort of mentor character - and I need something to reference! 

Pretty much all I know is that there was some kind of conflict between a bunch of magic using factions, and the Scholars sort of kicked ass. And that a Scholar/Marauder team is described as an excellent combat unit.

Dawn Vigil assisted you in its acquisition, right?

Personally speaking, I would start from there. Write a little IC snippet about how your character was part of an anti-Primal team sent by the Scions. Or that they helped him recover necessary magical components for the tome from Primal territory.

Gerolt's dialogue seems fairly clear enough that the items he fixes up for adventurers are high-quality replicas, not the one-and-only original prototypes, so don't worry too much about that aspect. If anyone gives you crap for RPing your relic, that's what the blacklist function is for.

You earned it, you RP it however you see fit.

(12-02-2013, 08:24 AM)allgivenover Wrote: [ -> ]The only problem with roleplaying it is that it is supposed to be the only copy in existence. It's the same with Thyrus for WHM, etc. Roleplaying your character as in possession of it is a little on the poor side of RP etiquette.

Was it? I was led to believe, through the quest, that there were multiple copies. Which was then somewhat redacted by having to go get "A compilation of tales about -the hero- who wielded your weapon." 

Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly aware of how roleplaying such a weapon would be seen by the greater community. I'm sorry if it wasn't made clear by the body of the OP, this post is about how best to execute roleplaying a weapon that's in the same ballpark.

(12-02-2013, 09:41 AM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-02-2013, 02:44 AM)Devin Farraday Wrote: [ -> ]Hey guys, 

So, after going through a -weird- Botanist fugue for about a month, I'm back to playing my good old fashioned Scholar. And I'm within reach of my Relic Weapon too! (As in, one bottle of oil to put out the hottest fire in all known creation close). 

So, I've been thinking about how exactly to roleplay this sort of thing (And feel free to open this thread to a discussion of other Relic Weapons as well). So, I'm asking my fellow Arcanists/Scholars/Summoners - how do you treat your Grimoires (And please correct my spelling) in terms of roleplay? When it comes to the lore behind the Omnilex, it's described as -the- complete military history of Nym... But what does that mean in terms of use in combat? Is it actually a chapter book full of information on various battles, or a bunch of geometric diagrams to focus aether around? 

Also, if anyone has a compilation of the lore behind Nym and the Scholars, please send it my way. I'm currently working on developing my Scholar into someone's sort of mentor character - and I need something to reference! 

Pretty much all I know is that there was some kind of conflict between a bunch of magic using factions, and the Scholars sort of kicked ass. And that a Scholar/Marauder team is described as an excellent combat unit.

Dawn Vigil assisted you in its acquisition, right?

Personally speaking, I would start from there. Write a little IC snippet about how your character was part of an anti-Primal team sent by the Scions. Or that they helped him recover necessary magical components for the tome from Primal territory.

Gerolt's dialogue seems fairly clear enough that the items he fixes up for adventurers are high-quality replicas, not the one-and-only original prototypes, so don't worry too much about that aspect. If anyone gives you crap for RPing your relic, that's what the blacklist function is for.

You earned it, you RP it however you see fit.

I really like this idea.... I never thought to incorporate something like that. Assuming Dawn Vigil are cool with that, I think I might be using this idea.

Casting aside the fact that we replace our Scholars' grimoires many times as we level up and gain new gear, I roleplay Y'lyfriel as finding a special significance in one, single tome. It has a lot to do with where the tome was compiled.

Quote: Is it actually a chapter book full of information on various battles, or a bunch of geometric diagrams to focus aether around?

This is pretty much exactly what I roleplay. Lyf's grimoire is a comprehensive collection of tactical information, scholarly expounding, and geometric diagrams for her reference when focusing aether. Much of it was written by her or borrowed from other scholars and arcanists working in Limsa Lominsa. However, this makes much of her use of magick very "modern," when compared to what the scholars of Nym might have worked with. You could weave in your character's acquisition of this Omnilex with a change in tactics and broadening of historic knowledge. Applying historic magicks to contemporary problems, for example. Or, a deeper connection to the faerie-creature he's bonded to, if that's part of your roleplay. I'm remaining a bit broad, here, so you might keep some of the specificity in how you approach this a mystery

In previous MMOs, I've always used "show, don't tell" as a way to illustrate the power or significance of supposedly "rare" items. Seeing how such an item changes your character, or changes how he fights/behaves/sings/speaks/makes cakes, etc. tends to come off as immediately more believable than a reciting of facts about that item, or how it was required (not that such knowledge isn't important; it is, just less so in the middle of roleplay, from my experience.)

(12-02-2013, 09:41 AM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: [ -> ]If anyone gives you crap for RPing your relic, that's what the blacklist function is for.
You earned it, you RP it however you see fit.

This is a dangerous road to travel down. Its like saying because you have 10 classes at level 50 and relics for each class that suddenly you are this unstoppable force who can take on anything by yourself since you are basically a one person army and if anyone disagrees with you to simply black list them.

I'm a strong believer that what you do on your character does not equal what your character does IC. Just because I beat the primals a bunch of times doesn't mean that Dennthota has ever faced anyone of them IC. Everyone can't have relics, everyone can't have the Echo, everyone can't be a Scion, and everyone can't have killed main baddies like Nael Van Darnus.

I personally think its a wise idea to keep relics out of RP. If you want to RP with them in private with your FC or friends that is perfectly fine, but its best to keep it hush when RPing with the community at large with such a thing. The safest thing to do is to go down the "replica" route when bringing this up at random RP or events. It basically gives the book all of the information and looks you are looking for, but keeps its power in check.

Edit: Xerali I really like that! That is very interesting! Honestly I have never RP'd with anyone yet who has claimed to be a Scholar. I am a SCH main OOC (As Denn would probably never be caught with a book in her hands unless she was beating someone over the head with it) and always wanted to know if people RP their fairy because the lore makes it sound like something that is fairly unique because of the whole tablet releasing thing.

I actually had a bit of difficulty deciding whether I would RP the faerie alongside Y'lyfriel, or not, but decided to eventually go for it. I dreaded her being perceived as being a "special snowflake" character due to the same reason you mention: the tablet that released the PC's faerie was a rare thing, if not entirely unique. However, I eventually made up my mind that it was too prevalent of a game mechanic to ignore (and the RP-fun-potential too damned great ) To say more might delve into spoilers for the Scholar job-quests, but I've come to consider the uniqueness of the Scholar PC's adventures as something that has already taken place; the ruins and history of Nym are being heavily explored post-Calamity, and considering what the player learns during the Scholar quests, it's feasible that other Nymian faeries might still exist (albeit, they would still be remarkably rare.)

(12-02-2013, 05:25 PM)LandStander Wrote: [ -> ]Edit: Xerali I really like that! That is very interesting! Honestly I have never RP'd with anyone yet who has claimed to be a Scholar. I am a SCH main OOC (As Denn would probably never be caught with a book in her hands unless she was beating someone over the head with it) and always wanted to know if people RP their fairy because the lore makes it sound like something that is fairly unique because of the whole tablet releasing thing.

The Lore makes it pretty clear there were multiple scholars and multiple fairies in ancient times while not everyone can be the person who rediscovered the art ala the quest it seems like once one person did it others can.

Now if you want to see something that makes no sense in lore multiple Dragoons.

Hahaha, yeah I knew about multiple scholars and fairies existing. I just thought actually stumbling upon one and releasing it was a bit rare as I was unsure how many would actually exist in this day and age. I think X makes a good point about the ruins being explored post-Calamity more often though. 

I honestly thought about writing an alternate dimension story where Dennthota stumbles out into the wild after drinking heavily and trips over a tablet that was almost completely buried in the ground, accidentally releasing a fairy. It would follow her around everywhere teasing her and just upsetting her constantly like a little mosquito, resulting in her constantly trying swat and squash it to rid herself of the menace .

I have actually not looked into Dragoon lore at all and after reading that I think I should probably steer clear of it, haha.

Personally, I roleplay unique things as something different. I have Curtana and the Holy shield, but in roleplay they have a completely different name and lore. 

Just because it looks like Curtana it doesn't need to be Curtana, and the same can go for your book.

It's also much easier for you to call it another name and make up your own lore about it

(12-02-2013, 09:41 AM)Kieron Lohengrin Wrote: [ -> ]Gerolt's dialogue seems fairly clear enough that the items he fixes up for adventurers are high-quality replicas, not the one-and-only original prototypes, so don't worry too much about that aspect. If anyone gives you crap for RPing your relic, that's what the blacklist function is for.

You earned it, you RP it however you see fit.

My interpretation of the story was much different. From what I saw, you are sent on a mission to get the actual relic from whateverplaceitwaslast, and then have it basically repaired/added to. You get a bow, for example, to be the 'base' for the original relic to be rebuilt upon. He's not forging replicas, he's reforging the relic itself using what you bring him.

It's interesting how different interpretations of the story come about! And there are so many of them. XD

I just had a thought, it goes like this...

You see, though part of the Relic quest has you retrieving the original Relic, it is in such a dilapidated state that its essence has to be removed and transferred into another weapon, one that is the same type and materia-melded. As such, what you are actually wielding is a sort of clone, enhanced with the original's power, or what could be salvaged from it. Even at +1, I think it's safe to assume that the Relic you're actually wielding is at best an allusion to the real deal, not truly having the original's full power.

Therefore, could one not theoretically get away with saying that what they have is merely, say, a Tome enhanced with the Omnilex' power? This could also tie in with an RP shtick where a person's Tome grows in power by collecting bits of power/information from other Tomes.

Just a thought.

Wait... 

Aren't Dragoons a military organization in and of themselves? So would it not be possible to have a character trained by a Dragoon? Not to derail my own topic or anything. 

As other people have said, I want to be perfectly clear that I am not planning on playing with "The" Omnilex - especially because "The" Omnilex is probably pretty well sunk in the Sapsa Spawning Grounds, somewhere. A book of similar power? Sure. Insofar as a book can have -power. Pretty drawings? I don't know. That just opens up a whole 'nother can of worms about whether an Arcanist's math skills and handwriting determine their combat capabilities. 

Now, as for the fairy thing... I do plan to play my character (who is going to be female, for the sake of pronoun confusion) as having one. Maybe even having some sort of rapport with it. However, as someone has suggested, I will keep this particular aspect of my RP out of the community. I have a fairly nice little plot cooked up with some friends, but for spontaneous RP? My Scholar isn't going to whip out her fairy and make everyone admire it, don't worry. 

My FC pretty much just defaults to the "It's been a while since these jobs were first brought back into the fore - so they're becoming more and more available to the public," thing.