Traveller's Café: Discussion, brainstorming & advice

[Namunah]

I mainly don't RP as a Woman because for some reason, it feels wrong to me. I dunno why but I get a feeling that I'll surely RP her wrong.

Another reason is that I am afraid RPing as her can affect my nature in... Let's say, weird ways for lack of a more diplomatic term.

[Harkback Union]

I mainly don't RP as a Woman because for some reason, it feels wrong to me. I dunno why but I get a feeling that I'll surely RP her wrong.

Another reason is that I am afraid RPing as her can affect my nature in... Let's say, weird ways for lack of a more diplomatic term.

Same here...

[Gvozdevsk]

I still want to make the RP I was talking about where NATO/America are forced into a defensive guerrilla war. But real life geopolitics just make it impossible in any logical way unless I set it in the far future but that's not what I want to do. Should I just give up on this idea?

[Prospect Landings]

I still want to make the RP I was talking about where NATO/America are forced into a defensive guerrilla war. But real life geopolitics just make it impossible in any logical way unless I set it in the far future but that's not what I want to do. Should I just give up on this idea?

No, just write the background in a way that allows your players to suspend their disbelief. This was Tom Clancy's MO for every novel post 1991.

[Ayreonia]

I still want to make the RP I was talking about where NATO/America are forced into a defensive guerrilla war. But real life geopolitics just make it impossible in any logical way unless I set it in the far future but that's not what I want to do. Should I just give up on this idea?

Change "NATO/America" and boom, it's suddenly become plausible!

[Prospect Landings]

A group of Special Forces operatives attempt to assassinate a radical Islamist. Deep behind enemy lines, with their communication line disrupted, they must survive in the Afghan mountains until their reinforcements arrive.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

I still want to make the RP I was talking about where NATO/America are forced into a defensive guerrilla war. But real life geopolitics just make it impossible in any logical way unless I set it in the far future but that's not what I want to do. Should I just give up on this idea?

The war of Scottish independence.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

I mainly don't RP as a Woman because for some reason, it feels wrong to me. I dunno why but I get a feeling that I'll surely RP her wrong.

Another reason is that I am afraid RPing as her can affect my nature in... Let's say, weird ways for lack of a more diplomatic term.

So you're afraid that if you RP a girl you'll turn gay or something?
Right. That's rational.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I mainly don't RP as a Woman because for some reason, it feels wrong to me. I dunno why but I get a feeling that I'll surely RP her wrong.

Another reason is that I am afraid RPing as her can affect my nature in... Let's say, weird ways for lack of a more diplomatic term.

So you're afraid that if you RP a girl you'll turn gay or something?
Right. That's rational.

I think he means he's afraid he'll just make her a whore or mere fanservice or some such.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

So you're afraid that if you RP a girl you'll turn gay or something?
Right. That's rational.

I think he means he's afraid he'll just make her a whore or mere fanservice or some such.

Ah, I guess that makes a little more sense. I was afraid of that too, to begin with. The trick is to not write somebody with their gender being their foremost characteristic. Write a PERSON first, rather than a man or woman. That's a key distinction.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I think he means he's afraid he'll just make her a whore or mere fanservice or some such.

Ah, I guess that makes a little more sense. I was afraid of that too, to begin with. The trick is to not write somebody with their gender being their foremost characteristic. Write a PERSON first, rather than a man or woman. That's a key distinction.

I make the effort to do that, but I fully admit that I am a sexist in many ways. Not a popular opinion, and I do refrain from letting it come out, but I was raised that way in a very conservative place and it still shapes my subconscious.

But pretty much the best way to write someone of a different gender is to do what you said - I effectively ignore gender when writing, unless it's explicitly important (like writing about a woman in Chinese upper society).

[Equalium]

Okay, so I am making progress on my HOM.

Right here. Lay some ideas and thoughts. I wanna make it unique. I might even not make it just Earth. Who knows? I might make a RP based off of my world of Farcheesta

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I haven't had too much trouble playing different cultural characters. I just play normal people, because people are mostly the same from place to place. The rest I extrapolate from my travels and from Wikitravel/Wikipedia.

For that matter, I would like to ask....uh....

Do the women I RP feel, well, real enough?

I think you do it well.

[Harkback Union]

Okay, so I am making progress on my HOM.

Right here. Lay some ideas and thoughts. I wanna make it unique. I might even not make it just Earth. Who knows? I might make a RP based off of my world of Farcheesta

Access denied.

[Corvus Metallum]

My brain has been trying to figure out how to work out the RP equation of "Redwall +Guardians of Ga'Hoole +Warriors +Narnia=" for the past day or two now. Time to re-read all of them I guess.

[Nationstatelandsville]

For that matter, I would like to ask....uh....

Do the women I RP feel, well, real enough?

I think you do it well.

Agr's women are basically as bizarre and anime-esque as Agr himself.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I think you do it well.

Agr's women are basically as bizarre and anime-esque as Agr himself.

But so are his men.

I think.

I actually cannot recall Agri ever playing a guy.

[The Tiger Kingdom]

For that matter, I would like to ask....uh....

Do the women I RP feel, well, real enough?

I think you do it well.

I hate to sound all needy, but as a guy, I would also like some feedback from people who have read ES (and ideally who aren't actually in it, so as to avoid conflicts of interest) as to how I write Alix. I'm in totally uncharted waters with writing a character like her, and I would always appreciate constructive criticism.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

I think you do it well.

I hate to sound all needy, but as a guy, I would also like some feedback from people who have read ES (and ideally who aren't actually in it, so as to avoid conflicts of interest) as to how I write Alix. I'm in totally uncharted waters with writing a character like her, and I would always appreciate constructive criticism.

I honestly would, but I have very little time to go through the thread.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Agr's women are basically as bizarre and anime-esque as Agr himself.

But so are his men.

I think.

I actually cannot recall Agri ever playing a guy.

Pyotr.

But then, I don't expect you to know who that is. .

[Gvozdevsk]

I still want to make the RP I was talking about where NATO/America are forced into a defensive guerrilla war. But real life geopolitics just make it impossible in any logical way unless I set it in the far future but that's not what I want to do. Should I just give up on this idea?

No, just write the background in a way that allows your players to suspend their disbelief. This was Tom Clancy's MO for every novel post 1991.

I guess this is something that I need to work on. If Tom Clancy can make a book about Russia and America teaming up to kick China's ass seem realistic, you can make anything seem realistic.

[Prospect Landings]

No, just write the background in a way that allows your players to suspend their disbelief. This was Tom Clancy's MO for every novel post 1991.

I guess this is something that I need to work on. If Tom Clancy can make a book about Russia and America teaming up to kick China's ass seem realistic, you can make anything seem realistic.

Hundreds of thousands of readers bought a novel about the Sierra Club attempting to bring about the second holocaust, you'll definitely find a market. My advice is to look at current antagonist trends in international affairs ( Senkaku, South Ossetia, etc) and extrapolate. Like many people in this thread have said before, Realism before The Real.

[Kassaran]

Just had an idea for an alternate time-line for the present. Not going to make it into anything, but if you want to use it as an idea, I won't penalize anyone for it:

The year is 1945, the Third Reich is on its knees at the mercy of the Allies to its west, and the Russian hordes to its east. With Berlin as its last stronghold, it collapses in on itself as the Russians pull their own version of blitzkrieg on the weakened Axis power. Swarming the beleagured nation with nearly 10 million armed troops (a 400% larger force than was actually used), the Soviet army cut through Germany on a suicidal march towards the Reichstag where Hitler was, noting that regardless of the costs, they had more men left then the Germans had ammunition. Holding breifly for a period of three months outside Berlin, this massive army only managed to stay to the east successfully due to massive air raids being conducted by over 10,000 Russian-built IL-2's and 4's. Coupled with a successful push against the allies in the west (at the Battle of the Bulge which managed to keep the Americans stalled until late in March, a two month longer stand then in reality), Hitler had never pulled back in time to mount the defense of Berlin and in result, lost several of the commanders that he in reality would of promoted to cover everything in said defense.

Now on to the actual Battle, which in reality took until May to finish, with the Russian drive through the heart of Germany in this version of history, and the absence of the Vistula-Oder Offensive, they reached the city limits on the 30^th of March in 1945, and in a massive bombing capaign, reduced everything leading up to the Reichstag to little more than fine-dust resulting in the 10,000 Soviet armored vehicles, 6,000 Tanks, and 3,000 Katyusha vehicle mounted rocket artillery pieces succesfully pushing all the way into Berlin and capturing the Reichstag (it actually was moreover flattened by artillery, Hitler never got the chance to kill himself, he was simply buried alive to every Russian's dismay. This early victory now however results in the loss of even more lives. How? Japan.

Here, due to the length of the Battle of the Bulge, the allies had begun to pour more funds into defeating the seemingly invigorated German push, however, this also resulted in temporary loss of funding for the Manhattan project which at this point in the alternate time-line is seeing massive failure with the loss of three scientists due to radiation exposure. With the failure to complete the A-Bomb by May, the Allies now begin a four-month-long firebomb/shock-and-awe campaign against the Japanese home island with newly developed (from captured German proto-types) B-35 Truman Jet-Bombers. These are the first pressurized high-altitude jet bombers the allies have, and hold a 6000 lbs payload on their wings and in their bomb-bays. Due to lack of proper maintenance, many often fail to take off, or their engines flameout in=flight, but with the higher alititudes comes safety from most fighters left in the Japanese Air Force and the AAA, so most bomber crews prefer to fly in a B-35 compared to a B-17 or B-24.

After four months, the bombing campaign against a now bitter and hardened Japanese force ends with the dropping of three A-Bombs, all of which were Little Boy type bombs and all of which were dropped on the original two targets, and then on Tokyo once again in early September. However, this came without the Potsdam Declaration and no chance came for the Japanese to peacefully surrender. On September 15, 1945, the American invasion of the main island of Japan began from the East, the British took the South alongside several Australian units, the Soviet invasion began shortly thereafter on September 22, 1945 from the North, and the Chinese finished up with their own invasion with a massive amount of lend-lease equipment from Russia (most of which was simply old tech that the Russians had worn out and learned to build themselves). All-in-all, Japan got wrecked. With a total of less than 500,000 Japanese left by the end of the war, Americans were blamed for their failure to stop the invasion by cutting back on the A-Bomb project to fight the Third Reich which was already lost to Russian forces at the time of the Battle of the Bulge.

With the onset of the Cold-War in 1947, and the threat of a nuclear winter, the Truman Doctrine came into effect to assist Greece and Hungary, it also encompassed the previously French colony of Vietnam and the two Koreas. In a massive military push by the UN, Korea was taken by the Free-World Forces and the last sliver of communist Korea the remained was absorbed into China. With the speed of the attack, China had been unable to mount the previous counterattack, and as a result, was only capable of holding thel ine where they stood. Russia at this point is now dealing with Stalin's early death in 1949 after he was assassinated by several members from his party. The USSR then fell in upon itself with infighting for control of the position as the leader of the Soviet Union. This early end to the Cold War resulted in unexpected inflation of American control over the Pacific and Atlantic as well as several prominent bases established in the Middle East to keep communist warlords from reaching vital supplies.

Continuing on, the Middle East also fell into ruin after the successful Israeli counterattacks in 1949 and by 1972, Israel now was in control of much of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and parts of Iraq and Iran. In the long term, America grew big, utilizing its positive relations with the Israeli PM to acquire cheap sources of crude oil in spite of the deals between the two violating multiple international trade barters. However, with the control America now had on the world's economy at this point, no trade sanctions could be brought about. Now, with the rise of power in the Western Hemisphere, the US turns into an international empre by moving down and annexing most of Central America and the Caribbean, putting America in the history books as ofiicially the largest empire to ever exist, followed by the New Aztec Movement. The NAM is the acronym dubbed for the vicious CIA-funded froup of warlords originating in South America that was given American weapons tech to take over Columbia, Peru, and most of the remaining parts of South America that no one ever cares to name. The only place not taken is Chile, because in this time-line, no one wants Chile. The catch for the NAM is that they have to allow American oil miners to use their lands for the rich natural resources and essentially South America becomes a puppet of the new Imperial States of America.

Yes, there you have it, a world run by an evil American Imperial state. Run with this idea, edit it as need be, b*tch at me for its historical inaccuracies, do something with it, because my brain is fried.

[Kassaran]

Just testing a theory...

Nightkill Nightkill Nightkill.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Just testing a theory...

Nightkill Nightkill Nightkill.

NO DON'T WHAT ARE YOU DOING.