Dice Avatar Legends: The Northern War - OOC

[Purr]

Hey everybody? I have some questions and thoughts about Connections.

Who'd like to be part of my character's Connections and could Bamboo be part of yours somehow? Oh and before I forget to say it again - I think your characters look pretty cool (not just in images but in what you have put into each of them). Just sayin'! I'm still feeling like mine is still in the "rough draft" stages though. Like a good meal, it's on the oven but needs time to simmer and for the seasonings to come in just right.

Back to Connections.

Icon Connections: (Two of these, each determined by your Playbook.)

• ? seems to not fully understand what it means that I’m the icon of my tradition…and I kind of like feeling free around them.
• ? makes me feel better about my responsibilities and my burden with a smile and a few kind words.

I'm having some difficulty with the idea that our characters are supposed to have some feelings for each other. I mean, being friendly to each other most of the time? No problem! But having any kind of closeness when I haven't seen any of you RP your character and you haven't seen me in mine? How are we supposed to know these things about one another? I'd hate to guess only to wind up making a chaotic mistake down the road. Is there something I'm missing with this?

* * *​

Aaand... I don't want to ask for help with both hands open when I can ask for one and offer with the other, so... what if...

______________ seems to be able to connect to other people openly, freely, and easily. I wish they would show me how.

... Bamboo could help Liu Bing? Bamboo is open, free, and easy to chat with. He is also very comfortable in his own skin; it's the outside world we're playing in he's both curious and naïve about. Still, Bamboo is very much a "what you see is what you get" kind of person. Maybe he could help Liu Bing with that? Sherwood

I see _______________ as lacking control. Maybe I can help hone them, at least a little bit.

... I just hope my character isn't seen like this? But then again, knowing nothing about Liu Bing really, maybe that's how she will see one or some of us?

Connections: (Two of these, each determined by your Playbook.)

• ____ doesn’t really respect my accomplishments; she probably needs a lesson or two.
• ___ seems like they would’ve been a good candidate to be a part of my squad; I’ll look after them.

... hmm. Psychie I don't think O-Ren Ichi needs Bamboo's help in this regard, especially once they learn they are distantly related (cousins? Something else? What do you think, Psychie?). Still, Bamboo is the kind of fellow to respect honest accomplishments but I don't know anything about her squad or if Bamboo would be a part of that.

Thoughts?

Connections:

• __________________ is my ward—they need me to have their back, end of story.
• __________________ looks like they’re more than capable without my help; I’m glad some of us can take care of ourselves

... huh! Wandering Owl I haven't the slightest clue how capable or incapable Bamboo is compared with everyone else. He could stand on his own; he could be a total liability! Being so new to this system, I don't know how things add up here and so I continue with an empty cup and learn. Still, it's clear to me that your dude is a cool guy to have around! =)

Goodness, I missed a bit here. Have been training at a new job.

Do we got a run down on who wants to play what?

And I have to do this again. D. Rex ! Get'cher buns in here, mister! Yer missin' out, my fellow goofball! Where you at, Bubba?!

 

[Wandering Owl]

... huh! Wandering Owl I haven't the slightest clue how capable or incapable Bamboo is compared with everyone else. He could stand on his own; he could be a total liability! Being so new to this system, I don't know how things add up here and so I continue with an empty cup and learn. Still, it's clear to me that your dude is a cool guy to have around! =)

Thanks! I think they're all going to turn out to be roughly equal in terms of capability, but I could see Bamboo being Li Bao's ward? It's a bigger decision than the other connections, since the Guardian playbook is kinda built around their ward, so I would want to see the final party before deciding, but teaching Bamboo about the world could be a nice mentor activity, and the two have a "connection-to-the-earth-based spirituality" thing in common.

 

[Purr]

Huh! I'd be open to that! I'm hoping everyone else who wants to play will respond soon, that way, we can all see our final party. =)

Ward or no ward, if you don't mind a philosophical perspective, Li Bao is earth, Bamboo is water, put 'em together and you get mud! And as a real life Zen Buddhist monk who passed away kind of recently was known to say, "no mud, no lotus." =)

Spoiler

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist spiritual leader, has said, "No mud, no lotus."

"Without suffering through the mud, you cannot find the happiness of the lotus." - Thich Nhat Hanh. =)

 

[Wandering Owl]

Huh! I'd be open to that! I'm hoping everyone else who wants to play will respond soon, that way, we can all see our final party. =)

Ward or no ward, if you don't mind a philosophical perspective, Li Bao is earth, Bamboo is water, put 'em together and you get mud! And as a real life Zen Buddhist monk who passed away kind of recently was known to say, "no mud, no lotus." =)

Spoiler

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist spiritual leader, has said, "No mud, no lotus."

"Without suffering through the mud, you cannot find the happiness of the lotus." - Thich Nhat Hanh. =)

Oh yeah, whatever happens, I can definitely see them having some interesting interactions and learning from each other. I like how this system works with personal growth and relationships just as much as typical stat stuff.

Interesting to see how all our characters right now come from smaller tight-knit groups! All got different perspectives on it though, it'll be fun to see them come together.

 

[Sherwood]

... Bamboo could help Liu Bing? Bamboo is open, free, and easy to chat with. He is also very comfortable in his own skin; it's the outside world we're playing in he's both curious and naïve about. Still, Bamboo is very much a "what you see is what you get" kind of person. Maybe he could help Liu Bing with that? Sherwood

I like this. I can picture Bamboo being a good social connection to the others, trying to de-militarize and help de-program Liu from her time in the Fire Nation Army.

 

[Sherwood]

And Psychie , perhaps Liu would work for one of these for you:

• ____ doesn’t really respect my accomplishments; she probably needs a lesson or two.
• ___ seems like they would’ve been a good candidate to be a part of my squad; I’ll look after them.

Either you look down on me for some reason, or you can think that I would go well in your squad. What do you think?

 

[Purr]

(Disclaimer: I mean this as a joke! But I love you guys so I have to say it!).

And Psychie , perhaps Liu would work for one of these for you:

• ____ doesn’t really respect my accomplishments; she probably needs a lesson or two.
• ___ seems like they would’ve been a good candidate to be a part of my squad; I’ll look after them.

Either you look down on me for some reason, or you can think that I would go well in your squad. What do you think?

Hey bud! It's both! See, Psychie's Character somehow knows that Liu Bing's Player is up to no good and thinks by having Liu Bing in her squad, O-Ren Ichi can dish out the discipline while keeping a close eye on Sherwood's character!

What a great idea!! How helpful, right? 8D Psychie

Ha ha! =)

 

[Purr]

Re: Blu-Ray collection. I finished the Book of Water! Rawr! =)

 

[Psychie]

Psychie I don't think O-Ren Ichi needs Bamboo's help in this regard, especially once they learn they are distantly related (cousins? Something else? What do you think, Psychie?). Still, Bamboo is the kind of fellow to respect honest accomplishments but I don't know anything about her squad or if Bamboo would be a part of that.

Thoughts?

I'm still trying to paint a picture in my mind for her, but it's coming together for me. Some sort of relation does sound good; probably going to go with a cousin for our relation, ones that haven't seen each other for a while.

And Psychie , perhaps Liu would work for one of these for you:

• ____ doesn’t really respect my accomplishments; she probably needs a lesson or two.
• ___ seems like they would’ve been a good candidate to be a part of my squad; I’ll look after them.

Either you look down on me for some reason, or you can think that I would go well in your squad. What do you think?

This can work. I just need to determine how O-Ren will regard you.

 

[Psychie]

Heya Psychie . I just wanted to touch base with you quickly regarding your character and their monastery, in case I decide to have it, your squad, Nara or Ichin play any roles in our upcoming game.

• You mention that your squad is famous for their weapons and their fighting style. Care to elaborate? Like, are they all Waterbenders, a mixture of various benders/non-benders, or something else? I assume we're still going with the whole "warrior monk" thing we discussed earlier.
• Where is the monastery located? Is it in Tongdao, or another place?

Hmmm. I was thinking for the weapons and fighting style would be to use war fans and thrown chakrams as their weapons of choice, mixed with some bending moves to add some spice to it. A nice mix of of both bender and non-benders in the group, with more non-benders in the team.

Tongdao is in the Earth Kingdom, right? Would that make O-Ren one of the few water benders in the group? That would work for me.

 

[Purr]

Hmmm. I was thinking for the weapons and fighting style would be to use war fans and thrown chakrams as their weapons of choice, mixed with some bending moves to add some spice to it. A nice mix of of both bender and non-benders in the group, with more non-benders in the team.

Tongdao is in the Earth Kingdom, right? Would that make O-Ren one of the few water benders in the group? That would work for me.

Hmm! White Crane Style Kung Fu (or "Bok Pai" if you'd rather) uses war fans. It's not the only system but it's the most popular system that comes to my mind.

Psychie

Plus, the Kyoshi warriors use war fans, too! =)

I'm still trying to paint a picture in my mind for her, but it's coming together for me. Some sort of relation does sound good; probably going to go with a cousin for our relation, ones that haven't seen each other for a while.

Cousins sound great! As for not having seen each other for awhile, that's cool... except that Bamboo comes from a well-hidden jungle tribe that hardly ever gets outsiders (with one important exception being the former monk from the outside world, - his mom, Ahnah).

I've been looking at Bamboo's adventure with our group as his very first time outside of his homeland. Hmm. Ideas anyone?

 

[Psychie]

The Kyoshi Warriors are a big influence in my mind for O-Ren's group.

 

[Sherwood]

Cool inspiration. They are some bad-ass ladies!

 

[Purr]

The Kyoshi Warriors are a big influence in my mind for O-Ren's group.

Oh, how cool! 8D

 

[Wandering Owl]

Cousins sound great! As for not having seen each other for awhile, that's cool... except that Bamboo comes from a well-hidden jungle tribe that hardly ever gets outsiders (with one important exception being the former monk from the outside world, - his mom, Ahnah).

I've been looking at Bamboo's adventure with our group as his very first time outside of his homeland. Hmm. Ideas anyone?

I can still see that working with cousins - Ahnah will have relatives outside the tribe, right? So O-Ren can be related to one of those, however closely or distantly you like. You might not have met directly, but could have heard about each other through family.

 

[Wandering Owl]

Also, jaydude can I confirm what point in the story the rp will start from? Since iirc we don't play out the inciting incident itself, we should probably work out how our characters interacted during that, and that could help with connections

 

[jaydude]

Also, jaydude can I confirm what point in the story the rp will start from? Since iirc we don't play out the inciting incident itself, we should probably work out how our characters interacted during that, and that could help with connections

Currently I'm thinking of having it start just after the escape from Fort Baju, with all your characters sat together on the back of Bamboo's bison. You'd be flying through the sky, taking a moment to catch your breath, while also discussing your next course of action.

 

[jaydude]

Hmmm. I was thinking for the weapons and fighting style would be to use war fans and thrown chakrams as their weapons of choice, mixed with some bending moves to add some spice to it. A nice mix of of both bender and non-benders in the group, with more non-benders in the team.

Tongdao is in the Earth Kingdom, right? Would that make O-Ren one of the few water benders in the group? That would work for me.

Tongdao is indeed in the Earth Kingdom. So yeah, O-Ren would be one of the few Waterbenders in there, if not the only one.

As for her rival Ichen, one idea I had for them (I don't know if that name's gender specific) was that they could be a Firebender, who was left in the care of the monastery by their dying parents (they'd have been forced to flee their homes due to objecting to the Fire Nation's war crimes). While far from being pro-Fire Nation, Ichen would possess a drive to be the best due to being raised Fire Nation, and thus see O-Ren as someone to to surpass.

 

[Psychie]

Lets go with this. I like it. I had no specific idea on Ichen besides needing a name for a rival, so s/he's up to you to design if we ever run into each other again.

 

[Purr]

I can still see that working with cousins - Ahnah will have relatives outside the tribe, right? So O-Ren can be related to one of those, however closely or distantly you like. You might not have met directly, but could have heard about each other through family.

Wandering Owl Ooh! I like how you think. =)

 

[Purr]

Psychie What do you think about Wandering Owl's idea?

 

[Psychie]

Psychie What do you think about Wandering Owl's idea?

I like it. It works for me. Anything you wish to add, my friend?

 

[Purr]

I like it. It works for me. Anything you wish to add, my friend?

Uh oh! Ask a curious hyper guy like me a question like that aaand... =)

...you get some mood music from me because I like music to daydream and think by.

Spoiler: Instrumental mood music courtesy of ChronoTrigger

"#15 - Corridors of Time (Zeal Theme) - Chrono Trigger"

Then you get an alert to our Game Master because we definitely need Jay's stamp of approval for any of this.

jaydude

And then a few answers to your question! =)

Re: family. Psychie If our characters are aware of their shared lineage (which I could definitely do), how do they know it? Maybe Bamboo mentioned his mother, Ahnah, and O-Ren Ichi recognized the name as her aunt or something? Maybe this took place while they had downtime as prisoners of the Fire Nation? Maybe O-Ren Ichi knew about Ahnah and why she left her tribe for parts unknown (because Ahnah had trouble following her and didn't want to endanger her people by staying)?

Well... I'm still really getting used to the idea of "knowing each other without knowing each other." Buuut... in the spirit of learning about how to RP like this right, I'd like to ask something - what do you want each of our characters know about each other so far? I guess by this time, your characters would know that mine...

1a. ...has a Sky Bison named Yún whom he adores.
1b. ...is very much a mature-minded teenager. I don't know how old each of us wants our characters to be, but I think it's important (at least to set the stage for our game to figure that out now. If you go by our characters' images, then we're all young to full-grown adults, but the game is meant for pre-teens and young adults, right? So, what's the ceiling here? 19? If this is true, I think I'd like my character to be about 15 and your characters would know his age.
1c. ...is pretty athletic compared to the average person his age (he's really active - climbing, swimming, brachiating), loves the company of animals, and doesn't eat meat unless it's a dire matter of survival.
1d...loves the martial arts and practices them daily! He sees Waterbending as a natural part of his monastic and jungle-born lifestyle.
1e...is loath to the the "errand boy" from his Tribe of the Rainbow Children. He'd much rather be home but he can't go back (the good of the tribe comes first).
1f....has a leather map kept in a watertight metal scroll-case which is precious to him. It's a map of parts of the world. The map has symbols on it that are some kind of code that he is familiar with so not everyone can read it. His plan is to visit each of these locations because his mother is familiar with them. Has an exact copy of this map hidden on Yún. One of the many locations on the map is the place where Jaydude seems to want us to go. On the map, with the names of locations, perhaps his mom added a note or two?
1g...doesn't know a great deal about weapons (basic knives, spears, and maybe the crossbow? Or the bow if they don't have crossbows in this world? Haven't seen one).
1h...is out to collect as much ancient wisdom and knowledge as he can preferably in the form of artifacts and scrolls. He even has a few saddlebags on Yún (currently empty).
1j...and finally, since it is a scroll that the Fire Nation are after, he wants to make at least one copy of this information just in case the Fire Nation gets the original scroll back somehow!

How's that for starters, everybody?

 

[jaydude]

Then you get an alert to our Game Master because we definitely need Jay's stamp of approval for any of this.

jaydude jaydude

And then a few answers to your question! =)

Re: family. Psychie Psychie If our characters are aware of their shared lineage (which I could definitely do), how do they know it? Maybe Bamboo mentioned his mother, Ahnah, and O-Ren Ichi recognized the name as her aunt or something? Maybe this took place while they had downtime as prisoners of the Fire Nation? Maybe O-Ren Ichi knew about Ahnah and why she left her tribe for parts unknown (because Ahnah had trouble following her and didn't want to endanger her people by staying)?

Well... I'm still really getting used to the idea of "knowing each other without knowing each other." Buuut... in the spirit of learning about how to RP like this right, I'd like to ask something - what do you want each of our characters know about each other so far? I guess by this time, your characters would know that mine...

1a. ...has a Sky Bison named Yún whom he adores.
1b. ...is very much a mature-minded teenager. I don't know how old each of us wants our characters to be, but I think it's important (at least to set the stage for our game to figure that out now. If you go by our characters' images, then we're all young to full-grown adults, but the game is meant for pre-teens and young adults, right? So, what's the ceiling here? 19? If this is true, I think I'd like my character to be about 15 and your characters would know his age.
1c. ...is pretty athletic compared to the average person his age (he's really active - climbing, swimming, brachiating), loves the company of animals, and doesn't eat meat unless it's a dire matter of survival.
1d...loves the martial arts and practices them daily! He sees Waterbending as a natural part of his monastic and jungle-born lifestyle.
1e...is loath to the the "errand boy" from his Tribe of the Rainbow Children. He'd much rather be home but he can't go back (the good of the tribe comes first).
1f....has a leather map kept in a watertight metal scroll-case which is precious to him. It's a map of parts of the world. The map has symbols on it that are some kind of code that he is familiar with so not everyone can read it. His plan is to visit each of these locations because his mother is familiar with them. Has an exact copy of this map hidden on Yún. One of the many locations on the map is the place where Jaydude seems to want us to go. On the map, with the names of locations, perhaps his mom added a note or two?
1g...doesn't know a great deal about weapons (basic knives, spears, and maybe the crossbow? Or the bow if they don't have crossbows in this world? Haven't seen one).
1h...is out to collect as much ancient wisdom and knowledge as he can preferably in the form of artifacts and scrolls. He even has a few saddlebags on Yún (currently empty).
1j...and finally, since it is a scroll that the Fire Nation are after, he wants to make at least one copy of this information just in case the Fire Nation gets the original scroll back somehow!

How's that for starters, everybody?

I'm just about to try and get some sleep - have to be up early for work tomorrow, and I suck at falling asleep at the best of times - but I did take a brief look at this.

And honestly, I'm pretty much fine with however much you all know. For me, the main thing is that your characters are comfortable enough as a group that they're not going to just ditch each other once Yún gets close enough to the ground. If nothing else, this could solely be down to everyone accepting that they've got a common enemy in the Fire Nation, and they've got a better chance of defeating them if they work together.

 

[Purr]

Cool!

Sleep well, Jay! Sometimes I use ZZZquil (non-alcohol version) to help me crash. About 10 ml (1/2 the recommended dose) and often I do indeed fall asleep sooner and stay asleep.