Hammersmith

I'm in the boat that says Sympathetic Magic grants anything based in blood most of it's power. Got some of it's blood? You got some pull on it you didn't before. Power over it. Power to maybe ward, or repel, or dozens of other things. Trick is making it bleed first, of course, but blood is a hell of a tie to have when practicing any school or tradition of magic that can affect a thing that bleeds. Yesss, yes, this! It's a theme I've wanted to explore in RP but I've never felt confident enough to actually do it. Might have to get some scheming done along these lines, though... HMMM. It's a fun concept and you can find dozens of historical sources where you didn't want a bit of "you" getting into a "magic users" hands. Curses and the like would move over easy to some of the Scholar's line of work, all scientificy. On the other hand you could move it over to the Thaumaturge's method of pulling at aetheric weaves and ties and schools using it as a focus. Lots of options! You can do it! I've got a system of magic I've plotted out that has sympathetic magic ingrained heavily into it, but I'm not well read enough on the FF magic systems yet to start slotting it in for proper loreification/co-existance with what's already there.

Hey. HEY. Mine had glass shards mixed in.

I'm in the boat that says Sympathetic Magic grants anything based in blood most of it's power. Got some of it's blood? You got some pull on it you didn't before. Power over it. Power to maybe ward, or repel, or dozens of other things. Trick is making it bleed first, of course, but blood is a hell of a tie to have when practicing any school or tradition of magic that can affect a thing that bleeds.

Much to my dismay, yes. Iaam Be'tman

Halone, the Fury — What is your character passionate about? ● Work's the only thing that's keeping me talking to you. I take your shit, your company, your money, and your work because it's the only thing keeping me most days from reaching out, putting a thumb into your eye and pushing until it busts. Menphina, the Lover — Does your character have any lovers? ● Fuck off, no. Thaliak, the Scholar — What topics or subjects does your character like to learn about? ● Siegework's n'evolving craft. Gotta keep up with metalworking, local carpentry, an those mad fucking alchemists that like t'make things explode if y'wanna stay current. Trebuchets only get yez so far Nymeia, the Spinner — Does your character have any extraordinary skills in crafting? ● I burned juss as many walls as I helped build. Gotta be hundreds of weapons on the local battlefields and armory with my makers mark on em somewhere. I done a lot of work in my time. I figgure the shit I made will be killin people long after I'm gone.. Llymlaen, the Navigator — What is your character’s dream vacation? Where would they go? Who or what would they bring with them? ● The place doesn't exist anymore, so it ain't even a dream anymore. Oschon, the Wanderer — Where is your character from? Where do they consider their home to be now? ● Ul'dah ain't home. More like a rat nest I can crawl into when I need t'ae put my head down. Don't trust cities enough t'stay in them for long. Walls ain't safe. Byregot, the Builder — What are the building blocks of your character’s personality from their childhood that determines their reactions and behaviors as an adult? ● Fury, stubbornness, determination, impulsiveness. Yez thing I'm bad now You shoulda seen me before m'balls dropped.. Rhalgr, the Destroyer — If your character had the power, what would they destroy? ● There's days I consider that mebee Dalmud shoulda finished the job and been done with it. Azeyma, the Warden — Who has been the most important role model in your character’s life? ● Ain't none of them left. All dead. Way I figgure these days really the only things left even close would be the Limsa armor and smithin guilds. Nald’thal, the Traders — What does your character do for a living? What is their favorite job to work on? What is their least favorite job to do? ● Sellsword, merchant, blacksmith. Still do a lotta artisan work, large scale ore trade, and in between going somewhere and doing terrible things to people for money. I like that last one. A lot. Really the politics of merchanting is the least favorite part of it, but it's it's own kind of violence and brutality, so even that ain't always so bad. Nophica, the Matron — Describe your character’s parents? Who is their mother? Who is their father? ● M'parents were good people. Neither of em were people of note, unless yez lived in m'village. Good people. By my standards. Make that what yez will. Althyk, the Keeper — If your character could go back into the past and change one thing, what would it be and why? ● Hour long swearing tirade.

Hammer's got a set of brass earrings he keeps highly polished and worn any time they're not being cleaned and cared for. What that means is anyone's guess. He also keeps knives from people he ends up killing in notable fights. There's a big collection of them by this point, each one has a story. Sometimes he's carrying several of them on him.

In terms of "Why would I want to play a half breed" it falls to the old, and all too often ignored question of : Is this concept undoable with "known" material , thus requiring speculation and invention to make it viable, interesting, and fun for yourself and the people around you. The answer usually no, which makes a lot of "Just because" concepts just a foot note in how it's played or I STAND OUT LOOK AT ME, which is worse. I'm not seeing a "need" for half breeds in this setting, right the now but, conversely and tying back with the ERP thread, I guess an answer to the logical conclusion of what happens when people go a fucking needs an answer.

Was my first time there Sunday, continue to be impressed with how good the fight-posts are and how good-sportsmanship the people in these are. (I hung up RP fighting with strangers for a long while because of Dick-Measuring being more important than The Story. This is a breath of fresh air)

I'm sorry I smashed my rum all over your face. If it's any consolation, S'khai now has mutiple shards of glass embedded in his flesh? In the words of Calvin's Dad "Those build character". I'm guessing the rum-smash is where all those handy glass shards came from. Karma's wonderful.

Hammer's not a fan of swords. He can handle them, it's just a sword doesn't help you break a gate, a door, or a barricade down the same way an axe does. He's a siege engineer and soldier. In his fighting style, axes get you through people, armor, and obstacles without blunting, breaking, or chipping, since swords are designed to just go through people. He's not switching more because he's used to the weapon he has. It's honest about what it does, the axe is. Swords breed a different level of martial culture he doesn't care for, and considers somewhat dishonest. Which strangely enough, seems to be exactly what spawned in the DRK concept.

Oh, you def. see it almost anywhere. And there's perfectly normal ways of dealing and mediating it outside of the context we're talking, for sure. In the context of sexual anything, though, it's a seriously terrible thing.

That's a fair point, but I think the kind of person that would end up in that situation has a higher probability of not following this rule to start with: Though that doesn't make it their fault, it's still the assholes doing the social engineering fault. True, but it's easier to recognize once it's known to you. Also it's not social engineering, or a pick up game. that really downplays the consequences of this sort of really terrible behavior. in the context we're addressing, it's strait up sexual predation. It's fucking horrifying. (Notice I have Views on this. Because Reasons.)

Real easy. RP with someone. Get them involved in your stuff. Get them wrapped up in your plotlines. Get them in your orbit and start making sure all their other stuff comes into your orbit. Make them orbit you. Isolate them. Them promise you'll shut down all their fun, ever, if they don't join you in the boning time. Promise to turn all your friends (And now theirs, because they're part of your group) against them if they don't do what you say. Grooming, blackmail, extortion. See what I said about emotionally manipulative assholes. It's a common tactic even against adults, and it's a known tactic used against minors by predators a LOT. You see this sort of shit with charismatic sociopaths as well. You don't forget it after you see it happen to someone. It's why I said make a lot of friends. Don't focus, don't orbit one person. If you aren't being allowed to or are being manipulated into avoiding contacting/playing with others outside a clique by one person, it's a red flag.

These two points are incredibly important yall. I have seen some shit in my lifetime involving ERP and almost all of it flowed from these two points. Out abusers. Out them and make sure they never come back.

The points that humans are terrible fucking creatures is a valid one. I think it's worth emphasizing again though that stuff like ERP preys on and points towards emotional entanglement on a scale that is beyond just gettin angry, gettin hilarious, or expounding on length about totalitarian regimes being worthy of blowing up. Nerds are a clannish, cliquish (You notice how much 'us' vs' them' wording there is already in this thread?), closed off community at the best of times. (Yeah, sure, we welcome new folks but let's face facts: We're also our own worst gatekeepers. I refer you to all the lore arguments and Cat-Goon worries as recent evidence y'honor.) It means nerds bond harder than most people, when they think they click. As I said before: This sort of thing aims at things Nerds are vulnerable towards: Loneliness, passion, attachment, possessiveness, and self esteem. While all of those might align in any point in any situation, ever, ERP, relationship RP, and related facets of this strange, red, pulsing, wet jewel of a topic concentrate them all into a alluring diamond that serves as a bug zapper for nerd sensibilities, or even basic HUMAN sensibilities. Us nerds just happen to get touched and set off in them easily given how deep those mental rivers we tote around run. Be aware. Be considerate. Be kind. Communicate. This sort of stuff isn't dangerous until you make it, (Or worse, and more often: Someone else makes it) but it's real easy to make it disrespectful, or worse, dangerous if you aren't aware. Don't take this as my saying it's your fault if something happens or goes wrong, just to be aware as you would and should be in the realms of relationships even if they're just IC. You're dealing with a human behind that keyboard. Don't fuck them over and up. It's worth noting here: Out abusers. Out them instantly. Out them loudly. Expose people who try to exploit. Log things when they happen. Keep them. Bring it out into the open. Do not let someone play the "Well I didn't" game with you. Be prepared to drag people into the light of day and into Sony's harassment report system and laugh while you do it because You Are Good Enough and Worth That Protection. Don't let anyone tell you different, don't let anyone else try to crush you to get what they want out of something. Know that good people are around for you to lean on if you need it. Lean on them, hard. Get friends that will tell you when you're committing bullshit, and when bullshit is being committed on you. It's the best defense. The Best. Like I said. Be safe out there, human meat vessels. It's a strange, wonderful, and sometimes sticky, world of storytelling. Just because some people are terrible cannibalistic pigs in human skin isn't reason to avoid it.

Like a lot of things: What others do outside of interacting with you is not your business to moderate untill it begins to directly intersect with you. People bumping uglies is a good example of this given that it inherently involves entangling others, which means it's always going to intersect with someone else's sensibilities just by doing that. Always. And that's fine, assuming you're respectful, communicative, and not a complete asshat. Unfortunately this kind of stuff often attracts predatory assholes, emotionally manipulative creeps, and worse. It's one of the reasons I burned the ERP bridge decades ago and didn't look back. I've seen it go terrible, terrible places when it goes wrong and, being the anxious, paranoid, eternally unwilling to to anything exciting automated AI that I am, I've kept my RP focused on non-romantic, non-ugly smushing interaction accordingly. And that's me. Avoiding something because I've seen it wreck people. Which isn't to say: IT can't add to a char, or build a better story. Romance exists for a reason people. Use it. Abuse it. Break it. Don't be a shitlord with it though. Talk with whoever you're wrapping up in this story of yours, or if you get wrapped up in someone else's. Talk. Fucking talk. Understand what's going on, why, and for what reasons. Don't crush on people because you're typing words to them, don't mistake attention for romance, don't assume you're entitled to treat someone like a chatline sexbot whenever you're jonesing for a grope. Nerds are some of the most passionate people in existence. They're also often some of the most lonely and as such are the most likely to get manipulated by those passions, needs, wants, and imagined meanings. Communication solves all a lot of these problems. It can make the entire Fade to Black concept of this work. And work well. Hilariously well. But not understanding consent or treating an RP partner like a quick ego/id boost dispenser makes you a predator, a prick, and a proper fucklord who probably needs to re-evaluate why they've sidled up to the RP scene. All RP communities have these issues. I've had this talk....so...so many times in my blackened eons as an elder-thing that also happens to RP in groups and communities. There's always at least One Guy who doesn't listen and abuses others to get that quick, stupid, worthless thrill of using people as disposable things that serve their purposes Don't be that guy. Go have fun. Be safe. Be sane. Be Fucking Consensual.

*adds to his journal* Lalas turn into giant murder apes.

...but how did it TASTE?

What about the Lala Centipede? ...how do I help make this happen?

I don't equate in game abilities to actual character abilities. The game's a framework, but there's a lot of flash involved that isn't either feasible/desirable in some concepts. Hammer's very rough and tumble but down to earth so, when getting physical, it's all practical and efficient. MRD's don't have a kidney punch but be assured if you get into an in-fight with Hammer you're going to be pissing blood afterwards. But he's not going to break the basic laws of how swings/physical combat works. Ground pounding is asking to get punished in a fight. Unless you're the hulk (I would love to be the Hulk) In short: I don't, but YRoC will vary.

I'm going to run under some assumptions here. Feel free to ignore them: (hereafter lalas are referred to as Runts) 1) Runts don't have some biological ubermensch adaption that lets them be on the same level or higher than other races 2) Runts don't have some mental advantage that makes them fight better 3) Runts are Baseline, in all ways, with no wild magical infusion that makes them better than anyone else at anything. 4) Accordingly they are limited by their size in terms of what can be mustered, both in impact, inertia, momentum, and what can be reached. With all of that said: Runts have something going for them. Gravity. Their center of mass is much closer to the ground than other races. Tipping a runt over is going to be a problem. Doubly so if you're taller and most of your force is coming from above. A Leg sweep for most people is a sweep at the torso for a Runt. Their main advantage, physically IS their size. Being short, squat, and tiny, means they can maneuver, cut, and shank, from angles most races can't operate from, and that are often, defensively speaking, advantageous. Runts are going to be harder to budge, harder to topple, and will have a tendency to put an upward thrust directly into your groin instead of say: Your shoulder. They have an easier time aiming for other people's large fleshy torso areas, not to mention hamstrings, calves, and nads. So I posit Runts compensate for strength and size with style. Runts probably get a different education in fighting compared to other races. They go low, they trip, they harass and harry and apply leverage to topple. Knees, back or front, ankles, feet, anything that's not Runt Sized is often LETHAL for everyone else to get a sword, mace, or anything else to. You don't need to hit hard to cripple a joint. You just have to reach it. Guess who's over qualified to do that? I suspect the Runt army platoons of Uldah favor curved blades and piercing weapons accordingly. Because if you can't get a lot of force behind something you put all that into one focused area and do a lot of hurt with that concentrated smack down instead. Same principle between spikes on flails and flanged maces. All that momentum on one small point, in simple physics, turns a small swing into a fucking haymaker for wherever it hits. Which leads to point 2: Most runts come from Ul'Dah which, in turn, means most runt military forces are syndicate and Sultanate funded. Which means they ARE well trained. Which means they ARE well educated on "Smash this motherfucker". I'm not saying that the runts are militarized, but the city is founded by runts who did smash motherfuckers, and held empires based around smashing motherfuckers and, as such: It's safe to assume they've got old traditions of smashing motherfuckers while being runt sized. They aren't stronger, faster, or meaner, in my eyes. They're just used to this being how it is. They fight better because that's how the culture produces and forces them to be. Because they have decades, centuries, ages, of This is how it is. Physics works against them in a lot of ways, but it also works FOR them since they're used to using it as such. Runts fight back equally because they realize when you can use their head as a drink rest it means their teeth are about the same height as your balls. You don't want to push that kind of button. Also, RE: Punting Runts: It's amazing and fun for dramatic effect/RP wackyness. If we're talking just Real time "But it totally works like that", go try to punt a 50 lb bag of sand and tell me how that works, because that's how these tiny shithouses are built.

Realtalk: I burnt out on magic a long time ago. I encountered a bias towards "Magic solves/does" everything that just killed that candle in me playing it in most RP environments as a center-point for a character a long time ago. I still do things with it. I have things for it. But I learned a good lesson from the old World of Darkness mage system and a thing it had in there: Why use magic for something you can do without using it? Why risk consequence? Why is there Consequence? Why do you need to consider it? Why are you reaching for magic instead of just doing it the normal way? What's the cost for cutting the corners off of Reality As We Know It and why was it worth it? The answer's vanity, sloth, or worse most of the time. As such I treat magic as a kind of mental tarpit. A power sink people get sucked into. It's not better, it's different. You can pick up a rock and throw it, or you can use "magic" to throw a stone at someone. You can set someone on fire with a bottle of booze and a match, or you can use "magic" to set them on fire. Sure. You can have your person conjure fireballs and lava waterfalls and giant ice shurikens. Ultimately magic's just a tool though, one doing normal things will almost always equal, in almost any situation. Monster coming: "Stab it or Magically shoot it" "I need food" "Conjure it, hunt/scavenge it", And that's where it gets ugly in RP. People can, and sometimes do, use magic as a solve all. Which is boring. Remove the struggle, remove the trouble, remove the inconvenience from something, and there's no point in RPing. Super invulnerable magic shield lololol I can always win even though I'm 12 years old, immortal, and a god because magic, isn't fun. It's boring, disrespectful to the people around you also RPing, and amateurish, being without consideration and thought for the investment required to do these things. Limits are a requirement. Treating magic like a tool is how that limit works best for me. Things it can do that normal labor can't, like summons, some senses, golems, the entire Primal Problem, sometimes quick healing, are great examples, but most of the time the thing it lets you skip is actual preparation and training to do it the normal way and, in trade, you have to train and prepare another way. Balance is my "limit". If it's a "Freebie" use of it, it's probably not worth using/is an abusive use of it.

Step 1: Geek the mage first.

Probly going to show to the next one. Intend to cause some harm.