Latest revision as of 01:15, 6 April 2010

Fluff Relay

This is a game in which you create new fluff! People, places, groups, whatever.

Since none of these items are dot-ranked, we'll go with each theme until 5 entries have been made. Then the 6th person (or the 5th, if they want) starts a new theme.

See also: CrunchRelay

PersonRelay

First person provides an archetype like "old woman" or "brawny warlord". Later players provide an example of that archetype, a description a paragraph or two in length. The fifth person to contribute provides the next topic, archieves the current Relay and starts the next.

ManseRelay

The first person chooses a HearthStone, from any source; link to it if it is on ExaltedWiki, otherwise provide a summary of its aspect and effects. Subsequent players provide Manses which produce that HearthStone. Once there is one Manse for each of the five directions, a new HearthStone is chosen.

CircleRelay

The first person chooses a theme for a group of characters. Subsequent players provide characters that fit the initial theme, with the last player also determining the new theme.

PlaceRelay

The first person chooses a general locale (more specific than "the South," hopefully), and provides a particular place of interest therein. Subsequent players provide places or landmarks that fit the initial theme, with the last player also determining the new theme.

SeedRelay

The first person chooses a theme, and writes out a brief plot idea related to it. Subsequent players provide plot seeds that fit the initial theme, with the last (fifth) player also determining the new theme.

PlotRelay

The first person chooses a title for adventure. Subsequent players describe the adventure's setting, initiation, development, conclusion and epilogue, with the last (sixth) player also determining the title of the next.

Comments

Hmm, I'm thinking on an Adventure Relay, providing small stories or series for "Exalted", but I'm not quite sure about the mechanics. Should it only be plot hooks, everyone offering one, or a complete story everyone providing a part of it (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement) or something. Jiba

How about an adventure seed relay? Each must stick to a central theme but each being different? Dmccoy1693

Franly I don't think anyone's going to be interested. As for GodRelay, I think we have that covered with CharacterRelay. ~ Seiraryu

Yea well it doesn't seem like anyone's interested in CharacterRelay, but it's still there. Besides, gods are never pcs. CharacterRelay can be pcs or npcs. And you're not limited by the bounds of humanity with gods. -- Dmccoy1693

CharacterRelay is, as you said, both pcs and npcs. so you're not limited to the bounds of humanity by CharacterRelay, though you are limited to the bounds of godhood with GodRelay. Your argument only proves my point. *Shrugs.* Do what you want, I just think it'd be best to just try to get the CharacterRelay going. ~ Seiraryu

The ceneral problem is that FluffRelay is neither interesting nor useful; if you want to make up stuff for gods, make spiritual Charms! The CharmRelays we have had to that effect were brill. - willows

I must disagree with you on that. I find Fluff to be the cool part of Exalted. At the end of the day, Fluff is really what differenciates any rpg from another, that and how and when you role dice. I mean look at the game tristat dX. You can make the game silverage sentinals or any home brew with all their powers. d20, another prime example. Difference between Game of Thrones and dungeons and dragons? Fluff. Focusing on the fluff and creating my own makes it more my game as opposed to some other game that I am just playing in (like the 1000's of volumes of dnd). But that is my opinion and mine alone. - Dmccoy1693

Burgeoning debate alert! I'd say that whilst fluff defines a game, its mechanics are crucial in their support of the concept. The d20 system, for example, is poorly equipped to represent gritty, realistic settings due to the enormous hit points and wholly arbitrary nature of spell structure, domains, magic weapons et al. Likewise, Mechanical Dream's mechanics are not geared for high fantasy, on grounds that people go smush if you look at them funny, and numbers and surprise count for so much. Anyhow, I think the fluff relays are an excellent idea to accelerate the creative process - having to actually imagine a character or place related to a specific theme, tied in to the rest in a specific way opens up avenues of thought that otherwise wouldn't have emerged. Fluff and crunch are both important to a game, and both benefit from a good relay. So why not have both? If you don't like the FluffRelay or the CrunchRelay then don't take part, but don't belittle them to others, either...DeathBySurfeit

Thank you DeathBySurfeit for saying more of what I was trying to say, that fluff is no less important then the mechanics. - Dmccoy1693

In other words, "I like fluff because I do," eh. Profound! -w

Wow, way to condescend your fellow Wikizen due to a difference of opinion. His argument is no more or less valid than yours, except that he's taken time to elaborate and explain it fully. Stay civil, please...DeathBySurfeit

I don't really think that we need to babyproof the wiki by wrapping up our opinions in pretty words. - willows

We don't need to condescend to people constantly just 'cause we disagree with them, either, Shreyas. ~ Seiraryu

My issue was with your intent (mockery of those bearing an alternative, equally valid view), rather than your means of expression of such. The Wiki needn't be a haven of snuggly wuv and happiness, but neither is there call for flaming your peers needlessly - unless there was a purpose behind belittling the FluffRelays and those who would endorse or engage in them. If there is, pretty words are easily used regardless, and go a long way toward building a positive community atmosphere...DeathBySurfeit, who makes himself sick with these saccharine sentiments occasionally

Standing behind DBS. -- GregLink

Ditto. ~ Seiraryu

I stand with my fellow Wikizen on this. - Dmccoy1693

Willows' central point is essentially "why write stories when you can make rules". Not sure why someone with that sentiment would be reading the fluff relay. Or playing games other than Stalingrad. But, whatever. It's his game, I guess. - Wordman

No it isn't. - willows

All right. Would you tell me, then, what alternate interpretation I should glean from a statement like "if you want to make up stuff for gods, make spiritual Charms"? - Wordman

This is crap, of course. That's not his point at all. People play role-playing games to write stories. That's exactly why a collection of pre-written stories is intrinsically less useful to them than a collection of interesting and inspiring tools to use in writing stories.

Also, if your willows-hater club is going to be popular, it needs a cool name. -- PassengerPigeon

I may be wrong, but writing stuff about gods or characters in a region or whatever is somewhat less than 'a collection of pre-written stories.' I've found plenty of small things like that (the Manses, mainly) useful for games I play in. I suspect the point of the people arguing with willows is: if you don't plan to use it, no need to comment on the fact, if it isn't helping in any way. But, you know, not being needlessly rude or whatever, my point might be invalid. - LeumasWhite

Just a thought, but might we consider merging the CharacterRelay and CircleRelay? With the recent (and popular!) re-interpretation of the CircleRelay's structure and scope, the two have blurred into one another somewhat. If we were to go ahead with it, I'd advocate the snappier, catchier CircleRelay format from amongst the two...DeathBySurfeit

Second this. - Wordman

Well, I've gone ahead with it. If anyone has any strong objections, I'll move things back to how they were before...DeathBySurfeit

Uh... the CharacterRelay was different from the CircleRelay in that the CharacterRelay wasn't necessarily a group of characters who knew each other. They were simply connected by a broad theme. The CircleRelay was about a group of people, mostly different people, who are in a group, for a special reason, etc? I find it extremely funny (in a non-humorous way) that the CharacterRelay was swallowed up by the CircleRelay when there is an obvious difference between the two, while the GodRelay is still swarming around when it can obviously be easily swallowed by the (now-defunct) CharacterRelay! But hey... y'know... ~ Seiraryu

Then change it. If anything the GodRelay I put up was good in that it sparked discussion, and that certainly is a good enough thing. Even if the idea wasn't the greatest, it certainly was good to help us define which fluff relays are good and what they're for. I'm still all for a seed relay. that certainly isn't covered by any of the current relays. - Dmccoy1693

Hrmm... the idea behind an Adventure or Plothook Relay was to provide inspiration, to offer other storytellers cool ideas and plothooks for their Exalted games. Heck, even official supplements like "Houses of the Bull God" provide them, so why shouldn't we. It is not about writing complete, detailed stories but about something gamemasters could throw in their games. We could also make a Monster Relay where we post creatures to throw at the PCs. What I mean is, that a Wiki should be a powerful tool to work together in a creative fashion. It's the fluff, that makes Exalted Exalted and not something else. Rules help to control the fluff, yes, but it is much easier to ignore them than to ignore the plot, you know. One of my favorite roleplaying systems is "Engel" and when we play it, we don't use even dices. Roleplaying is about storytelling and because of that we should also tell stories in the wiki. We help other storytellers, provide insparation and other wiki users can tell us their opinions about what we wrote. This is important, guys. Roleplaying has nothing to do with Attributes or Abilities. Roleplaying is drama (especially in the case of "Exalted"); roleplaying is telling stories. And you don't need target numbers or stunt dices to tell stories, do you. I just want to say, that I think, that the whole fluff relay is a damn good thing and we should keep it up. Even if noone else is interessted. We are interessted and that should be enough to go on. - Jiba

Conceptual matters aside, I'm also keen on the idea of a Seed Relay (or whatever we're going to call it). Perhaps if one person provided a theme - 'Scheming Viziers', for example, or 'Lost Treasures' - and the others came up with little plot summaries, it'd work quite well. If we were particularly adventurous, we could scale it by scope - from little subplots to Creation-wide metaplots. For reference, I think Monster Relay is also a good idea, but might be better placed under Crunch to allow us to field them easier...DeathBySurfeit

While complete story seeds are perfectly awesome for a relay idea, I'd just like to point out that L5R's old listserv had several "Round Robin Challenge-Focus-Strike" sessions, which were functionally identical to a three-step relay of background (challenge), complication (focus) and resolution (strike). In my experience the format tended to provoke some really creative twists. I'm not sure how we could expand it out to a five-step process, but I bet we could put our heads together and come up with something. - Hapushet, who's not afraid to admit he plays other games, even here

Well, relay's don't HAVE to be five steps. (SpellRelay is 6, for example). Maybe something like Background, Setting, Charachters,Complications,Resoluton would work. -FlowsLikeBits

Uh... "Setting" seems like something that would be encompassed by "Background." If you're going to do this, don't overcomplicate it. -- Manu

I second this motion. All those in favor? - Dmccoy1693

Five steps is in fact thematic for Exalted. I say, name the five steps after the five castes of Solars. This brings us from the beginning (dawn) to the end (night), and provides for a twist or hidden meaning (eclipse). This also happens to follow the traditional structure of a plot: hook, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution (often with a twist or tie-in to the next story). - IanPrice

Seed Relay Proposal:

• Title - 1st person gives the Seed a title for the rest to base their part off of. Title may or may not contain any informaiton about setting. If not, it's up to future writers.
• Antagonists - 2nd person gives a short write up on who or what the bad guys are. The antagonist can be as particular as Mnemon Snyder, Immaculate DB or as loose as local cult or angry elementals. A shrort write up as to the antagonist description or a few stats that are of major important (like a necessary charm or two or number of henchmen)
• Character Types - 3rd Person lists the character types this is built for. A short justification for any reason why to include exclude any particular type that might be of use to the 4th and 5th persons
• Situation - 4th Person writes what the antoginist is doing to make an adventure.
• Resolution - 5th Person writes a possible outcome, archives the relay, and selects a new title.
  

Thoughts? -Dmccoy1693

I like it, but I think I would expand Part 3 to include necessary/excluded locations as well, in case the title doesn't specify and to make the ingredients that much more spicy.  ;) -- Hapushet, who will so contribute to this puppy once it gets going

I would remove #3. It should be obvious what charachter types an adventure is intended from the rest. Possible something like this

• Title
• Setting - Where the advetnure takes place
• Charachters - Various charachters that tie into the adventure
• Situtation - Ties all the previous stuff up into an initial situation
• Resolution - Ways the situtation could be resolved and thoughs on each

Now it seems to me that it's hard to divide an adventure seed up into sequential parts like this. Perhaps we could structure this one a little differently. Like this.

1)When picking a new theme, you pick a title, and copy the Template, which has these sections

• Situtation -The intial situtation, like "attacks on guild caravans are increasing"
• Setting & Charachters - Any interesting people or places. Allies and Enemies
• Resolution - Possible resolutions to the other parts.

When people come in the put stuff in ANY 1-2 of these areas. The Relay ends when it is fleshed out and 5 people have contributed. I think doing this parallel building method works better than trying to split it up sequentially. -FlowsLikeBits

Nice ideas. I'd favour refining it together into something like the following, if we're feeling particularly absolutist:

• Title - the first person comes up with a title for the plot. This is equivalent to choosing a theme, and thus should be evocative without being too defining. "A Blaze Of Glory" is an example of such a title..
• Prelude (Dawn) - the second person devises the circumstances in which the adventure takes place. This may include the location, political climate, major antagonists or nature of the group, as necessary / desired.
• Challenge (Zenith) - the third person then describes what sets the plot in motion, an initial encounter event that grabs the characters' attention.
• Development (Twilight) - the fourth person elaborates on the significance of the Challenge, and describes the main body of the plot as it develops.
• Conclusion (Night) - the fifth person writes in a suitably apt final confrontation or resolution, or several different possible ones, that would culminate the plot.
• Epilogue (Eclipse) - the sixth person adds on the possible impact of concluding the plot in different ways on the region or people involved; if a moral is desired, it's added here. That person then archives the Relay, copies out the template and adds the Title for the next theme, starting the cycle again.

Well, that'd be something like a PlotRelay. Alternatively, we could have little snappy story concepts and turn it into a SeedRelay instead; if we're feeling lazy, I'd favour the latter of the two. If interest is high enough, we could even do both...DeathBySurfeit

I'd like to do both. The two Relays differ enough to take on both of them. - Jiba

I think both would work too, but I'd choose the PlotRelay over the SeedRelay if I had my choice. I think the combination of ideas from different directions will lead to more interesting and unexpected plots than simple variations on a seed theme. - Hapushet

Okidokes, I've added the SeedRelay, although I haven't done the same for the PlotRelay as I'm not sure which model of who posts what is most in favour. Speaking of which, which model of who posts what is in favour? ...DeathBySurfeit

I like your model. - IanPrice

I'm also willing to give your model a shot. SeedRelay has taken off quite nicely - I say we get the PlotRelay going too! - Hapushet

Consider it adopted! PlotRelay is officially open...DeathBySurfeit

I deleted God Relay. It sparked a good discussion but due to lack of interest.... went the way of Dragon Kings. - Dmccoy1693

I hope you moved the god to somewhere. It was cool.
-- Darloth liked GodRelay, but didn't have many ideas for it unfortunately

I put Thacus on my npc page Dmccoy1693/NPCs. When I get a big more organized I'll arrange my NPC's onto seperate pages. In the meantime, he's on the bottom. Thank you. - Dmccoy1693