Sunday, February 14, 2016

[Castle Falkenstein] Character Creation

The Esoteric Order begins a short but hopefully fruitful assignation with the classic steampunk/fantasy RPG, Castle Falkenstein. And yes, this is three solid hours of character creation, but it's mostly story spinning and character development, so hopefully it will be worth a listen.

Giles



Featuring:

Dave S.
Des
Jen
Renae
Jade

21 comments:

  1. Inspector LeGrasse is in the story The Call of Cthulhu. He's the Louisiana cop who finds the idol in the swamp.

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    1. Haha, of course! It's been too long since I read that story, but it figures that detail would be lodged somewhere in my brain matter.

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  2. So much fun. I love listening to you guys spinning tales and bantering. That's why you are number one in my heart and on my podcast feed.

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    1. If everyone is doing actual proper journals/diaries then please post those as in-character "dear diary" type mini episodes with suitable soft back music. And finally Davids read of the whole GM diary in the end.

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    2. I'm imagining posting Freida's diary entries through Obsidian Portal - but maybe that's just me? That way scans of pictures/maps/gadgets can be included as they come up...

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    3. Yes, I'll definitely come up with a way to share whatever folks want to share. An "audiobook" of my final campaign journal definitely seems appropriate.

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    4. If you post them on the Wiki section of Obsidian Portal rather than on the Forum then they are visible for general creepage-upon.

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  3. Wow, dragons are jerks. All this time I thought the Pendragon knights had been hunting them for the glory, but I guess they had it coming. And they let that one get away.

    Also, I feel some need to contest the description of Flashman as a Flawed Hero (per your description here, at least). My recollection is that he was a pretty unrepentantly terrible person, not the Han Solo come back to save you at the last minute type.

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    1. Yeah, that pinged on my radar as well. I mean, Flashman is certainly the hero *in his own mind,* but the joke is that he just comes across as an ass to everyone else. Maybe that's the point they're trying to make--that the Flawed Hero doesn't see himself as flawed?

      A better example would probably be Hyde in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that didn't exist at the time the rulebook was written, so...

      Honestly, I think they just included the archetype for the player who *always* has to play the anti-hero thief/ninja type.

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    2. I don't know about that - my recollection is that Flashman knew he was an ass, but that he worked hard to make sure nobody else realized it.

      That might kind of point to the intent though - the Flawed Hero is someone who thinks of himself as too flawed to be a hero, but who ultimately is one. More Ciaphas Cain than Flashman, though Han Solo was clearly being referenced in the text you read. You could probably even say that someone like Conan fits in that category.

      Certainly none of those three is in the right period, though (although Conan isn't too far off).

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    3. Ciaphas Cain is such an amazing character. His author references how he was inspired by Flashman, but it's such a different take on the standard flawed hero. You really don't know if he's a good person who's in denial about it, or just the farthest-seeing coward in existence.

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    4. Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM

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  4. I've also gotten into the habit of viewing Fantasy shows as someone's RPG campaign, which helps when people make abject, terrible decisions and then double down on them with gusto until the universe appears to throw them a bone. Plus you can refer to Xena's Chakram as an Encounter Power.

    Anyway I don't think there was anything missing from this session. Character creation for me is one of the most delightful aspects of an RPG system when you get to plan out your backstories and motivations and all the wonderful paths your life is going to take, and you're unspoiled by that horrible moment of actually playing your character and seeing how they actually react to things.

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    1. Yes, the next step in the escalation of madness is trying to figure out the mechanics behind the show or movie, and what system is being played "behind the scenes." I used to do that all the time as a teen.

      And I totally agree about the fresh excitement of beginnings. Speaking of my misspent teen years, I almost never got a "campaign" past 3-4 sessions because by that point all my big visions and dreams would have been dashed upon the rocks of reality and I'd want to go back to that sweet, sweet moment of initial inspiration, when the horizons were still wide-open and unsullied. Call it the Don Draper Effect.

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    2. shades of 'DM of the rings' and 'Darths and droids' showing here.

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    3. Deliberately! Those two webcomics have completely changed how I mentally contextualize a lot of television and movies.

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  5. my original thought was that the crew would all be hired by the dragon to help him find his new Duchess. The pixie is the love magnet, we have a dwarven smith for items to woo her. They travel in a steamship of some kind, so there's a mechanic for that, and a fellow gentleman that's rather worldly, the anarchist.

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    1. That's pretty much the direction I would've taken if I'd decided to do a "Novel" framework. Since I'm going with "Serial" installments, I'm breaking things up into a different theme, one that's less oriented to a holistic group and more towards individual characters. See if you can spot it as the sessions unfold! ;D

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  6. also, nobody commented on the artwork yet, it is exceptional. This was the sketch made during char creation? Simply exceptional. I'd adore more artwork

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    1. Oh yeah! That's pretty impressive. We require more illustrations.

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