The character i play is a musician. Â She is only that, nothing more. Â She has no magic, no special traits aside from the fact that she IC can play the living hell out of a viol.
How i choose to translate this into the game, where sound isn't really an option, is in three ways. Â Firstly i describe music using either analogy (if one seems appropriate given the situation) or by simply using musical terminology (which i had to learn for this purpose). Â The second method is to have the character step up and perform at events and just tell the audience 'hey this character doesn't suck' and for the most part, it is believed. Â And lastly, i write entirely original pieces (some of these are fair, some are down right awful, but i try). Â
The performances themselves are done by a combination of custom macros, stock emotes and typing my tits off at/with/opposed to whoever happens to be in the vicinity. Â Since it is all in a written medium i would imagine it is more akin to poetry than music, but the intent is to have the reader 'imagine' music and I have found that the blunter one can be, the better. Â Thus, my character is the closest thing i could make to a punk musician without taking the lore out back and putting two bullets in the back of its head.
So below is, 'Necrophiliac Paladins' a tune that IC Savo wrote quite some time ago. Â It is pretty typical fair for the character, slightly amusing and a little profane. Â I'll show the macros as i had written them for a show at the cliffs, and hence you will notice some references to the place it was performed, e.i. the canyon, cliffs, mines. Â It also assumed that the readers have some idea of who savo is and the instrument she uses (in this case: Â Savo is a keeper miqo who is half starved, has fleas, and lives in a drainage pipe. Â Her instrument is a 10-string Black Alto-Viol (which over time has become more memorable than the cat that plays it)). Â You'll notice that this piece is split into seven macros. Â This is to allow me a chance to type into the chat log various changes, adjustments and customization between them. Â (though often i'll write right over a macro if i feel like i simply must). Â Here shows the macros for this particular song as i would/and have use them:
first
/em slides the palm of her hand across her ten-string, in response the instrument hums. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em slaps the low drone strings in an accelerando.  She tears into a harsh and aggressive riff. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em ‘s music thrums in the canyon like a combination kick in the teeth. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
/em hisses and thrashes, swirling about the promenade.  (this may have the unintended effect of launching a few luckless fleas in random directions) ♪♪♪ <wait.9>
/em  The churning noise settles into a driving groove that would make a statue tap its foot. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
/em ‘s voice is entirely unequal to the demands of the sound, but the girl tries her best. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ So there’s this great paladin... <wait.4>
♪ ...Returned to confess his sins... <wait.4>
♪ ...Knowing full well it had been a while. <wait.5>
♪ He knows that everyone thinks... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’s pure and unburdened by kinks... <wait.4>
♪ ...For instance bondage really ain’t his style.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em plays expertly, the complex barrage of sound flawlessly evoked from the black 10-string viol. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
/em sets up another verse with an astonishingly dexterous fill.  She slashes her dreds over her shoulder and sings… ♪♪♪.
second
♪ But just behind his nervous eyes... <wait.4>
♪ ...Worry and regret haunts his mind... <wait.4>
♪ ...Kinda thinks he just might be sick. <wait.5>
♪ So he’s come back here since... <wait.4>
♪ ...The priests might ease his conscience... <wait.4>
♪ ...For sins committed with his dick.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em rakes her claws up the fretboard and the viol growls from the bass notes to the treble. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em yells at the top of her little lungs ♪♪♪ <wait.3>
♪ There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪ Hovering some few feet above his bed! <wait.3>
(And the kindly priests exclaim!) <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  We know how this story goes! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  The plot it thickens and grows! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  We priests understand your pain! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  Virtue hides all kinds of strange!  ♪♪.
third
/em beats down on the viol and forces the music back into the criminally infectious verse riff. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ Since he’d left his old life behind... <wait.4>
♪ ...This Paladin became the worst of his kind... <wait.4>
♪ ...And can’t believe he got away with it so long. <wait.5>
♪ He’s fulfilled his needs... <wait.4>
♪ ...With Ball-gags, anal beads... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’s fucked a corpse then hit the bong.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em plays through a phenomenally fast counter melody here. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
/em smirks at the audience and resumes the verse. ♪♪♪.
fourth
♪ The eroticism of the dead... <wait.4>
♪ ...Are his butter and his bread... <wait.4>
♪ ...But he’s hidden it to this very day. <wait.5>
♪ If you fought to your last... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’d resurrect your ass... <wait.4>
♪ ...But first he’d kinda have his way.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em claws into the fretboard again and her instrument shrieks in protest. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
♪  There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪  Saying, ‘hey there, why not fuck the dead’ !? <wait.3>
(And the rather alarmed priests shout!) <wait.3>
/em throws up her fist on the accents ♪♪♪ <wait.2>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  That’s more than we needed to know! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  We think that you ought to go! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  Do as you will with y’own genitalia! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  We draw the line at Necrophilia!  ♪♪.
fifth
/em swings the viol behind her back and catches it in time when is whirls around on the strap. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ The priests, they were sincere... <wait.4>
♪ ...But it wasn’t what he needed to hear... <wait.4>
♪ ...He drew his sword and he drew near. <wait.5>
/em ‘s claws and fingers thread across the strings picking out 128th notes all over the place. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ Before the paladin attacked... <wait.4>
♪ ...There was this priest in the back... <wait.4>
♪ ...Who had an idea to fix all this crap.  ♪♪.
sixth
/em sings as if she is the priest with the solution. ♪♪♪ <wait.4>
♪ He said “There’s this chick laying in state… <wait.4>
♪ …I think you two should date… <wait.4>
♪ …See, she’s what we call: the undead.†<wait.5>
♪ “She’ll love you for your brains… <wait.4>
♪ …And you’ll dig her mortal remains… <wait.4>
♪ …At least the parts between her legs.† ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em takes a moment to point at her own crotch. ♪♪♪ <wait.3>
/em shouts the moral of the story. ♪♪♪.
seventh
♪  There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪  And he did just what that priest said! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  He took that Zombie in tow! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  She goes wherever he goes! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  He’s absolved and she’s loyal! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  Here and there he fucks her mortal coil!  ♪♪ <wait.3>
/em gives her viol a moment to breathe…the instrument seems to be heaving in exhaustion. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em returns to the verse theme, but a softer, calmer version ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
♪ Next you see a paladin... <wait.4>
♪ ...Shouting, ‘my virtue’s why I win’... <wait.4>
♪ ...Remember just where this one stood. <wait.5>
♪ Despite the purity claimed... <wait.4>
♪ ...They’re all sorts of strange... <wait.4>
♪ ...Apparently there's leeway in being…Lawful Good. ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em cautiously strums out an A-minor7 and lets it sustain.  ♪♪♪.
I hope this helps you on your way to playing a bard in game. Â It's nerve wracking at first, but i think all of us who do it will agree, it is freakishly fun, though none of us has fully articulated why. Â : )Â
![[Image: fishb.jpg]](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2CnQWIZQ3NY/R3gLAEtQCLI/AAAAAAAAAbU/dWkCXLeaGQg/s320/fishb.jpg)
How i choose to translate this into the game, where sound isn't really an option, is in three ways. Â Firstly i describe music using either analogy (if one seems appropriate given the situation) or by simply using musical terminology (which i had to learn for this purpose). Â The second method is to have the character step up and perform at events and just tell the audience 'hey this character doesn't suck' and for the most part, it is believed. Â And lastly, i write entirely original pieces (some of these are fair, some are down right awful, but i try). Â
The performances themselves are done by a combination of custom macros, stock emotes and typing my tits off at/with/opposed to whoever happens to be in the vicinity. Â Since it is all in a written medium i would imagine it is more akin to poetry than music, but the intent is to have the reader 'imagine' music and I have found that the blunter one can be, the better. Â Thus, my character is the closest thing i could make to a punk musician without taking the lore out back and putting two bullets in the back of its head.
So below is, 'Necrophiliac Paladins' a tune that IC Savo wrote quite some time ago. Â It is pretty typical fair for the character, slightly amusing and a little profane. Â I'll show the macros as i had written them for a show at the cliffs, and hence you will notice some references to the place it was performed, e.i. the canyon, cliffs, mines. Â It also assumed that the readers have some idea of who savo is and the instrument she uses (in this case: Â Savo is a keeper miqo who is half starved, has fleas, and lives in a drainage pipe. Â Her instrument is a 10-string Black Alto-Viol (which over time has become more memorable than the cat that plays it)). Â You'll notice that this piece is split into seven macros. Â This is to allow me a chance to type into the chat log various changes, adjustments and customization between them. Â (though often i'll write right over a macro if i feel like i simply must). Â Here shows the macros for this particular song as i would/and have use them:
first
/em slides the palm of her hand across her ten-string, in response the instrument hums. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em slaps the low drone strings in an accelerando.  She tears into a harsh and aggressive riff. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em ‘s music thrums in the canyon like a combination kick in the teeth. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
/em hisses and thrashes, swirling about the promenade.  (this may have the unintended effect of launching a few luckless fleas in random directions) ♪♪♪ <wait.9>
/em  The churning noise settles into a driving groove that would make a statue tap its foot. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
/em ‘s voice is entirely unequal to the demands of the sound, but the girl tries her best. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ So there’s this great paladin... <wait.4>
♪ ...Returned to confess his sins... <wait.4>
♪ ...Knowing full well it had been a while. <wait.5>
♪ He knows that everyone thinks... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’s pure and unburdened by kinks... <wait.4>
♪ ...For instance bondage really ain’t his style.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em plays expertly, the complex barrage of sound flawlessly evoked from the black 10-string viol. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
/em sets up another verse with an astonishingly dexterous fill.  She slashes her dreds over her shoulder and sings… ♪♪♪.
second
♪ But just behind his nervous eyes... <wait.4>
♪ ...Worry and regret haunts his mind... <wait.4>
♪ ...Kinda thinks he just might be sick. <wait.5>
♪ So he’s come back here since... <wait.4>
♪ ...The priests might ease his conscience... <wait.4>
♪ ...For sins committed with his dick.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em rakes her claws up the fretboard and the viol growls from the bass notes to the treble. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em yells at the top of her little lungs ♪♪♪ <wait.3>
♪ There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪ Hovering some few feet above his bed! <wait.3>
(And the kindly priests exclaim!) <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  We know how this story goes! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  The plot it thickens and grows! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  We priests understand your pain! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  HO!  Virtue hides all kinds of strange!  ♪♪.
third
/em beats down on the viol and forces the music back into the criminally infectious verse riff. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ Since he’d left his old life behind... <wait.4>
♪ ...This Paladin became the worst of his kind... <wait.4>
♪ ...And can’t believe he got away with it so long. <wait.5>
♪ He’s fulfilled his needs... <wait.4>
♪ ...With Ball-gags, anal beads... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’s fucked a corpse then hit the bong.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em plays through a phenomenally fast counter melody here. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
/em smirks at the audience and resumes the verse. ♪♪♪.
fourth
♪ The eroticism of the dead... <wait.4>
♪ ...Are his butter and his bread... <wait.4>
♪ ...But he’s hidden it to this very day. <wait.5>
♪ If you fought to your last... <wait.4>
♪ ...He’d resurrect your ass... <wait.4>
♪ ...But first he’d kinda have his way.  ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em claws into the fretboard again and her instrument shrieks in protest. ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
♪  There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪  Saying, ‘hey there, why not fuck the dead’ !? <wait.3>
(And the rather alarmed priests shout!) <wait.3>
/em throws up her fist on the accents ♪♪♪ <wait.2>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  That’s more than we needed to know! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  We think that you ought to go! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  Do as you will with y’own genitalia! <wait.3>
♪  HEY!  WHOAH!  We draw the line at Necrophilia!  ♪♪.
fifth
/em swings the viol behind her back and catches it in time when is whirls around on the strap. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ The priests, they were sincere... <wait.4>
♪ ...But it wasn’t what he needed to hear... <wait.4>
♪ ...He drew his sword and he drew near. <wait.5>
/em ‘s claws and fingers thread across the strings picking out 128th notes all over the place. ♪♪♪ <wait.7>
♪ Before the paladin attacked... <wait.4>
♪ ...There was this priest in the back... <wait.4>
♪ ...Who had an idea to fix all this crap.  ♪♪.
sixth
/em sings as if she is the priest with the solution. ♪♪♪ <wait.4>
♪ He said “There’s this chick laying in state… <wait.4>
♪ …I think you two should date… <wait.4>
♪ …See, she’s what we call: the undead.†<wait.5>
♪ “She’ll love you for your brains… <wait.4>
♪ …And you’ll dig her mortal remains… <wait.4>
♪ …At least the parts between her legs.† ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em takes a moment to point at her own crotch. ♪♪♪ <wait.3>
/em shouts the moral of the story. ♪♪♪.
seventh
♪  There’s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
♪  And he did just what that priest said! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  He took that Zombie in tow! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  She goes wherever he goes! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  He’s absolved and she’s loyal! <wait.3>
♪  AND!  SO!  Here and there he fucks her mortal coil!  ♪♪ <wait.3>
/em gives her viol a moment to breathe…the instrument seems to be heaving in exhaustion. ♪♪♪ <wait.6>
/em returns to the verse theme, but a softer, calmer version ♪♪♪ <wait.5>
♪ Next you see a paladin... <wait.4>
♪ ...Shouting, ‘my virtue’s why I win’... <wait.4>
♪ ...Remember just where this one stood. <wait.5>
♪ Despite the purity claimed... <wait.4>
♪ ...They’re all sorts of strange... <wait.4>
♪ ...Apparently there's leeway in being…Lawful Good. ♪♪ <wait.5>
/em cautiously strums out an A-minor7 and lets it sustain.  ♪♪♪.
I hope this helps you on your way to playing a bard in game. Â It's nerve wracking at first, but i think all of us who do it will agree, it is freakishly fun, though none of us has fully articulated why. Â : )Â
