|
|
Post by Maleanor on Jun 14, 2016 19:43:10 GMT -5
Due to my desperate need of a creative outlet currently, I've decided to try and toss some thoughts and ideas out there for the various lore elements Catharsis will need to develop, starting with the Gods/Goddesses of the world. I've always found it best in my experience to conceptualize and create whatever pantheon exists in a world before writing the story of how they came to be. With that in mind, I'd love to start a discussion on the topic. Perhaps it will be awhile until it becomes an actual discussion due to a lack of voices currently, but regardless it's never too early to start. A few basic ways of handling deities that I've used before can be simplified as... - Racial Deities - Gods are divided along racial lines, each God exemplifying common traits of each race (multiple Gods per race as appropriate of course. A common example being Gruumsh in standard D&D being the God of the Orcs, exemplifying War, Strength, and the raw, primal nature of things.
- Ideal Deities - Gods who champion a specific trait or ideal, ie. a God of Justice, God of Chaos, God of Life and God of Death.
- Path Deities - Gods who are rather... unknown. These Gods are more vague, less clear and leave much more room to interpretation. IE. "The Path of the Serpent" - a sect of dragon worshipers who believe that dragons are the direct descendants of a God, "The Path of Running Water" - a religious system based on the idea that life flows as a river through all of the world, ever-winding and nourishing the soil of pangea, etc.
Personally, I'm a fan of combining Racial Deities with Ideal Deities as they create solid characters for staff to play, players to create RP around and are pretty easy to understand without demanding a ton from staff to facilitate IG RP. (I'll get back to this later, suddenly have to leave in the middle of this sorry!) |
|
|
|
Post by Whisper on Jun 14, 2016 22:24:53 GMT -5
This is wonderful! Thank you for beginning the discussion! You are right, we can not really settle on anything until more voices add themselves to the chorus but now the discussion is open and hopefully more will come who want to help scuplt the world.
In the meantime, I am interested to learn whatever you are willing to share. Thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post by Maleanor on Jul 13, 2016 21:08:43 GMT -5
To expand on what I meant by stating my own preferences about... a month ago (I was lurking, sorry!), let me give a little more explanation.
I've found in my own experiences as a player of pen and paper RPGs, MMORPGs, and as a DM/Storyteller that the deities and religions of a world are some of the most important and enriching aspects of a world's story. They serve as an incredibly deep vein for character development and plot progression. Specifically, when they are used as an integral piece of the history of entire races, creating a sense of purpose and community for those who follow and revere said figures.
I definitely suggest (though I certainly encourage other ideas and am most definitely not saying that this is the best choice outright) that Catharsis go the route of predominantly focusing on creating a pantheon representative of the races that inhabit the realm. The reasons for this can be fairly easily summarized...
1. A sense of purpose
• Religion/Deities in fantasy realms are both unifying and divisive, creating not only the strongest bonds between players but also fueling hatred and contempt between them at the same time (in character that is!). By creating racial deities, each race has one, two, perhaps even more different yet similarly themed Gods/Goddesses that create the overarching theme and mission of these communities in game. Each race is given a basic structure that is the framework of what makes these people who they are in the world and what inspires them. This helps create a sense of identity for the players to expand upon and to inform their roleplaying as Catharsis develops and grows.
2. Specific NPCs for staff to play to create massive plotlines server-wide
• Not only do racial deities create great opportunities for players amongst themselves in their IG communities but they also become wonderful characters themselves that when used sparingly create incredible in game story moments and memorable experiences for the player base. Just imagine, what if as you lay seemingly defeated on the field of battle your deity came down and gently touched your face, calling for you to get back on your feet and stand your ground while behind you your battered and broken forces watch in awe as you somehow manage to stand once more. In that moment, your faith restores you and your resolve inspires those behind you, turning the tide of the battle. Perhaps ancient legends speak of a magical artifact belonging to an orc God with the power to finally drive the elven filth that have occupied your clan’s ancestral burial grounds for centuries? There are so many possibilities…
3. Pantheons based solely on ideals/principles force homogenization
• Some servers create pantheons based solely on virtues or “paths”, unifying followers behind specific ideals or ways of thinking that are open to people of all races. The problem with this is that it DEVASTATES racial RP and in many ways cheapens and dulls the importance of how being a dwarf, elf, human, etc. defines you and what makes the many races and cultures of the world different from each other. What’s the point of playing a dwarf if the most important things that make him or her who they are actually are the same things that inform and define Jim the human across the road? Frankly, I think that some servers/storytellers go this route because they’re out of ideas… I mean, the basic races in fantasy lore have been established and written about for decades and decades across so many platforms and in so many different worlds… I can understand why people would be interested in looking for another direction to take things. I just think it’s a very flawed way to go that leads to some pretty unfulfilling storytelling.
i. Besides, you can tie ideals/driving principles into racial deities so easily! You may even find that some deities share similar values across the various races of the world.
So, there’s a little more explanation about my thoughts on the topic. Please forgive me for rambling, I’ve recently seen a world I was a part of for a long time change dramatically and mostly in ways that have cast a very negative cloud over a place I once loved to visit.
|
|
|
|
Post by Whisper on Jul 15, 2016 10:38:59 GMT -5
I understand.
This is why we have opened the forum to begin accumulating ideas and feelings before we set down lore. It can seem that we are being lazy, but this is not the case. We all have stories of that one ideal shard where the role play was striking and enjoyable that unfortunately (for many different reasons) has come to an end. I want to give future players here the chance to mold the world and recreate what was their best role-play experience with ultima online hence the name Catharsis.
And I am sorry you have recently experienced this.
I can see the argument behind having more racially aligned gods vs those based on idealized platforms. I am for anything that makes different groups of players stand out from others in a clear cut manner because as you have said it allows for stronger unification and stronger rivalry as opposed to blanketing everything in grey.
I think you should continue on this path of thinking and provide some formats to be considered. The intention is to begin with four races. This is a small number but realistically if we had 20 players upon the shard opening I would consider that a boon. With too many options the specialization of selecting a race, creed, or guild would be lost. You can not be a unified race of one. To help you get started (should you choose to continue to expand upon your view) we know humans are the default for their ease of play and diversity. Dwarves because dwarves *grins* Drow because of the innately strong bonds of the race and the wonderful story element that comes with the race (looming threat and sometimes more than simply a threat.) The fourth is still up for debate. The default does seem to be elves however I would be open to suggestions until the final decision is reached.
Maybe you could write some tidbits for race specific gods? I would recommend though that while the Dwarves have only one god and the Drow have only one goddess... humans and the other race (whatever it may be) may require more than one deity.
|
|
