Looking for an Ascian RPer

[X'tai]

So yeah this may be a bit obscure but I was wondering if anyone RPs as an Ascian thrall or something. This -may- spawn a whole roll of people to come down and frown at me but hey, worth a shot. Balmung sever, bug me anytime you see me on!

[Flashhelix]

wow no why

[X'tai]

Well I saw someone RPing an ascian maybe a month ago and I have this huge curiosity. If the Rp is good then maybe I can spin the Bad Decision Roulette wheel some more. Wheeeee!

[Flashhelix]

Ascian RP doesn't really sound all that good

[X'tai]

Hey you're probably right. But if I let myself be put off by the prospect of terrible RP then I'd not be on an RP server. :3

[ArmachiA]

I wouldn't know why a person would roll an Ascian main (Wouldn't that get boring? They mostly be spooky on the sidelines) but I don't really see the problem with someone rolling an Ascian for a plot? An NPC of sorts, I think that could be pretty interesting! In fact, my fc is working on trying to work in an Ascian villain right now. Lore is currently being checked for how possible it is though.

[Warren Castille]

Warning: Wild speculation

 

I was under the impression there are only 12?11?13? Ascians. They're ageless, malevolent beings. They're nigh-unkillable unless you have the balls to state you're Minfillia's BFF and the MSQ main character. They're also completely undetectable to anyone without the Echo (and sometimes even if you see them, you can't understand them anyway!)

 

I don't trust Strawman Joe Roleplayer to be able to do them justice. Better to just avoid it. You'd have to be ultra mega special to even warrant their attention - They're currently a bit busy plotting against the Actual Main Character of FFXIV so it would take an incredible amount of ego to even suggest anyone would be on their level.

[Saefinn]

Not a main, but I do have an alt who is an Ascian thrall, however, they're there for plot purposes, haven't yet decided how to work it in. Because a) lore and b) the likeliness of an Ascian taking an interest in us (though, that's not as much of a problem as we've done IC stuff to do that).

 

However, I spend so much time on my main character and running an FC that I don't think I could commit my alt to a partnership with another RPer, however, if there are other people doing Ascian RP, I'd be partial to showing up on my Ascian for misdeeds. That said, I need to get a few levels up first.

 

 

I was under the impression there are only 12?11?13? Ascians. They're ageless, malevolent beings. They're nigh-unkillable unless you have the balls to state you're Minfillia's BFF and the MSQ main character. They're also completely undetectable to anyone without the Echo (and sometimes even if you see them, you can't understand them anyway!)

 

I agree to the 'being special' to be of notice to them. Hence this isn't something I've just jumped into and have considered how an Ascian might notice us - one area where this is the case, my main has a particular interest in the Sahagin, mainly because they killed his original crew, so he has meddled in their affairs before now and of course the Sahagin love hugging Leviathan and the Ascians love them summoning primals.

 

However, I will need to play back on some of the earlier cutscenes as it has been so long, it's a question of whether the masked mage you meet in the level 14 quests is a lesser Ascian, or one of the ones you encounter later on. Hard to say. I also don't see any mention of Travanchet in 2.0. This is why it's difficult one to RP. Much of it is speculation ATM.

[Hyrist]

Warning: Wild speculation

 

I was under the impression there are only 12?11?13? Ascians. They're ageless, malevolent beings. They're nigh-unkillable unless you have the balls to state you're Minfillia's BFF and the MSQ main character. They're also completely undetectable to anyone without the Echo (and sometimes even if you see them, you can't understand them anyway!)

 

I don't trust Strawman Joe Roleplayer to be able to do them justice. Better to just avoid it. You'd have to be ultra mega special to even warrant their attention - They're currently a bit busy plotting against the Actual Main Character of FFXIV so it would take an incredible amount of ego to even suggest anyone would be on their level.

 

IIRC there was multiple Ascians assaulting the player in the 2.1 quest line when you were pursuing the White-Robed ascian.

 

There is also the pair in Haukke Manor that do not seem to be the same pair that assaults you, nor the one you defeat at the level 15 quest, or even the ones in the Primals Plotline.

 

So while there may be a limited seat of the highest ranking, it seems there is a hierarchy with the lower echelons being more populated.

[Flickering Ember]

Warning: Wild speculation

 

I was under the impression there are only 12?11?13? Ascians. They're ageless, malevolent beings. They're nigh-unkillable unless you have the balls to state you're Minfillia's BFF and the MSQ main character. They're also completely undetectable to anyone without the Echo (and sometimes even if you see them, you can't understand them anyway!)

 

I don't trust Strawman Joe Roleplayer to be able to do them justice. Better to just avoid it. You'd have to be ultra mega special to even warrant their attention - They're currently a bit busy plotting against the Actual Main Character of FFXIV so it would take an incredible amount of ego to even suggest anyone would be on their level.

 

I've heard of this number too, but after seeing the cutscene from where the "information" is pulled from, I'm really skeptical. There is no indisputable evidence that says Ascians are completely off limits due to there being a limited number of them. I believe it is more likely that they have a hierarchy, like Hyrist mentioned. That is still speculation as well but that's the way of it with the lore of this game it seems. A great deal of it is just speculation from the RPers' point of view.

 

Outside of the number, they seem like standard villain faire for a fantasy world, to me. Not something conceivable for the person RPing a farmer refugree from Thanalan but if you roleplay as a fantasy hero I don't see it as anymore out of reach than many of the other magical and mysterious stories that often take place.

[ArmachiA]

Right, the lore we've looked into shows the Top 12, but also there's a bottom wrung of other Ascians that aren't in that group, as seen by different cutscenes. So it's possible to have a lower ranked Ascian running around causing his own havok though honestly, playing one as your PC full time would seem... Power gamey? They are nigh unkillable and can cast powerful magic. A regular Joe Blow would be trampled by one pretty quickly.

 

There isn't a lot of lore on the Ascians, which is a shame because they seem interesting.

[Dravus]

If people want to role-play a villain there's countless other routes to go down that are far less controversial and jarring. I'd like to see more Garlean spies and cultists obsessed with the void instead of people drifting towards the most powerful and influential role.

 

Whenever the Ascians have done something it has led to the Scions getting involved directly as well as various other major organisations such as the Crystal Braves and Grand Companies.

 

We also have reasonable cause to assume that there's a very limited number of them in existence. Not knowing all the details isn't an excuse to run off and fill in the gaps, either - not when dealing with something that will logically have a massive effect upon Eorzea.

 

It doesn't do much to alleviate my concerns that many role-players in this community are only interested in turning role-play from an enjoyable activity into a bizarre arms race with no regard for the established canon.

[Kage]

I'm pretty sure part of the problem with the Ascians are that they're also... not just super powerful but essentially immortal....? I thought that was the reason why there were so few. There's no need for a large organization when you can't really kill them.

 

Why would they care about a Sultansworn or a merchant unless they're trying to pose as them? In the grand scheme of things, they don't matter.

[FreelanceWizard]

Why would they care about a Sultansworn or a merchant unless they're trying to pose as them? In the grand scheme of things, they don't matter.

 

This is a really good point, I think. Ascians are playing the long game. Being immortal and largely invisible, they can plot and scheme on a much larger time scale than the Sons of Man. In the MSQ, it's only the actions of The Adventurer and the Scions that really start to force their hand -- or perhaps this has been part of their plan all along? On this basis alone, I don't think they're suitable as PCs. It's like trying to play an Antediluvian or a Methuselah as a PC in Vampire: the Masquerade; they're more forces of nature than characters.

[Warren Castille]

More wild speculation:

 

A major part of the MSQ is how to deal with an unkillable, ever-returning foe. The only people capable of defeating them so far is a group of people including: The most important adventurer in Eorzea, the combined knowledge of the best scholars in the land, and a little bit of luck.

 

If you're not one of those people, and an Ascian wants to kill you, that's it, roll a new character you are D-E-D dead.

 

As an aside, I'm thinking the "lesser ascians" we see during the 2.1 pursuit quest are just minions of some void variety and not capital-A-Ascian enemies. Again, it's established in a major way that they do not die when killed. Hell, we don't even know for sure if the 2.5 bits so far actually killed anyone! Well, uh, we know one person's dead, but... We know the Ascians have sway in the void, so it makes sense that they are the absolute highest authority.

 

We also know that Elidibus has a plan in place and the entire other important-looking guys are very, very not wanting to cross him. The idea that those guys would have people beneath them just running around willy-nilly picking on unimportant-in-the-cosmic-sense adventurers is... Pretentious.

 

As always, though, don't mind the grognards saying no. Just don't expect people to roll with it if you happen to mention you fought and killed an ascian in casual conversation.

 

It's like trying to play an Antediluvian or a Methuselah as a PC in Vampire: the Masquerade; they're more forces of nature than characters.

 

Doesn't stop a specific sort of player from thinking they have what it takes to pull it off, though. Every group has a story about That Guy.

[ArmachiA]

I think for plot purposes, "Fought and Killed" an Ascian would be impossible. The MSQ deals with trying to kill an Ascian so much that it pretty much beats into your head how hard it would be. And that regular non-fantastical plot armor characters couldn't do it. If an Ascian plot was done, it would be more in his observer roll (Like... the Observers from Fringe) The Ascian has a long con going on that mortals would never understand and they need to shift things a certain way in order to facilitate this plan. IN THAT respect - an Ascian could very well be interested in a Sultansworn - because he needs him to do something that won't have consequences till much later or tricks him into a bargain that will benefit the Ascians down the road (Like when the Ascians taught the beastmen to summon Primals using Crystals or helping Gaius at all). I don't think Ascians have any interest in mortals unless they need them for something we just don't know about.

 

Which I think could work as a plot point if spun correctly.

 

As a PC though, that's too much power for one person to hold. So Ascians have "thralls"? I thought that Ascians weren't even known about by the general populace?

[Saefinn]

That is more or less the lines of the kind of thing that I am thinking.

 

If you were to piss an Ascian off, I would say a victory would not be defeating the Ascian, but survive long enough for you to be a waste of effort. Ascians very much still live in the shadows and don't like to make their presence too aware and to a certain extent that could work to your advantage in dealing with them, but of course, they are not to be taken lightly, at all. For instance, notice the first victory against an Ascian, you're not exactly swarmed by Ascians after trying to murderify you.

 

The way I've been looking at doing it, is I have one character, who is investigating the Ascians on their own terms, because they had managed to stumble upon one, but is keeping their distance and making themselves very hard to track (said person was under suspicion of our Captain's kidnapping, but nobody could track said person). The Ascian would take an interest in our crew in-so-far as being useful to them, Ascians seem to like manipulating people into doing their bidding.

 

For us, this would then create a plot whereby we have to find a way of getting the Ascian out of our lives and killing them is not the answer.

 

But in the mean time, I've got another villain to play around with, a disgruntled Ala Mhigan who is pissed that we're protecting 2 Garlean defectors responsible for the death of his family and he's been working with the Garleans to help them track them down. (As they are wanted by the Garleans - "enemy of my enemy is my friend")

[Imo]

The way I see them, Ascians are pretty much the Organization XIII of FF14, only edgier. Playing one is the equivalent of creating an OC member of Organization XIII, and then playing them in a Kingdom Hearts RP. Only edgier.

 

In other words, please don't do that. People will laugh at you, and they will be right.

[X'tai]

Thank you very much for your words and perspectives. I should have clarified that an alt is fine. I am one of those terrible people roleplaying a character that does not have the Echo but is chasing down a rumor that a group or organisation known as 'Ascians' had successfully given beastmen a version of the Echo. I certainly do not expect him to get what he is after. I would definitely be interested in talking to anyone who is interested OOCly to see what their thoughts and views are.

Don't worry! All points of view are being taken on board.