Character creation streamlining (part 2)

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Character creation streamlining (part 2)

Postby Ma'ii on September 23rd, 2009, 10:25 am

As it seems a mishap has occured to my old thread I have decided to re-post what had happened and the suggestions I made as best as I can remember them. Bear with me on this if anything should be amiss. :)

The premise of the original thread was to try and help the Mizahar staff streamline character creation by identifying some areas that, in my opinion, could use some improvement.

The first observation was on actual racial abilities versus what appears in the race write-ups. Gossamer and Colombina both agreed with my observation. As Mizahar is relatively new there are still discrepancies between the original concept and write-ups versus what gets translated into game terms. Only time and feedback from the communtiy will show where these holes are so that the write-ups can be corrected.

The second observation I had was on Languages, I didn't see any references as to how many Languages a character starts out with or if they were considered Skills or Lores . While most people will just "speak" in the Common Tongue I foresee more diversity as the number of players and characters in Mizahar increase. Gossamer noted that Languages are a thing unto themselves, but are more related to Lores than anything else (though you cannot swap a language for a Lore) and that a character starts out with 3 languages.

Following are a couple of suggestions:

I suggested creating a Racial Summary page that details, at a glance, what players can expect of the races. Something to the effect of what is written below.

Race Racial Bonus Racial Abilities Suggested Skills & Lores
Race Picture and Name + X to X Skill
  1. Racial Ability
  2. Racial Ability
  1. Suggested stuff
  2. Suggested stuff
Race Picture and Name + X to X Skill
  1. Racial Ability
  2. Racial Ability
  1. Suggested stuff
  2. Suggested stuff


I also suggested a modification to the Starting Package that adds the little bit about Languages.

Lores

Main article: Lore

Each player can start off with two lores. The term Lore depicts accumulated facts, traditions, or beliefs about a particular subject. This subject, in general, is very specific and doesn't fit into the traditional skill groups because its truly not a buildable skill in the sense that as you know more about the knowledge, you get better at something. Lore knowledge is just simple knowledge that is somewhat unchanging and does little to effect your skill. Lore cannot be trained and built upon like a traditional skill. Usually lores are very specific. For example, if a person has a painters background, they might have a lore which indicates they know how to mix paint. Hence their lore would be: Lore - Creation/Mixing of Paint. Perhaps a PC's parents were auctioneers and that PC was constantly being taken from one auction to another as a child. That PC would then have a specific lore involving that fact: Lore - Managing Auctions. Lores are so vast and broad scale that it would be impossible to list the possibilities for Mizahar. Instead, be creative and build on your characters background and experiences.


Languages

Main article: Languages

Each character in Mizahar automatically knows how to speak the Common Tongue. The player may also opt to take up to two (2) "living" languages without needing special permission. Languages are treated as Lores with regards to character advancement, but you CANNOT swap out starting Languages for additional Lores.


Gnosis

Main article: Gnosis

Gnosis marks CANNOT be taken as part of starting packages unless you acquire special permission via the Help Desk. Special Permission will only be granted for specific Gods that have a tendency to grant Gnosis Marks prior to birth or at a characters early age. In order to take a Gnosis Mark at start, you must have a Storyteller provide you with a Storyteller Secrets thread which you add to your profile.
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Re: Character creation streamlining (part 2)

Postby Ma'ii on September 25th, 2009, 4:59 am

As a personal project I'm making a character creation guide: blog/Ma%27ii/index_b-31.html
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Re: Character creation streamlining (part 2)

Postby Gossamer on September 25th, 2009, 9:13 am

First off, I apologize if your original thread got deleted. I moved it as requested from one forum to the other and left it safe and sound within that forum thereafter. I did delete a few announcements after that, and since I am currently connecting to Mizahar via a web proxy because of my incredibly poor internet service, something might have gotten flubbed up there, but I assure you it was not deliberate.

Secondly, if you'd like to make a chart outlining Racial Summaries, that is perfectly fine.

Thirdly, I can add a section on languages to the starting package page.

Now.... as for Ma'ii's Character Creation Guide. Plagiarism is a violation of the Terms of Use. You're guide is not something you've asked permission to write, and while we encourage people to develop things - we do so with the firm understanding that they ask before they do so. And as it stands, Ma'ii's Character Creation Guide isn't something you have actually written, but rather its a cut and paste of the Starting Guide (which is a broad based document that fully covers character creation) with most of the dialog and explanation taken out. I have a real issue with plagiarism and rewrites of documents, especially things I have personally written. Mizahar is about original work, be it the actual storytelling or documentation. Both are subject to the game rules. In the future, I hope you see fit to keep contributing to Mizahar, but that you do so in an original manner and with permission.

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Re: Character creation streamlining (part 2)

Postby Ma'ii on September 27th, 2009, 3:11 am

I understand where you're coming from, but while I do I have to say my piece; the guide I'm making won't be a carbon copy of your material.

I am more than aware of the consequences of plagiarism in my profession, I am a professional librarian and have been so for the past 12 years in an academic setting, i.e. The University of the Philippines in Diliman. The only reason why you currently see a cut and paste guide is because I was not able to start writing yesterday due to the massive flooding we experienced here in Manila. My apartment building was surrounded by a knee-deep lake and thus I wasn't able to leave to get to a cafe and post.

Now, I was laboring under the impression that what I was doing was in good faith and that people would at least give me the benefit of the doubt and wait for the guide to actually be finished.

Obviously not everyone sees it that way.

I will delete the offending post and stick to playing my character.
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Re: Character creation streamlining (part 2)

Postby Gossamer on September 27th, 2009, 4:45 am

There should be NO REASON that I can see for a cut and paste of existing material and advertisement of that material as your own (even in bad weather) if you are expecting people to react in a positive way to 'your' development. Good faith starts with originality as a base. If you expect people to give you the benefit of the doubt, you must give them a reason to do so other than starting out on the wrong foot. Please remember that. The right foot starts with openness in communication. We encourage development and welcome it. Development means the creation of new material, not the rewriting of existing stuff.

Thank you for the quick response and action.
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