Rise Together or Fall Alone

[Dubs]

Love the brainstorming here.

 

Maybe the formulation of some type of Villain archetype template form could streamline the process.

 

Categories might include:

 

• Theme (Political, Religious, Pirate, Garlean, Lallafel zombies, Economic rivalry-crafting competitions)
  
• Scope: Long plot, short plot, inclusion of other FC's. This particular category might sound ambiguous but there should be clear cut defined ranges
  
• Participating PCs required for Villain events. (Lvl & class requirements?) NOTE: If there is going to be large scale battle (If it's even mechanically possible) involved this might take a lot of dedicated RPC members to level a couple of lets say Arcanists to level 20 EX naming convention: Cult Arcanist No. 1 or just use a random name generator because obviously there can't be the same character name for cronies etc. Once character is finished PC can delete character from their character pool (If they have slots available).
  
• Zone dependent?
  
• Head Villain Impresario for the plot who collaborates with FC leaders as well as orchestrates PC villain volunteers, providing OOC villain etiquette to underlings.
  
• Backstories / Lore required
  

These are just a couple that pour out. I'm sure we can add much more we just have to regulate it to maximize participation, communication, timing while avoiding retconning, metagaming the usual pitfalls of RP. Scheduling is a must because if a Villain volunteer from some other FC has another event with their primary PC a lot of conflicts can occur.

[Havoc Snow]

The only problem with the badguys being our alts.. It won't ever be an 'us vs them' thing. It'll only be a portion of them against a portion of us in any encounter, leading to the ever ellusive rabbit.

 

That, and I'm not a fan of playing alts for any reason. I'd just as soon organize something with an existing 'evil' FC.

 

They don't even need to be evil, but I do agree I don't care for alts within the same storyline myself. makes too insular a story to me, kind of like playing yourself in chess, in the end you win either way and you could even force a certian side to win.

 

think about the Triad. they would see themselves as the one that should win, but toss in another mob in another country and that mob would think of themselves as "good" too. making evil simply in the eye of the beholder. Maybe the gridania based FC(s) are simply competition and we/they are moving into the other groups turf, insert turf battle here. the battle could be physical or more along the lines of a price war, or that sort of things.

 

Ah, but see.. To my knowledge (Correct me if I'm wrong, Ash), the Blades aren't a.. Competitive sort. WE don't have a turf. We don't care about competition. We just wanna make sure people aren't doing bad (To us) stuff, and make sure the Garleans/Bahamut/INSERTOTHERBBADGUY is stopped. In a nutshell.

This is correct, as far as the majority of the world knows the Blades don't actually exist, so because of that any turf they owned is claimed through subsidiaries and shell corporation type deals. Even within the Coalition Garryson or L'yhta would have to contact Ashren the usual way (the whole cowry into the fountain thing) to setup a meeting, so there'd always be an air of mystery around the Blades.

 

To use a kind of amusing analogy, Garryson and L'yhta could be considered sort of like Commissioner Gordon² and Ashren is Batman, even though they're allied you don't really know who they are, you just know what they stand for and that they're hear to help, and you know when you need them you just need to shine the Nald'thal Symbol.

 

 

As far as the villain idea goes, I like it for the most part but I agree that it would be better if we had other people playing them, and maybe even focus on one organization that could oppose our own efforts so that there could be at some point a fight that would involve all three leaders and their companies fighting together to try and defeat their enemy, or at least thwart one of their schemes.

[Kismet]

the three grand free companies of balmung.

The blades-XI:7-Mysterium

The shadows-the face-the arcane

 

I agree with the idea that this is ridiculously epic!

 

Not to mention that ALL THREE of these guilds are the exact ones that I'm having a really hard time choosing between. I have one friend who already wants to join XI:7, another who wants to join Mysterium (but is considering XI:7), and I'm debating between the Blades and Mysterium... Grrr. T__T

[Havoc Snow]

the three grand free companies of balmung.

The blades-XI:7-Mysterium

The shadows-the face-the arcane

 

I agree with the idea that this is ridiculously epic!

 

Not to mention that ALL THREE of these guilds are the exact ones that I'm having a really hard time choosing between. I have one friend who already wants to join XI:7, another who wants to join Mysterium (but is considering XI:7), and I'm debating between the Blades and Mysterium... Grrr. T__T

Well at least you know the way things are turning out that regardless of which one you join, you'll get to work with the other two!

[Darien Cadell]

I'd actually been waiting to contact the Blades (and the Mysterium) until we got our FC set up, but I would love to make contact any time~ Possibility of villainy or at least conflict on our part certainly exists.

 

Just got to find me a cowry.

[FreelanceWizard]

Feel free to poke me (or any of us, or all of us through group PM ) whenever you like. More inter-group RP is always welcome!

 

Also, for those on the fence about which FC to join, Mysterium has three ways to bring in people who are members of other FCs, two of which are relevant here. One is as a Dear Friend, a close associate of the Tower (and a member of our IC linkshell). The other is as a full Wizard, with the proviso that ICly, all Wizards swear to the Code of the Magi. That might conflict with other oaths one's taken ICly, which is why the Dear Friend option exists. OOCly, we prefer if you join our FC if you're not already committed elsewhere, but that's not a hard and fast rule.

 

So, in short, you can join the Blades and Mysterium, and there's a couple of different ways we can make that work based on your IC circumstances.

[Havoc Snow]

Just got to find me a cowry.

The cowry are just a type of seashell that was used historically (both in the real world and Eorzea according to the info on Nald'thal) as a type of currency before minted currency existed. In modern types they're mostly just used for jewelry, and since it is considered ancient currency in Eorzea as well I'd say the same is probably pretty likely as well. You could probably find them in any market and buy them by the handful for a single Gil.

 

For us the use of cowry to contact the Blades is symbolic and serves a purpose. Nald'thal's symbol is the cowry, so as the Blades of Nald'thal the cowry is symbolic to our patron, but because cowry come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and pattern variations it can also tell us a lot about a person trying to contact us. How vain they might be, how urgent the request is, the type of mentality or mood the person is in making the request.

 

For example a person who is desperate to reach us will likely use a larger cowry because it would likely get our attention more quickly, while someone who is vain might use a cowry that is brightly colored, or has a more noticeable pattern on it, even if they pick it subconsciously. This is obviously not an exact science, but it's a good way to make an estimate about who we might be dealing with.

[Gar]

the three grand free companies of balmung.

The blades-XI:7-Mysterium

The shadows-the face-the arcane

 

I agree with the idea that this is ridiculously epic!

 

Not to mention that ALL THREE of these guilds are the exact ones that I'm having a really hard time choosing between. I have one friend who already wants to join XI:7, another who wants to join Mysterium (but is considering XI:7), and I'm debating between the Blades and Mysterium... Grrr. T__T

 

Ashren makes a really good point. I suspect our groups are going to be pretty close, our members inter mingling on a regular basis. Even if each one of you join different FCs, you'll still be together a lot. Besides your own time to spend with each other, lets say your friend who wants to join XI:7 is doing some XI:7 RP. 95% of the time you are welcome to come along even if you are Mysterium or Blades.

 

Have you played Final Fantasy X-2? This brings to mind Barali, Nooj, and Gippal, leaders of New Yevon, The Youth League, and the Al Bhed's Machine Faction. I always thought this was a beautifully poetic balance. All three of these men fought together in Crimson Squad. And here they are leading three different factions (opposing ones at that) but they were still friends.

 

So I wouldn't worry too much about where your friends are going. I would suggest RPing with all three groups and seeing where your character feels at home. We all just want to have fun, and whatever group you choose we're all still friends.

[Havoc Snow]

That's basically the idea I have in mind, three dramatically different organizations working towards their own goals but also working together to strengthen one another.

[FreelanceWizard]

Yep! Think of us as different comic books in the same universe. We each have different themes and our own stories, but we also have characters that crossover regularly, a number of characters that know each other and have intertwining stories that cross titles, and every now and then, we have a Big Crossover Event. There's bound to be varying degrees of crossover, in much the same way that Wolverine and Kitty Pryde are everywhere these days, but you rarely see Magik or Doctor Strange outside of their own comics lately.

 

EDIT: And to continue the analogy, there's certainly room for other comics -- LSs and FCs, as well as independent characters (Asyria is... Batman).

[LandStander]

Lots of great ideas floating around in this thread. I would even be okay with throwing my main in to the pool of rentable villains. She is a sellsword that really doesn't say no to any job unless it is something like a 10 out of 10 on the evil scale like barricading the doors to an orphanage and setting the thing ablaze. But fulfilling the role of a highway woman and committing acts like robbery, kidnapping, and beating up a few helpless people won't really bother her much. 

 

A few stories I have written with her puts her in a lawless position with frequent trips to the slammer for various acts of hooliganism, fighting in the streets, and the sorts.

[Darien Cadell]

Psh, I'd barricade an orphanage and set it on fire. Pick me! :angel:

[Havoc Snow]

I'd actually been waiting to contact the Blades (and the Mysterium) until we got our FC set up, but I would love to make contact any time~ Possibility of villainy or at least conflict on our part certainly exists.

 

Just got to find me a cowry.

I read your info on the Grim and I don't know that they would be opposed by the Blades, they basically follow the same ideals the Blades do. Especially this part:

 

The world and all its people are in danger, and we will do whatever it takes to rescue them. Everything is permitted, and nothing is sacred.

[LandStander]

I'd actually been waiting to contact the Blades (and the Mysterium) until we got our FC set up, but I would love to make contact any time~ Possibility of villainy or at least conflict on our part certainly exists.

 

Just got to find me a cowry.

I read your info on the Grim and I don't know that they would be opposed by the Blades, they basically follow the same ideals the Blades do. Especially this part:

 

The world and all its people are in danger, and we will do whatever it takes to rescue them. Everything is permitted, and nothing is sacred.

 

 

Sounds like the Night Blades as well . Three guilds interested in gaining as much power as possible. Sounds like a nice rivalry could be had here :3

[Darien Cadell]

Yeah, Night Blades are on my "to contact" list as well. Conflict would likely have to be the 'we're all after the same thing and only one of us can get there first' or other specific instances. Or with just individual characters playing antagonist roles, rather than the companies. Because as far as overall ideals go, we're pretty similar, heh.

[Havoc Snow]

I smell sabotage and corporate espionage in our near future.