Ideas, Questions, Suggestions?

[Marushii]

Sosiqui

Thanks, Maru! I would kind of like Malodore to keep its tools, since it will need them for plotlines like Amrita's body rebuilding (which already has GM approval, I believe). Would having Malodore only use said tools for their intended, in-lab purposes and having them be present only in its room (or a classroom in which they would be needed, like Nurse Cricket's office or a science lab) be acceptable? :> I can very easily not use them in combat at all, just by having Malodore not carry the sharp implements in respect of school rules.

Malodore may keep its tools, however the sharper ones will probably have been replaced with duller decorative ones. This isn't to say that Malodore is unable to perform experiments -- it can very easily take its experiments off to the science lab and use them under the watchful eye of a science teacher NPC or several science/medical inclined gnomes.

Butyes, using them in classrooms is well, using them in combat isn't. ^^  

[Manda]

Okaaay so, Bili and I have been talking a bit over AIM and such about the Bard (Reaper) class idea XDD Cause I would totally love to see it be an official option. Would it be acceptable/make sense to base Bardic Natural Abilities/FEAR on things listed out for Bards in something like D&D books?

i.e. Fascinate, Charm, any sort of 'performance' based skill, etc? So that every Bard is -based- around the same things, but they don't all have exactly the same Natural Ability, etc

Aaaand we were thinking that they should naturally have higher Charisma than most others - not on par with Demons perhaps but .... approaching that? Is there any way to work that in without calling it a 'second' Natural Ability? o3o  

[Bilious]

On the same vein as Sosi's question! Christof doesn't always carry his shovel with him but I have on occasion had him have it along for IC reasons (If he was on his way back from a diggin' place, etc.) Unless he's using his fear power, he really just has his fists in a battle. I usually write him improvising attacks by picking up random objects and throwing them, and occasionally if it's handy that includes his shovel. Does that break the rule? Or how do you advise I handle that in the future to keep things kosher?

It's just like your average garden variety shovel with sentimental attachment for him like a favorite childhood toy. O: He'd never actively bring it with the intent to use it as a weapon and wouldn't bring it to any class but possibly Botany if there's digging on the agenda and he knew ahead of time, etc.  

[Marushii]

Manda

Okaaay so, Bili and I have been talking a bit over AIM and such about the Bard (Reaper) class idea XDD Cause I would totally love to see it be an official option. Would it be acceptable/make sense to base Bardic Natural Abilities/FEAR on things listed out for Bards in something like D&D books?

i.e. Fascinate, Charm, any sort of 'performance' based skill, etc? So that every Bard is -based- around the same things, but they don't all have exactly the same Natural Ability, etc

Aaaand we were thinking that they should naturally have higher Charisma than most others - not on par with Demons perhaps but .... approaching that? Is there any way to work that in without calling it a 'second' Natural Ability? o3o

TiH isn't DnD yo. xD In my honest, honest opinion, anyone wanting a musical-based Reaper will have to REALLY sell us on it. Keep the setting in mind: This is Halloween. EVERY resident feeds off of Fear. How can you generate Fear when you play an instrument? While the "Jaws" theme may invoke Fear, it's only does that because of the imagery Steven Spielberg paired with it: the slow, impending doom brought on by a great white shark. What could a Bard Reaper bring to TiH? The Jester class was built off of the fear people have of clowns, for instance.

And before you pull up Melophobia, we're going to need more then that. ;P

Let's say, for example, that there were bards in TiH. In my honest opinion, I'd say their natural ability would BE their ability to be charismatic. Not all demons are supercharismatic. Otherwise, most of the time natural abilities come about based off of the character and what the character themselves can do, not the class itself. The Shaman Reaper class, for example, was completely overhauled thanks to Professor Malcom. What Malcom did just made more sense for Shamans than what was there.

TL;DR: What can a Bard Reaper bring to Halloween besides entertainment? What would their job be? 'Play an instrument and harvest Fear that way' is rather difficult when your audience runs away from you after the first opening note. : (

Bilious

On the same vein as Sosi's question! Christof doesn't always carry his shovel with him but I have on occasion had him have it along for IC reasons (If he was on his way back from a diggin' place, etc.) Unless he's using his fear power, he really just has his fists in a battle. I usually write him improvising attacks by picking up random objects and throwing them, and occasionally if it's handy that includes his shovel. Does that break the rule? Or how do you advise I handle that in the future to keep things kosher?

It's just like your average garden variety shovel with sentimental attachment for him like a favorite childhood toy. O: He'd never actively bring it with the intent to use it as a weapon and wouldn't bring it to any class but possibly Botany if there's digging on the agenda and he knew ahead of time, etc.

That is fine. As long as Christof doesn't start carrying his shovel around 24/7 and uses that to hit people, it's acceptable. :3  

[Manda]

Well ... in the case of my Quest character up right now, his FEAR is the whole "Mayhem" thing, but his Natural Ability is essentially storytelling. Scary stories, etc? And if he sings/plays the story or whatever, it seems more real in several ways....

So would something like that work?

Or should it be more like ... FEAR ability = storytelling, Natural Ability = Charisma? And tweak the storytelling to fit the Mayhem idea ... somehow lol  

[Marushii]

Manda

Well ... in the case of my Quest character up right now, his FEAR is the whole "Mayhem" thing, but his Natural Ability is essentially storytelling. Scary stories, etc? And if he sings/plays the story or whatever, it seems more real in several ways....

So would something like that work?

Or should it be more like ... FEAR ability = storytelling, Natural Ability = Charisma? And tweak the storytelling to fit the Mayhem idea ... somehow lol

It depends on how it's handled? Sorry, I'd need to look at your quest in order to understand what you're talking about.

Fear ability = skill used in combat
natural ability = passive skill that adds to RP (ie, shapeshifters can RP in either human or animal form, necromancers can summon a skeleton to carry their shopping bags for them, etcetc)  

[Manda]

Oh sorry I thought you had looked at it the other night... since you were talking about the fact that all Reapers had to have weapons to use FEAR. I guess I should ask for a crit when you have the time then :3

I should head for bed now, thanks for the answers/advice! <3  

[bobaTJ]

Suggestions involving Minipets?
I didn't see a place for it in the minipets guild, so if I should move it feel free to shove me!

If the "arrange by type" option could come back, that'd be great. I have a really hard time keeping track of all my minipets with them listed alphabetically.

If minipets could have their species name under their name that'd be great. I'm an idiot and name them all, so I pretty much can't find anything I have frozen to see what I have, what I don't have etc. It would also help if they could be renamed while frozen. I had an inkling to go into my frozen pets and just rename them all their species names, but I realized I would have to unfreeze the 100+, rename them, and then freeze them again. Just some ideas! B:  

[Marushii]

Rabid Ice Weasel

Suggestions involving Minipets?
I didn't see a place for it in the minipets guild, so if I should move it feel free to shove me!

If the "arrange by type" option could come back, that'd be great. I have a really hard time keeping track of all my minipets with them listed alphabetically.

If minipets could have their species name under their name that'd be great. I'm an idiot and name them all, so I pretty much can't find anything I have frozen to see what I have, what I don't have etc. It would also help if they could be renamed while frozen. I had an inkling to go into my frozen pets and just rename them all their species names, but I realized I would have to unfreeze the 100+, rename them, and then freeze them again. Just some ideas! B:

We have a thread for that right here under Glitches and Site Development. razz

The "sort by type" is a feature that will not be coming back. It was a way people could figure out whether or not they had a scareon minic, or similar trick pets. It's because of this that most likely adding minipet species won't be a feature, but it is something to think about!

Renaming pets while frozen is something zoo will need to chime in onto see whether or not it's possible to code that in. ^^  

[chiickadee]

hey there <3
just a quick question
for my reapear gal, id like to maybe give her some skin spots, similar sort of to the lunarians from legend of lunaria (though obviously not the same placement and what not, that would just be an example xD)
reason being that her body has quite a bit of poison flowing through it, and it is slowly altering her skin pigments (nothing big, just a few spots. she wouldnt turn purple by her third stage or anything)

however, i realize that she is a reapear, and it says they are human in appearance for the most part. would these little dots be breaking that rule too much?  

[Marushii]

chimarii

hey there <3
just a quick question
for my reapear gal, id like to maybe give her some skin spots, similar sort of to the lunarians from legend of lunaria (though obviously not the same placement and what not, that would just be an example xD)
reason being that her body has quite a bit of poison flowing through it, and it is slowly altering her skin pigments (nothing big, just a few spots. she wouldnt turn purple by her third stage or anything)

however, i realize that she is a reapear, and it says they are human in appearance for the most part. would these little dots be breaking that rule too much?

The dots could be explained as tattoos? Otherwise your best bet is to consider the Demon race, as poison in a reaper's body is pretty odd unless there's a Damn Good Reason attached to it.  

[matisha]

I was just wondering if i can edit the Ghost dorms to show a blue print of how it may be set up? Nothing official or anything like that. I just was just rping Sarias as a unofficial tour guide (although I know that all students will get shown around to a certain extent.) and I wanted to hand out a 'map' of the ghost dorms with secret passage ways etc. These wont lead to like..the forest or anything like that. If anything I want it to lead to a room set underneath where the dorm rooms are now for possibly a future club to be held there? and the other one, having a back exit to the dorms too.

Here this is my idea:

 

[chiickadee]

Marushii

chimarii

hey there <3
just a quick question
for my reapear gal, id like to maybe give her some skin spots, similar sort of to the lunarians from legend of lunaria (though obviously not the same placement and what not, that would just be an example xD)
reason being that her body has quite a bit of poison flowing through it, and it is slowly altering her skin pigments (nothing big, just a few spots. she wouldnt turn purple by her third stage or anything)

however, i realize that she is a reapear, and it says they are human in appearance for the most part. would these little dots be breaking that rule too much?

The dots could be explained as tattoos? Otherwise your best bet is to consider the Demon race, as poison in a reaper's body is pretty odd unless there's a Damn Good Reason attached to it.

well the "damn good reason" (i love that wording xDD) is that shes a druid?
another reason is that she's been raised with poisons her whole life
i might switch her to a demon if its necessary to public opinion?  

[lizbot]

Manda

Okaaay so, Bili and I have been talking a bit over AIM and such about the Bard (Reaper) class idea XDD Cause I would totally love to see it be an official option. Would it be acceptable/make sense to base Bardic Natural Abilities/FEAR on things listed out for Bards in something like D&D books?

i.e. Fascinate, Charm, any sort of 'performance' based skill, etc? So that every Bard is -based- around the same things, but they don't all have exactly the same Natural Ability, etc

Aaaand we were thinking that they should naturally have higher Charisma than most others - not on par with Demons perhaps but .... approaching that? Is there any way to work that in without calling it a 'second' Natural Ability? o3o

Manda

Well ... in the case of my Quest character up right now, his FEAR is the whole "Mayhem" thing, but his Natural Ability is essentially storytelling. Scary stories, etc? And if he sings/plays the story or whatever, it seems more real in several ways....

So would something like that work?

Or should it be more like ... FEAR ability = storytelling, Natural Ability = Charisma? And tweak the storytelling to fit the Mayhem idea ... somehow lol

Alrighty ~ I know maru pretty much got this one, but since you put your quest out there, Imma use it to get a few points out there ~

1. In the shop setting, TiH cannon > than whatever cannon you got your student from. So I would never suggest basing anything heavily on a game, book, movie, w/e. Because that's a good way to get yourself stuck with one set of ideas that you'll likely have to change during enrollment. The same can be said for old OCs a lot the time. You can use them, but just remember that you need the character and species to fit into the shop, not force the shop setting to work around what you may consider character "must-haves."
In short, feel free to borrow, but don't set your heart on anything.

2. Bards: I honestly think this is better as an occupation rather than a sub-species, and kept open to other races pursuing a career of music-based magic and FEAR. Which is not to say you can't have a music based type of reapers, just that I think you should get either more vague "they are reaper/mage/witch/whatever that uses music based magics" or more creative "they are an Aneirin reaper/mage/witch/whatever that uses music based magics."
There's really no need for another category for music-based magic, since it can easily be placed into any of the other categories depending on how you want to spin it, these are just quickie suggestions:
Reaper: plays funeral marches to lead the souls of the dead away.
Necromancer: music summons bones from their resting place.
Druid: music manipulates the growth and appearance of plantlife.
Mage: use music to manipulate an element.
Shaman: use music to summon and control animal spirits.
Witch/Warlock: use music to summon,cast, or control misfortune or demons.

In summary: think of the music aspect as the way in which they cast their spells. The same can be said for story-telling - it's their long and drawn out form of casting a spell. Because if they don't cast their magic? If it just happens or is a part of what they are? They probably shouldn't be considered a reaper.

3. We are going to be pretty tough on quest reapers from now on, for various reasons, but a large part of it is this: they get magic and weapons. Which, of all the classes, give them the highest potential for DNW. Fortunately peeps have been pretty responsible, but as the shop's getting larger and further along and the Dreaded Meta approaches, we're going to need to pay more attention to potential future bads and past mistakes.

So for peeps wanting a reaper that doesn't quite seem to fit, make sure you ask this question:

Why a reaper?

If it's so your character can have a weapon: come up with a better reason or switch.
If it's to help balance out the races: thank you but please don't base your character around this sort of thing.
If it's so your character has a more human appearance: remember that the school grounds can force students into a more human appearance.

Basically: if we think a character is better suited to another race and is a reaper for mainly cosmetic reasons? You will very likely be asked to change things or provide better reasoning.

What kind of character should be a reaper?

If they ferry souls from one world to another.
If their skills revolve around the casting of magic. (Think of reapers as using active magics, whereas races like monsters and undead posses passive magics.)  

[Marushii]

lizbot

Basically: if we think a character is better suited to another race and is a reaper for mainly cosmetic reasons? You will very likely be asked to change things or provide better reasoning.

What kind of character should be a reaper?

If they ferry souls from one world to another.
If their skills revolve around the casting of magic. (Think of reapers as using active magics, whereas races like monsters and undead posses passive magics.)

Remember, Reapers are also STRICTLY HUMAN unless they have a Damn Good Reason. Just because Astra, a Fae is a Reaper doesn't mean that ALL Fae are Reapers. Rarely will non-human species be accepted as Reapers, and even then these need GM permission.

Reapers: humans with weapons that cast magic
Demons: non-humans that cast magic
Monsters: animalistic, no magic
Ghosts: spirits that cast magic
Undead: Can be both human and inhuman, rotten/dead bits a must, mostly physical with rare exceptions of magic-casters. Undead+magic also need GM permission, and like Reapers with inhuman characteristics will be Very, VERY rare.