Monte Carlo

Obsidian Entertainment. It's their IP. I doubt it. Are you published? Have you written anything before? Have you put anything online, perhaps? Hell yeah. Well look at it from their POV --- are you the next JRR Martin or are you a fan writing fan tic then do the math. Sorry to be harsh, but there ya go. So you want to write a fantasy novel but don't want to do any world-building? The Force is weak in this one. OK, some heartfelt advice. There are two years to go, we don't even know much about a setting. It's great that you want to write, so crack open your laptop / get a notepad, hide someplace quiet and write. You are, if I'm honest, approaching the endeavour ass-backwards. If you are in fact JRR Martin posting in pseudonym, apologies in advance.

I used to love the dizzying numbers of polearms in 1st Ed AD&D. "Bec de Corbin?" LOL. Anyhoo, I found this....

Interestingly, the only debate about Brave here in the UK was that it was hi-jacked by Scottish Nationalists. Of course, the Nats would hi-jack a small sandwich if they thought it would help their cause, let alone a *very* American animated movie.

This is definitely a generational thing. I'm in my mid-forties and I'm sure, by some of the standards here, a sexist dinosaur. I am untroubled by Xena warrior-princess tropes (which are more knowing than some give them credit for), admit to liking sexually appealing imagery of women (and, having been married to one for twenty years, very happily, puts that into context) and find some of the comments in this thread the sort of cringe-inducing Gramscian BS I had to endure at university in the very late 80s'. It was BS then and it is BS now. Because folks will always be attracted to other folks, of any gender, and an idealised version of that attractiveness will exist. But... and but. I watched a James Bond movie with my son last week. Roger Moore. The Bond I grew up with in the seventies. The sexism was awful. Having not seen that movie for ten years I was unprepared for it. I'm hardly thin-skinned or politically-correct... but I didn't want my son viewing women like that. That, whether you like it or not, is progress in the real world. It takes time, little incremental steps. So everybody chill. Women will make choices about their sexuality that feminists will blame on external socio- political pressure. Fine, but it don't make it true because politics is about power. It has been since Eve plucked that apple, baby, and always will be.

^ Yes a flash version with a Marilyn Manson soundtrack.

^ Yes, like that a lot. And despite this they are utterly charming and possess excellent social and empathetic skills. And are bloody strong with a poisonous bite. I thought fishmen were a joke, but actually I am loving the vibe of a race of charming, strong, strangely vulnerable piscene humanoids. Edit: Sorry @ rjshae Of course I see ArchBeast's point but Vikings are stereotyped and were in fact as much benign trader as they were invading savage. Much the same as us Brits, in fact.

^ Well, in the spirit of amity, I have always had a lot of time for the pro-romance people who come out with what you say here. Because I am in broad agreement, furthermore, everybody wins. A friendship between a hitherto incompatible race / class / culture might be more touching.

A bard-barbarian is a Skald. A proper warrior-poet class would be awesome.

Hmmm why for some reason do I want them to have venomous fangs, as a vestigial legacy of their aquatic heritage? Edit: And, if they travel too far inland, have the need for brine-filled armour or tanks, to keep their fishy-skin moist? :: Yuck ::

So, to wrap this up. Romance? Hell no, we're far too advanced for that ****. Amen, MCA, amen!

So, basically, romance fans.

^ What he said.

I demand rust monsters. And could people *please* stop quoting themselves. PLEASE. For me it's the message board version of running sharp fingernails down a blackboard. If what you've said is that worthy, someone will run with the ball for you.

Yes, I am very fond of mind-flayers. I find them very creepy. I also like Ogre Magi and Hobgoblins. AD&D Hobgoblins are like Nazis, sort of lawful-evil militaristic so-and-so's who like marching around in pseudo Samurai armour.

Monsters. Bread-and-butter for a CRPG, right? We've got elves and dwarves as playable races, an arguably necessary sop to the genre. But what vanilla monsters are we going to have, if any, and will the developers be indulging our tastes for the classic / bizarre / unmentionable? And, yes, a sub-set of people on this forum have got a big Lich thing going on. So this thread is about everything monster, creature, beast, abomination, chimera, shambling undead, ooze, jelly, construct, giant or whatever other critter you would like to bury an axe into. My personal favourites from AD&D: THE MANTICORE THE STIRGE THE BARROW WIGHT

No. I have however written three novels with extensive dialogue, none of which was less than 85000 words. Each one took me, on average, six months (OK, I have a day job too). The idea of writing branching dialogue within an externally determined plot fills me with dread... plus you are doing it for seven other detailed NPCs and a protagonist with X amount of racial / class-based / faction sensitive variables. Double Plus, doing that while keeping the writing taut and suitable to the genre (i.e. relatively short bursts of dialogue suitable for a game) ... honestly that's spinning a lot of plates. So I'd make an educated guess and say that, to do it properly, it ain't the sort of thing you write in a couple of weeks. It's proper work. Edit: May I add to that... each NPC needs romance and non-romance story and dialogue arcs. Therefore each romanceable, I would imagine, is at least 25-50% more work to factor in some sort of meaningful non-romance dialogue for the people who aren't interested. I think having NPCs who are empty vessels, content-wise, if you don't romance them is pretty poor. I'm not just saying this as a romance-sceptic, I'm saying it as someone who has done some writing to a reasonable submission-ready standard. And MCA ain't our bitch. Give him a break.

Falchion FTW, note the notch for a disarming move...

All of my posts were humorous and were cut, I suspect, either because of slightly heavy-handed moderation (they can't always get it right) or because of my completely justified reputation for wilful thread derailment. I also like egregious image-spamming. There was no cruelty or nastiness in any of my threads, I'd rather be joking about this subject TBH. Some people are, IMO, a bit too thin-skinned for their own good although the character of this forum (from where I have been squatting since 2004, it just seems longer, waiting for this game) has changed with the influx of new PE-interested members. Welcome one, welcome all.

I think we should have a serious and good-natured forum challenge. Hear me out, I am entirely serious. Team one is the pro-romance forumites. Team two, by a process of cunning elimination, are the winners anti-romance forumites. We both write a synopsis of a romance arc and come back and compare notes. Face it, t'would be comedy gold and some important learning points (guffaws) might drop out of it, like golden crap from a gilded goose, fed on the foie gras of luuuurvve.

Can we have romanceable badges?

Sorry but that's not a badge. That's a vanity plate. As for the game, i'm beginning to think Chris, Tim and the rest have already skipped town with the Kickstarter money and are sitting on a beach in Mexico or somewhere with those drinks with the little hats. and they probably wearing our badges too! No, they are hoarding the badges in a Swiss bank account, they are getting 5.9% interest on them. I always knew there was something about Feargus that made my spidey-sense tingle.

I'm not really a fantasy literature fan, but I always loved Michael Moorc0ck and recently I've gotten into Joe Abercrombie. Moorc0ck's idea of romance usually involves death by poison or by mutilation, though.

Hepler was either naive or was pushing flamebait with those comments.

^ You mean umbrellas, shurely?

We've got to do something for the next two years.