Season 2 Chapter 3
Posted by Apostate on 08/18/18
So September will be the end of the staff break where we try to get caught up on numerous different story threads and loose ends, and I thought it might be a good idea to give an idea on what's coming. Storywise, we're in Season 2, A Fable of Heroes, which focuses mainly on the dark forces that have kept Arvum in a state of ignorance for the past five hundred years and tries to control things behind the scenes, and has seen the end of some threats such as the Gyre. Chapter 3, A Fable of Answers, is about some of that veil slowly starting to be pierced in a more profound way, and the beginning of the world beginning to wake up and heralding magic's return, while other forces still push back against that hard. Chapter 3 will have a repeating motif about subjective perspectives of many of the forces shaping the world, and how they can or cannot be reconciled, and what directions many characters find themselves pulled towards.
Apart from story, this does mean that mechanically we'll probably see some very preliminary systems for things such as coded magic in its infancy. Currently, we plan to implement things from a perspective of trying to automate the things PCs attempt to do most often that require staff oversight, and trying to smooth that process that require less and less overhead to be more sustainable. A replacement for many kind of common actions, such as social campaigns, increasing domains, building up things characters own, and using character specific knacks will all be automated.
Generally speaking, we'll keep trying to make sure that anything that can be answered by rote will be automated, so GMs are free to focus on GMing and driving story, while giving players more and more tools to create and drive RP themselves. Some of this will be invisble, such as better story tracking tools for staff so we can see what plot threads need a nudge forward more easily and so we spend less time trying to figure out what the answer to a PC is. Some will be very visible such as say like crime or domain systems, or adding more verisimilitude through immersive mechanics. I'm pretty sure most people will have fun with it though, and I'm looking forward to it.
Apart from story, this does mean that mechanically we'll probably see some very preliminary systems for things such as coded magic in its infancy. Currently, we plan to implement things from a perspective of trying to automate the things PCs attempt to do most often that require staff oversight, and trying to smooth that process that require less and less overhead to be more sustainable. A replacement for many kind of common actions, such as social campaigns, increasing domains, building up things characters own, and using character specific knacks will all be automated.
Generally speaking, we'll keep trying to make sure that anything that can be answered by rote will be automated, so GMs are free to focus on GMing and driving story, while giving players more and more tools to create and drive RP themselves. Some of this will be invisble, such as better story tracking tools for staff so we can see what plot threads need a nudge forward more easily and so we spend less time trying to figure out what the answer to a PC is. Some will be very visible such as say like crime or domain systems, or adding more verisimilitude through immersive mechanics. I'm pretty sure most people will have fun with it though, and I'm looking forward to it.