Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[UselessBytes]

Finally found the smash bros community on my campus. Was sad to see they only play smash 4 as I'm a melee kid, but I was still gonna play some anyways. So I introduce myself, talk around, and get into some games. Eventually I run into a dude who's been at one setup for a good while. I introduce myself, I'm like "hey, I'm a melee kid so forgive me for being kinda scrubby at smash 4". The dude laughed and mentioned he was number 4 on their power rankings and said he'll try to "not style on me too hard"

I then proceeded to two stock him with wii fit trainer, who, if you aren't into competitive smash, is not a viable character.

I just said ggs and started wrapping my controller up while the dude and the gang of like four others around him just stared me down. Not sure if I'll be going back to that one anytime soon.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Is it weird the character creation part sounds far more fascinating to me than the actual role-playing part? Hum. Maybe it's just because I've never played for real and don't know what it's like.

Yeah, I get that also. Been working on putting together my own tabletop RPG rules for probably about two years now. But because my organisation is spectacular, I put an undue amount of priority on getting the character creation rules done, just so I could start making some. Meanwhile, there's a load of basic stuff I really should be putting onto paper, but 'it's safe in my head', and I have no idea how to about acutally laying out a proper rulebook, so it's not getting done.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I tried RPs, once, and they were good for getting me to actually write because of deadlines and other people waiting on me, but I don't think I could commit to them long-term.

I guess my question for the rulebook would be, does it have to be in a proper layout? I think it'd be cool to see the GM's creativity on that front.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Well, up to this point, I've mainly organised it just as a load of separate documents on different sections of the rules. So a couple on different aspects of character creation, one on combat, one on adventuring rules such as inventory management, and so on. If I were to try organising them into an actual whole rulebook, I'd probably have to take a lot of reference from how existing system do it, which would get expensive fast. But I don't think that's such a problem, since that would only be necessary if the system was going to be published and distributed.

Long-term commitement is definitely a big question. One of my friends seems to have the expectation that upwards of three hours a week for months on end is fairly standard, which I can right away tell wouldn't be manageable for the rest of us. But I'm trying not to worry too much about that sort of thing at this stage, in favour of getting the system done so it'd be suitable for some kind of campaign, even if it'd end up shorter than what we might have had in mind.

 

[Greninjaman]

I have a bit of a problem. In my Kanto rewrite, I just introduced the Team Rocket Trio. How do I explain Meowth being able to talk?

 

[Nitro Indigo]

What's stopping you from using his canon backstory?

By the way, I was discussing an idea for a Pokémon fanfic with someone on Fimfiction. It'll be about a kid who went to Ranger School (post-Shadows of Almia) who became a Piplup and gets adopted into what is basically a penguin aristocracy. It's also a Newverse fanfic, but I haven't put that much thought into the My Little Pony aspect, other than where it'll be and what characters will be involved.

 

[Ereshkigal]

I have a bit of a problem. In my Kanto rewrite, I just introduced the Team Rocket Trio. How do I explain Meowth being able to talk?

Simple: Don't. If anyone must talk about it, just write it off as Meowth being an oddball Pokemon capable of speech.

Or, just have a professor later on simply say "oh, yeah, some Meowths just do that; write up a research proposal and research it yourself if you want to know why."

 

[Greninjaman]

Simple: Don't. If anyone must talk about it, just write it off as Meowth being an oddball Pokemon capable of speech.

Or, just have a professor later on simply say "oh, yeah, some Meowths just do that; write up a research proposal and research it yourself if you want to know why."

OR I could have it as it's rare to come across a non-psychic type (Psychic types can talk through telepathy) that is capable of speech. Like it's normal, but extremely rare. Rare to the point where it's pretty much unheard off.

 

[Ereshkigal]

That also works.

 

[Greninjaman]

That also works.

Thanks! By the way, are you waiting for Let's Go Eevee/Pikachu to continue your story?

 

[Ereshkigal]

Thanks! By the way, are you waiting for Let's Go Eevee/Pikachu to continue your story?

No. I ended up, kinda, rewriting the entire thing when the edits, corrections, and adjustments became too extensive.

 

[Greninjaman]

No. I ended up, kinda, rewriting the entire thing when the edits, corrections, and adjustments became too extensive.

If it makes you feel better, I did that several times.
Edit: Thought you were SinnohEevee because of the Avatar! *facepalm*

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I keep mistaking AceTrainer14 for canisaries because the latter drew the former's avatar.

 

[Greninjaman]

Welp...
Also does not really help when most of the staff have changed their names for the month.

 

[Ereshkigal]

And now, I need to decide whether or not to include a planet definition debate in the story, or just leave their opinions as implied.

Mostly, it stems from an idea for including a shirt in the story. Just a piece of humor I came up with, but which might actually make sense as a character opinion.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Welp...
Also does not really help when most of the staff have changed their names for the month.

So THAT'S why Beth Pavell is Yzma now!

I've never seen The Emperor's New Groove, but I vaguely remember watching The Emperor's New School.

Mostly, it stems from an idea for including a shirt in the story. Just a piece of humor I came up with, but which might actually make sense as a character opinion.

Please can I have context?

 

[Ereshkigal]

Please can I have context?

The character is wearing this shirt:

Spoiler: Not safe for work link

Link!

The character wearing it holds a stance of opposition to use of foul language, so I found it humorous they would end up wearing that shirt.

But, basically, it's a shirt supporting Pluto's classification as a planet.

 

[Cresselia92]

I keep mistaking AceTrainer14 for canisaries because the latter drew the former's avatar.

This is why I always draw my own avatars… save from the current one.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I remember on that transformations thread I made a few months ago, I brought up the idea of someone not realising they've been transformed because the their subconscious is convinced that this is how the body has always been. I've just started wondering: would being transformed have symptoms similar to phantom limb pain?

When I think of permanent transformations, I think of a really depressing book called Eva. It's about a girl who gets her mind copied into a chimpanzee (it sounds scientific if you don't think about it), and she doesn't realise until she's told a few weeks in.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Only War.

Good fun. My playgroup was garbage and I've got approx 0% chance of doing any more in the next decade, but it was nice while it lasted. My group went for 'elite' grenadiers, I believe and then promptly began to roleplay complete morons.

How do I explain Meowth being able to talk?

You don't need to explain it, this is pokémon. You can use his canon backstory. You can say "some pokémon just do that."

This sort of thing only matters, and becomes tricky, if you're holding yourself to a much higher standard of realism/plausibility than the franchise as it already exists. If you were doing such a thing, it would surely be the focus of your project, due to the sheer amount of work it would take.

I recommend that you learn to stop sweating the details, man.

I brought up the idea of someone not realising they've been transformed because the their subconscious is convinced that this is how the body has always been. I've just started wondering: would being transformed have symptoms similar to phantom limb pain?

That first one is only plausible in the specific circumstance that the transformed person also has a complete and total memory wipe, and somehow has communication abilities and locomotion skills down on minute one. I suppose that's standard fare for PMD.

Phantom limb pain issues are down to author fiat. The concept is pure fantasy, so the speculation is less "would it happen?" and more "what would it be like if it did happen, and is it interesting enough for me to write about it?"

Anyway, the Cat News is this: my players cancelled again and we're all busy for NaNoWriMo so the RPG is postponed until December. Goddamnit. Also I failed my driving test and the next available slot is in January. And I might be coming down with a cold. Ugh.