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If you're looking for the obituary of Eris Hale, you've come to the wrong place.


Firstly, the thank yous. Thank you everyone, really. It was a whole year of my life - a pretty important one, too. I didn't always have the time to put in, but in the end Eris Hale was a 750+ hour experiment in my life. That's a lot of time for one year. A special thank you for those players I interacted more closely with - some across multiple characters. You know who you are, and I won't name names, for fear of forgetting someone.

There are a lot of screenshots, and I might update it if/when I find some more. I am notoriously bad at NWN record-keeping, I plan to enable and use logs more in the future, they always were the most fun thing to read, years later. Oh, and sorry for the quality, I play on an old MacBook, it's a pretty good computer but not really made for gaming I guess.



[hide=A LONG backstory]Eris Hale (born Erica Allomein) lived an unremarkable first 29 years of life. She was born in the Tenements of Tickertown. As a young woman, she was a wastrel without much direction. She tried her hand at Ringrunning earlier in life, but didn't have the guts for it. She tried many things, with little success. She found a man, married him, had two children (not in that order!) but it didn't last. She floundered in life, barely able to help support these kids, until she began a lucrative scheme involving alchemy and certain restricted ingredients. Selling the narcotic products of her efforts made her a pretty bit of groat. She began denying her cautious (cowardly, really!) nature, and taking more and more risks - eventually even dipping into her own supply, a fatal mistake.

It was an accident. The night Erica Allomein burned down an entire alleyway in Old Ticker was still remembered by many, even up to the destruction of Ticker Square at the hands of the wyrm Tchamorrar. But, because of what happened after, she was known by all those in her former life to be dead.

They found her with her fingers and palms charred to bits. She struggled to lift the rubble, fruitlessly. Some of it still smoldering. She had been working on the very edge of things - as few reagents as possible, a little of her own meager bloodmagic (just enough talent to finish!). But, maybe, in her heart of hearts, she always knew it had been her fault. Nonetheless, they found her trying to sift through the rubble - it wasn't even her house. Most of the alley was unrecognizable, the fire had burnt too hot, melting the City back into itself.

The angry neighbors - those who had survived - brought her before two men, who were known around those streets. Local muscle, for the local gang, in that ever-shifting quicksand that is gang life in the City of Rings...

But these two, none knew, were different. Envoys of a woman who had, in a short time, already become known as a legend. Mother, they called her - those who knew of her, that is. She occupied an entire block of tenements, her squalid followers pitching tents inside - hot soup, new clothes, even a bath. Another charity, like Glumdrum Hall, or the Nephezar almshouse? No, this was something different. The people inside, and those close to the Mother had changed - they spoke of having their lives renovated, of having been born anew in Truth and the light of her gaze. Those closest to her wore masks - when they did. None knew their names, none had ever seen a meaningful face. Access to the Mother herself was jealously guarded.

But it was before these people that Erica was brought. They took her - into the Drips. There, they said, they would find the truth. They tortured her. They had her tell the story again. A hundred times. A thousand. By the end, she knew the truth. She was falsely accused. Any who knew the story - and there were so few left - knew it to be a lie. But, it was now the truth.

But she was distraught. It had cost her two children - so they locked her inside a drainage pipe. Barely thick enough for her to sit down in. An oubliette - it may as well have been a coffin. In went Erica, out came Eris. Eris Hale. Her daughter's name had been Élah. Now, twisted by the cultists, it was /her/ name.

They took her to the Mother's House. She did not get to meet the Mother then, but they played the Game with her. She became quite good at it. The Imitation Game takes many forms, some are known only to those closest to Her - others are being developed, even as we speak. The simplest form is a children's game - you imitate a master. You imitate their stance, their mannerisms, their voice. It might have seemed silly to Erica, but it consumed Eris. She learned the Game well - all that she could. She learned that the Game pleased her Mother, more than anything in the entire world. She was taught that the Peerage Houses, in their delusions of grandeur, were also players of the Game. Some played very well - none better than House Sunpurse, perhaps.

So, she set out. With a half-cocked plan in her head, and a few well-learned skills. The Mother favored her, she could call on her at will - she had not lost her looks, nor her presence. Her body, however, became more frail each day. She inhaled the fumes, the day of the accident. Two weeks inside a rusted, dank pipe did not do her lungs any favors. Still, she could play the Game so well. She would do nicely.

[/hide]

Let's get to the good stuff!


[hide=Character Sheet] 

I tried to roleplay this character sheet to my fullest. Eris was very interesting mechanically, despite being a total pushover in a lot of respects. She did very well questing, however, and I believe only died once to PvE. Having that Cleric HD really saved her in a lot of situations - the expectations are put on sorcerers and wizards to do what she did in combat - use summons, buff others, heal. She tried to do this as best as she could, and she was okay at it, definitely. PVP wise she did have a trick or two - in the end she could be a serious menace, if left unchecked. But she was also profoundly cautious (her absurd wisdom score) - to the point of open cowardice. She had no true pride, and could adapt to most any situation, even under serious scrutiny or subdued, she was a master apologist - I tried to have it reflect her very high CHA score, also. Here I posted the buffed stats, because she never left home without those buffs (yes, that includes INT, which she had a good score of, also).

Unbuffed spread: 9 / 10 / 9(-1) / 14 / 18(+1) / 16(+1)
Bluff score (end of her career): 19

This is probably what I'm proudest of, about the character. She played like a sorceress (and in fact pretended actively to be one for quite some time) and a lot of people bought into that. It's a very interesting spin on the Cleric, and it worked marvelously, and meshed perfectly (in my view) with the strange faith she followed.[/hide]


[hide=Chasing off the Rabble (ft. doggos)]

Early days, still in the House's favor during the height of the Last Tournament (The Tournament of the Storm). She managed to score a couple of points for her House through very underhanded means, and this was the result of one of those times.[/hide]


I'M GONNA POST A BUNCH OUT OF CONTEXT - I might come back to this post and do context for each! It's going to take way longer than I thought, to do this! I wanna play! T___T

[hide=OUT OF CONTEXT]

CATSBYISM

TRASHY!
Eris carried this, and her first shawl (a dispensary prize) as mementos of Eleleth. Her bronze ear was Madrick Marjolo's - very Madrick to give her something so fungible as a 'memento'.
Madrick OWNS Eris (Eris was very good at PVP - just not combat-based PVP. A lot of PVP is conflict and drama, it happens on the [Talk] channel. This is an example of me getting OWNED in such PVP.
Best summon ever
Gnomes loved Eris
LOL TRASHY!


[/hide]

I sadly have very few screenshots of some characters who were so important in her journey - Eleleth, the Haremarches, Gawen of Glitt, Kastian the Slayer, Cawdor/Fowler, so many of her Retainer friends and allies.... And her girl posse, Cordelia, Aurelia and Rosalia.... Malik the Inquisitor and Aatish the Firebrand! Maeve and Katarina.... : ( I'm very bad at taking screenshots! But here are the ones I have!

I need to hop IG and take some pictures of the loot, as well. I'll update it soon, I promise!

[hide=The Endlude]   Erica got to live the life she saw in the mirror, after all. She had pleased her Mother, and been treated well for it. However, somewhere, a clicking sound... A splinter in the mind. Eris would always live within her - her paradise was false, and she'd always know it. But she wanted to believe, and believing was so easy...[/hide]



I need to sort through a bunch of .tga's, redact some spoilers. I'll be updating the thread some time this week. I didn't play her for 12 months straight, but 750+ hours is a LOT of screens. Even for me.

Suggestion: What if we had a 'random spawn' NPC who spawned at one of the Doorkeepers (more regularly in Ticker, Ward but also elsewhere) and who worked like this:

- Payment is 100gp or something not negligible
- Kid character makes a sending for you. This sending is made by the "Sendings Kid", a kid who has figured out he can be paid by people who don't want their voices identified over whisper, to make their sendings for them
- NPC despawns after making the sending. He can emote "*the Kid runs over to the Doorkeeper, and offers a few words to be whispered over the ears* or something.
- NPC is a blue NPC so still adheres to all the rules of blue NPCs - as I understand it, no violence etc - though the Keepers are notoriously ok with outlaws and outcasts using their 'services', I don't think this will create a huge window for RECONDITES ABUSING WHISPERS OMG. Just keep the character spawn locations randomized, and the chance of running into him fairly low. It's not something you can count on, but it might offer an interesting opportunity or a lucky save ,on occasion.



Thoughts?

Hello EfU!

I find myself swarmed daily by all sorts of crazy little ideas. Having the 'EfU fever' again, now older and wiser ( : D ) is wonderful.

One of the coolest little ideas I had, I would like to offer for discussion here, for anyone interested: If I were to play a new PC today (plz don't kill me EFU I like my current one) I would really like to work on a playwright kind of bard... This, has left me thinking:


We have had all sorts of intense and creative story-telling experiences in the previous four chapters of EfU. A wealth of player-created and DM-infused tragedies, comedies and everything in between, for us to prospect and turn into some amazing stage material, is right at our fingertips. So, this is somewhere between a suggestion, and just me tossing it out there for discussion:

What if players could, collectively, submit material (it would be a process similar to an application - in that it is DM-reviewed - but with the freedom the publications forum gives us to create and enrich the setting) that is based on interactions previous characters have had? I, for one, always try to think with positive nostalgia instead of frustrated sadness, when I think of the 'missed opportunities' of the past. That character you had in V1, that would jive so well with a DM plot from V3? When you died because of a few bad luck rolls on a perma event, and moved on from a darling concept you loved so much? Losing a character to fair and well-played PVP means that the conflict gets resolved, and the winners have the chance to keep telling the story, but it also means the road not taken, the story ended, for what was possibly (probably, judging from the fact that so many of us have been here for so long) a lovingly-crated and interesting character. All of this, made me think - what if:

-  Players work collectively on stories based on their interactions from previous chapters. The point is to keep things vague enough, no huge reveals of plot-sensitive stuff, work on respecting these concepts and characters and stories, which have, invariably, been laid to rest now that CoR is the new setting.
- Things need to be kept vague enough, that it would make sense for these stories, which existed in the context of the old settings, to exist in CoR. I think that is definitely possible, if these stories are treated as an in-universe fictional universe, or just 'auld legends', or if they are intentionally kept vague enough to obscure the setting-related details, while keeping their story-telling power.
- No stories from V5. No exceptions. V5 in-world storytelling continues to exist, and be treated in the same way it always has: It's super hard, for good reason, to become prominent enough that other PCs want to talk about the deeds of your long-dead PCs. V5 stories are always IC info, they impact the setting and play of the current story, and so this stays unchanged.
- The best ones could populate the module / forums... My dream would be to one day see characters of an IC play, based on characters from previous versions of EfU, come to life, played and interpreted by new players, their stories given a brief new life, but with different twists / flavors / meanings etc. It also gives us the chance to revive, in a different light, concepts that might not have come to their full potential.
- This is the best idea I've had, so far, for something I really feel a need for, which is a way to memorialize, but also give new meaning to these stories we crafted so lovingly, so caringly. They definitely live on my mind, my memory, and EfU has, from a psychological / spiritual standpoint made quite a difference in my life. You get from it what you put into it, so it's no surprise (to me, at least) that what I get from it, is mostly love. With a little rage-quitting here and there, but I'm not made of steel u guyz : )


So.... Thoughts? I'd welcome any discussion on this. I guess, at the very least, my path forward would be to test the waters, see if there's any interest / objections... Then, maybe pursue it ICly somehow. I would really like to see this become something of a collaborative effort on an OOC level, though - these stories were originally told collectively which is what interests me so deeply about them. They would of course have to be adapted to their new medium (forum posts, or IG storytelling / playwriting) and in that process would, of course, always fall to the final say of the DM team, in case anything is considered too at odds with the current setting / not appropriate.

[Suggestion]

Maybe has been suggested before, but,

Short spears had a long and proud history as throwing weapons, as well as melee weapons in certain periods / certain roles, a number of times paired with shields also. To reflect this, I thought:

Suggestion: Give short spears a 'throw' ability. Deals the same damage as the weapon would, and, if it hits, transfers into the hit creature's inventory, unless it's a PC, in which case the ability is to be used only once, per engagement.

Thoughts?

So, reading up on duelling traditions, I came across this bit of information:

Duelling was usually conducted until either party could no longer stand. In this sense, it wasn't a 'duel to the death', per se. Death was just, very commonly, the natural consequence of getting stabbed and shot a bunch of times, in the pre-Listerian era of medicine when infection and death from such wounds was commonplace.

What this means, is that both parties agreed that duelling is extremely dangerous, and can result in death, but it was not considered proper form for a person lying on the ground to be then summarily executed by their adversary - once they fell to the ground, or yielded, their honor was forfeit, the duel was lost. Since duels were undertaken as a means to formalize the redressing of grievances, the grievance was considered redressed or the challenge met if either party was to fall on the ground, unconscious, bleeding and with a clear chance of death from their wounds.

So I thought, how do we bring this element into EfU?

Suggestion: Duelling tool. A PC tool like the PVP tool, given on creation. When a duel, fought in subdual mode, but ICly agreed to be 'possibly to the death' is fought, once a character reaches 1 HP and is subdued, the tool can be used on them by the victor. The tool will inflict 2 HP damage, and thus send them into -1 HP.

For all intents and purposes, if they recover this can be roleplayed as a victory, and a duel 'to the death', in which the losing party simply managed to recover, by grace of the Gods. If the victor wishes to deliver a coup de grace, for example, they may, but I always felt like this dynamic between 'dueling being super dangerous' and 'to kill an enemy after they've yielded or gone unconscious is an action that needs to have consequences'. The option of giving them that 2 HP damage, and sending them into negative HP would consign to the engine (ie fate) the result: If they live or if they die is now going to be a 'roll of the dice', just like it was in real life. Maybe surviving from this could come with temporary (or permanent) penalties to the character, in order to better portray what it would mean to survive such a situation. Obviously, good PVP karma still applies - don't go challenging the person who just beat you, when you survived basically because you were lucky on the roll!

Hello!

I just had this idea, not sure if it's possible to even implement:

Suggestion: Give characters a suitable penalty against pickpocket checks when they are either a) accessing a 'catalogue' placeable as they shop at market or;
b) making sendings at the Keepers, thus making it easier to pickpocket characters who are in our fantasy world equivalent of 'shopping' and 'talking on the phone', both situations which reduce our awareness of our surroundings, and are commonly exploited by pickpockets the world over.


Not sure how failed pickpockets are handled (I believe they are considered a hostile action?) and so, might not be feasible from an IC standpoint.

Thanks!

First PC on CoR. I had a bizarre amount of fun, didn't accomplish much, played for around 250 hours. Met a bunch of people, learned quite a bit about the server for a random character I created based only on my thoughts on what the Wiki had to offer. I played her as a blank slate, and her CN nature and alignment shone through in that the only real thing of any importance to her was friendship. Friends make your rich, they protect you when you need them, and there's nothing worse than betraying or being betrayed by a friend. A friend dies, and you do your best to see them avenged. In the end, after losing a few too many friends, she decided to involve herself in something she was many times warned to stay out of.  That's the way the cookie crumbles in EfU some times. : )

There are too many players to mention here, that had a huge hand in making me feel at home on EfU once again. Thank you all, I'm not gonna mention names for fear of forgetting anyone.

Hope to see you all on my next PC.

No loot / screenshots. I took a few good ones, but in the end I don't feel like sharing them. They're mine to look at. I leave you all with this, though, so we can remember the good times:

[Suggestion:]

Hello!

If this sounds super self-serving, it certainly might be! Full disclosure, I've been playing a character who uses Phantasmal Killer, a lot.

I thought it would be very nice, if possible to beef up the spell with a flavorful change:

Suggestion: No will save if the target is resting.  The spell has wildly different results, and isn't really that useful in questing PvE. A lot of enemies are immune to it. I understand there might not be a lot of desire to make DEATH MAGIC even more powerful than it is, and that certain simple spells that used to grant immunity to it no longer do, but in favor of this change I would submit it makes perfect IC sense (you have no chance to disbelieve something like that if it invades your dreams) in my opinion, and that the spell is scarier than it is actually effective. One way to balance this change is to make sure resting targets always get subdued, can't be FD'd, so you prevent insta-ganking from snipes. Maybe this only works with SF/GSF illusion? I don't know!


Yeah maybe I just am obsessed with this spell atm <_<

Pretty much what it says.

My character name: Yrna Aalsien
Issue: Several trolls have failed both saving throws against the Phantasmal Killer spell, and it doesn't put them in subdual, nor does it harm them at all. I understand the monster only dies if fire or acid are used, and this might be by design, but I don't think so - it possibly should put them into subdual, to be finished off by acid or fire damage?

The team is probably aware of this on some level, but it was too big a thing to ignore,

On a DM event, my character died, and took a diminished but still significant XP dock, losing a level. She is a level 8 sorceress with the Stalker perk. After getting raised back into life, I died a second time, largely, I feel, because of the perk's invis every ten rounds 'buff'.  I nearly died a third time, being brought back from stabilized -5, because other characters, by accident, were right next to me as I got blasted with a lot of AoE damage, and fell back into negatives. So, yeah, pretty much what the title says, perk bonuses and statuses don't refresh on death, even when stuff is being lost, not gained.


_{Maybe I'm being a bit salty 'cause I died twice, but I swear the second time it wasn't my fault >_>}

Just dropping by to say HELLO FOOLS...

j/k, dearly miss you all and EfU, if work eases up on me the next month or two we'll see each other in game for another spectacular failure of a character

; )

Sup guys!

I'm looking for a concept. I don't usually advertise this sort of thing and I mostly prefer to cook up my own characters, but I decided that in order to get to know the new setting, I'd best be doing something different; some times, when you get other people to help you with this sort of thing, you end up with similar things as you've done in the past, but with a twist. Other times, I've found you end up with wildly different things that you'd never have tried otherwise, and that can be a fun and enriching experience.

Send any ideas my way by PM or catch me on IRC. I'll be out until wednesday of next week (Carnaval in Brazil) but once I'm back I'll pick stuff up with full force. I'll also have internet access during this time so if someone wants to discuss something a little more intricate/requiring an app, I'm up for that too!

Glad to be back, see you guys around!

Kia


PS: My playing times are early/late EST weekdays. And yes, I'm sticking around long enough to see at least ONE concept through this time. :P

To the great chagrin of many an acne-faced, basement-dwelling nerd, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will not be playing Jaime and Cersei Lannister.

Despite this immense setback to the wet-dreaming community of the intarwebs I must say that AGoT is a decent enough show. I've got a hundred questions (how will they keep producing episodes if Martin has yet to finish the series, for starters...) and I know for a fact that this fantasy series has been for many years one of the main inspirations for a lot of what has happened throughout EfU. Whilst the settings (FR and Westeros) are incredibly different from one another, and I truly think that in the only instances GRRM has been outright copied it was more out of a sense of respect (homages, such as character names) than a need to plagiarize his work for lack of creativity, I wouldn't disagree with naming the man the Godfather of EfU, in my own perspective at least. With that said, I would very much like to hear what other EfU players have to say on the show. Keeping spoilers to a minimum might be decent, but then again there's a warning on the thread title. And if you've not read every single one of the four books that are out, you really, really, really should do it right about now.

Here's my take on it: Whilst not as utterly unabashedly amazing as ROME (Titus Pullo screaming THIRTEEN and hurling an axe into a rival gang member's face as a reply to his offer of peace, after biting - yes, biting - off the other gang's leader tongue still ranks for me as the greatest television moment, or perhaps outright moment in the history of mankind) it has quite a few strengths. The production is obviously very well made and there seems to have been an effort to stick as close as possible to the original material (why would you change ANYTHING in what is pretty much already a story that was made for the episodic TV-show format is beyond me, really) which is really nice for a fan of the show. From the look of the first two episodes, I don't think they'll be skirting around some of the more sensitive material (sex and violence, namely) though they have toned it down somewhat by aging most of the characters (Daenerys is 16 or 17, whereas in the book she is 13). Obviously for die-hard fans (such as I) there will be some let-downs in casting choices and other issues (such as adding scenes that were not part of GRRM's books, even though other scenes that were not featured in the TV adaptation could have served just as well in their place) but so far I think it's a very watchable show that I hope will at the very least bring more people in contact with this amazing fantasy series. Thoughts?

If you are currently playing EfU, I hope to see you in game.

If you are not currently playing EfU, I hope you'll return, so I can see you in game.


I am very excited about this. Let's all meet IG and enjoy ourselves.

....I <3 Switzerland

The Dominion has the Guildhouses System, an amazing (and currently underused) system that allows for scripted solutions to the usual "Ugh, can't get a DM to help me with my player faction". It is a clear-cut, well explained way of having your PC pursue his goals actively. It gives you a tangible goal that you don't need a DM online to achieve. This is really awesome.

What about a similar system in the Docks, but with boats, instead of Guildhouses? Just like gathering people to your banner seems to be the way of climbing the social ladder of the Duchy, in the Docks it seems to be about getting yourself a 'crew', and pursuing your goals from there. Due to the lawless nature of the district, there's really no way a guildhouse system could work. Maybe there could be a turf system, I don't know. But it seems like a very cool idea to have a scripted boating system. I know a boat is a big, big thing to have. I know it's hard they could be usable without DM supervision. But here's my idea:

 - Unless a DM is on to oversee any trips with your boat, your boat remains moored in the Docks. It serves as a faction area, with all the associated perks (resting, storage etc)
 - Boat captains have far more leverage, far more things 'to show' for what they are, than your average Docksman. If you have a boat, you're likely to have a crew, and a clear agenda you can recruit people to serve under.
 - You can 'schedule' DM quests: trading runs, blockades, boardings and so forth. Maybe a single scripted quest could be available, with a large time limit - IE, once a week. This can only be taken with a minimal 6 member party, or some large restriction like that, to prevent PC faction leaders and other prominent characters to handle everything on their own.


More ideas are welcomed. Thoughts and comments also.

[not pointing fingers]

...but think about why you FD another player before you do it.

The recent events motivated me to write this. I am not pointing fingers. I am not saying a single player was responsible. If you know the particular event I'm referring to, you'll know it was a mess pretty much from the start; it spiralled (in my opinion) out of control without anyone being able to do much of anything to prevent it.

Now pretty much all the people involved have to show for it is a bunch of burned-out faction characters and dead PCs who could be enjoying an amazing rivalry.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. I don't want to start a huge discussion, this was really not because of the usual team red/team blue mentality, nor was it because the people involved are irresponsible, discourteous players OOC. I enjoy playing with everyone involved, but I really just feel like we (all of us) let things get out of hand when we could have thought about what we were doing a little more.

So maybe next time we'll think about it. We, as players get to re-roll new characters and live to play the next day. Our characters just, well, die, so maybe there's a good place to start looking for a reason to dial down all the STOP KILLING EACH OTHER IN THE RUINS.

Two cents.

My character Isadora Thaleon isn't receiving her faction wages (Stygian Armada). Everything was working fine until earlier today, but it's been almost a couple of hours since I've seen the wages log message pop up. I asked another character from my faction (Azkith Trem) and he said he was being paid just fine.

I believe this is a bug. Let me know how we can sort this out. Thanks.

My character, Isadora Thaleon, has just reached a level in which she may take this PrC, for which she has been approved and wanded. I am unable to take it, however - if I add any skill points to my new class skills (Taunt and Intimidate), it tells me that I have invalid skill ranks in the log. If I simply take no skill points at all, and level with the new feats the custom PrC gives me, the log states that "Character has too many feats".

After speaking with Mort on this matter, he told me to simply delete all of the PrC-related 2das in my override folder, which I did. Since this removed the option to level with the custom class (which I assume is one of the things the 2da 'unlocks') I went ahead and leveled with the stock Bioware PrC. I still could not take any skill points in Intimidate, because it told me the same "Character has invalid skill ranks" over the log.

So now I have one level of Weapon Master, but took no skills to match this.

I also rolled the worst possible HD. >_>

If something could be done to make the custom EfU PrC work for me, I would be very, very grateful. It is a very awesome set of changes which I feel truly reflect a Weapon Master's mastery over their craft, unlike the stock Bioware WM, which only really comes into their own at the later levels, which we are not likely to see here anyway.

Let me know if you need me to test anything, I would be glad.

As topic; discuss.