godsoffortune | Suggestions

Event Idea that I will totally helm: Ebisu, under some haggling from his shinki, enlists the other PCs to take care of some work in various areas. (A farm, an art gallery, etc)

They just want to have a day off, okay? Just the one. TFS, please help them get just that one day.

I can write a more indepth thing with the issues of the different areas, and it could have the same idea of "get points for a long enough thread working", if it all works for you.

Celestia would like to suggest that, after the total disaster that was the forest thing, that the usual training be taken down to a beach! Somewhere in the south so it's actually nice and warm and temperate. She'll gladly set up some places with her magic so the usual training areas and new god introductions can be made as usual, but everyone deserves a chance to relax. And swimming is good exercise!

I would like to suggest increasing the prayer/mission cap per person from two to three! Since the prayers/missions no longer have expiration dates on them, it really opens up the amount of content there is to explore at any given time.

However, with how long prayers/missions can take, having two slots means I have to be choosy about what kind of content I get to engage in. For example, right now I'm involved in two plot-related missions, with both of them possibly leading into further mission chains. This could easily be months of tagging on a simple plot, while also being unable to follow-up with other plots or things that might occur in game. With a third slot, I feel like I can manage lighter or newer content while still engaging in longer chains.

Thank you for the consideration!

please let me run a in-game february or march blind date event

i will do details once i know i have the mod blessing

This is kind of random, and I really don't have full idea how to use it- maybe into some event far, far in the future but... consider this

"Deer are messengers of shinto gods"

According to the legendary history of Kasuga Shrine in Nara, the god Takemikazuchi arrived in on a white deer to guard the newly built capital. Tame sika deer wander Nara park (and surroundings to this day), they are cute, they are hungry, they will eat you. No really, if you buy a deer cracker (you cannot feed the deer with anything else, must be the deer cracker) those four deer around you turn into a mob of fourteen, chasing you down. Always, always hungry.

So I thought maybe the deer are being more of a menace than usual, and they get into and cause more trouble. Or maybe it's the other way around, most deer disappeared, what happened? Oh dear, deer.

Since their connection to the gods, I thought it could be an occasion for a lighter prompts event with shenanigans, but one that at the same time may offer some more insight or chance to interact with the old gods of the Far Shore?

Could a healing spell be added as a high-tier shinki spell? Right now there are no healing spells and having it as a spell shinki could learn would be interesting and help offset the fact there aren't many sources for healing in-game.

As an additional idea, it could work off the hand position for borderlines, creating synergy for borderlines being something that can protect, something that can hurt, and now something to heal.

Hi. I've been wanting to ask this for a while, but could there be any way that the taken list is updated before the app period is over? I don't know who runs it, but I have had people in the past want to app here, but since the drops seem to be posted after the app period is over and the taken list sometimes takes a while to update, they've been discouraged from apping because no one seems to know who is still in the game or not.

Basically could the drops be done sooner so we can confirm with people who want to reserve a character who has been dropped sooner and not have to wait an entire month or more for a list update?

Edited (sorry forgot a part) 2019-02-05 06:08 (UTC)

Hello mods! I love this game and enjoy my time in greatly. Which is why I decided to offer some suggestions regarding current event.

I am very impressed by the scope of how you utilize your NPCs and I admire it greatly, but I’d like to also come forward and say that not every big boss battle has to be helmed by a mod. Please hear me out.

As it comes we’re on the round 4 and only one of the mob ayakashi has been defeated, yet a “reward log” is about to be discussed happening several days afterwards. (As an Intro log for new people I assume) While it makes sense, that the win of this battle is predetermined, the whole cult agenda has no place to get wrapped out- not to mention some characters participating in the battle still might end getting injured, but the players don’t know that yet. With fates of those characters unknown, and what the attack really means to the character involved (was the curbing of the cult successful? was it not), some players might find it hard to throw them into the beach episode. Which in turn will make it harder for the new players to get CR.

The time in the game is fake in that it doesn’t follow the real calendar. It could be handwaved that as the new IC Intro goes in, it happens on the very same day the battle with the cult does. Make the newbies get the very basic of info of the crisis, handed some powerful but limited-use artifacts (magical ropes, healing flowers) and sent along other NPC gods (written into the flavor text, not lead on as NPCs) to help and save those battling the cultists.

The prompts could include wide variety of things. The building is crumbling, maybe after the bosses are gone the crystal is destroyed/eaten/or just destabilized, but giving it energy would stabilize the area allowing people to escape. Some characters would stay behind to ensure the others escape. Maybe there is a last moment spell going on that forbids people from the boss room inside teleporting out of the compound (hence the rescue team made out of the new people, and people who did not participate in the fight is required).

It gives a very unique chance for new players to forge CR in such circumstances. It also gives chance to characters that might linger around to try investigate what is left (like the crystal, the dolls- the corpse of the boss?) and gain clues. When escaping the compound, stray ayakashi attracted by chaos might have join in the fry to make it more dramatic. But also--

What about the cultists? Are they all gone? What about their families? Maybe among escaping gods and shinki are terrified human children, what player characters are going to do about them? Maybe one of the Old War Gods rallied to “kill’em all” in the event flavor text? Will player characters follow, help humans, or ignore them? There are still traps lying around. Maybe some of the NPC Old Gods are knocked out and require help (another opportunity for CR when one smol tries to drag a giant god out of the harm’s way and another person helps them)

Then the prompt back in heavens where the new gods and shinki can finally get a breather, maybe get noticed and rewarded for their intense action and finally learn some things. While everyone who participated in the battle can process it out. Discuss the outcome of what happened and what it means forward.

The reward log happening few IC days later then would fit right into being the next month event. Which would give time for characters to discuss what it could be on the Orihime post. And make next even a breather that player characters needs, along with giving time to wrap-up any post-battle development/treating injuries/etc.

What is radical about this suggestion (and probably the most problematic since it would have to be done this way from the start), is that aside for hand-waving the calendar, is the conclusion of the boss fight would have to be written by mods into the very start of such log, instead of following with more rounds.

(As said, it's just a suggestion, and might not even be used here, for but for some future big finale battles)

That’s the tricky part, because when I saw such events (in various collaborative storytellings both written and not, although once it was on dwrp) they had some time for ooc plotting to go off. Like characters listing their powers, weaknesses, plans and opt-out of being hurt or not (including severity). If someone is a shinki outside vessel form, or god without a shinki.

While I’d say most players already showed what their characters are capable of in the battle log, and there are some plotting and questions going on the OOC post related to that battle. While there is always risk some could feel like the potential of their characters had not been fully unlocked, it does alleviate the worries of having been “locked out” of rest of the game until the battle is done. (And as said, we still seem to be far from any conclusion. Of course like with every change, it would probably be best to put such option for voting for the players involved if they are up for such resolution).

On the other hand, such write-up on the effect of the struggles of all, including actions taken by everyone (sometimes maybe even including surprising team-ups) can be very rewarding, because it does feel like a full group-effort. It also can kickstart some intriguing CR- let’s say a monster is susceptible to ice, and mods write in that write-up three characters who mentioned having ice-powers take advantage of that weakness. Bam instant CR possibility, and something that players can play among themselves right in that log, without mod involvement. If there is a condition to winning that fight like- idk the crystal or dolls, or even something else still hidden and have to be destroyed, then either a character with analysis skill, or simply An Old God NPC that are present in the background can recognise that and direct everyone’s involvement. Many characters be it gods or shinki have “party-wide” skills that could be written to affect everyone already. Like, Iskandar’s “divine inspiration” god power. Maybe shinki out-of-vessel form is the one to take out the human sorcerer, or maybe a god without a shinki (since they obviously can’t rend the ayakashi). Maybe the ayakashi are key to shutting down the barrier and again there is a character who could notice/feel that and inform others. Maybe Shun’s decay powers can affect the spell/focus of it. (I’m just throwing ideas at the wall, to show the possibilities ahahah)

So to summarise in some bullet points to make this WALL OF TEXT easier:

The first log of the month - Attack and battle happens on 1st April

The second log of the month - new gods and shinki arrive, and wrap-up of attack (rescue or evac mission) also happens on 1st April

(optional) the battle conclusion gets decided by mods and written into the intro/flavor text of the second log of the month

Reward log happens as around 8th April, and is first log/event of the next month

Once again, I greatly admire your dedication and involvement in the game and threads, but as the mod-team shrunk, I also believe some short-cuts might need to be taken to not overwhelm the remaining mods.

I’m really sorry that it ended so huge, but I tried to word it the best I could and in the most helpful way. This can be read as a general suggestions for “big boss fights”. If I could help by clarifying anything, or showing examples I will. Thank you so much for reading!

Edited (making some paragraphs more clear, i hope) 2019-02-17 14:03 (UTC)

I would like to propose a way to make the Monthly Training "similar but different" each month going forward. We used to have Bishamon running the training sessions each month, so what if some of the more esteemed gods hosted instead? We could run down the list by Total Follower Count and remove those who's already Hosted the Monthly Training recently, then keep going until we find a player who 1) is interested and 2) wants to accept the Welcome Wagon / open log responsibility that particular month. Someone may be very interested, but not for X month, they'd prefer the following month, or something like that.

We could plan this out 2-3 months in advance too, such that the hosting God for that 1 month gets a chance to 1) help write prompts based on their character's version of Training, 2) help write descriptions based on their particular temple design, and 3) give their whole temple (shinki included) a reason to collectively reach out to all of the top levels - hence Welcome Wagon.

So I was thinking about things said on the state of the game and on plurk ~ mostly about prayers here but also Lavvy's point about Nora.

My biggest issue (and the reason I assume it wasn't implemented the first time it was suggested) is that because of the canon shunning/unease around Nora it would feel... weird for the old gods to incentivise it (though someone with better ideas than me may find a way to make that work and feel natural). However I do think as an OOC mechanic it would make a lot of things easier.

From what I've seen the main issues with prayers are

1) The system is complicated~ Lavvy made wonderful suggestions here that I +1'd above
2) People struggle to do them because they don't have a shinki/god their shinki/god is inactive or they are just a bit unsure on them and striking out alone is intimidating.

The mods did an OOC prayer planning on the cr meme this month, it wasn't picked up all that well but hopefully will be in the future because I think it's a good step in the right direction.

But I had an idea of perhaps an IC prayer 'wanted' post. It could be a sticky on the BBS where people could advertise for prayer partners, or swap prayers. Especially if Lavvy's idea is taken on board and we can make more prayers up. So.

If you had a good prayer idea but it didn't fit your character they could 'advertise' so someone else could take it.

You are a god and you don't have a shinki you could make a call out for either a shinki, or a god/shinki pair to come with you and your souless shinki on a prayer.

Likewise if your shinki partner is not very active/very busy you could pair up with another temple/another shinki and ask your partner if you can have their shinki in vessel form (but still have people to write with)

Shinki could offer to nora to other gods, or even just help out with non ayakashi prayers "I'll come help you reunite that grandma with her grandaughter but if there's ayakashi I'll have to phone my god!"

Shinki with inactive gods could ask for prayer partners "We have loads of prayers coming in right now and my god is very busy, there's a few that could be done with a couple of shinki anyone want to help?"

Pretty much it would be an ic way for prayers to be more interactive and also make it more obvious that it doesn't have to be a traditional god/shinki pair that completes a prayer.

tl;dr A sticky BBS post where characters can post prayer partner wanted adverts and organise prayers IC encouraging inter temple mingling and also nora'ing without it having to be a old god 'top down' driven thing!

Event idea! Japan's deer and boar populations have exploded in recent years as hunters age out of tracking them down, resulting in prayers from farmers and others for some ~~pest control~~ divine intervention.

What should the Far Shore do? Organize a hunting party for the Gods, as in times of old! It'll be a great time, and we suppose the New Gods can come too to the fun. Maybe the old Gods can show off some pastimes not often seen in modern Japan, such as Takagari. Perhaps there's conflict because WAIT STOP, not those deer. Those ones are sacred messengers of the Shinto gods (like in Shuu's suggestion). Maybe some of those Old Gods want to talk God to God.

For those not wanting to hunt, there's always fixing up the damage around the place and aiding those afflicted by the out of control wildlife. For the shinki, well this is a party for the Gods, so get waiting and serving those Gods! They've been working hard; the Cult went down due to them, you know. And that game they caught won't skin and cook itself. Don't know how to even start? Sure... an old gen shinki will show you how.

... and for those a bit more excitement inclined, perhaps there's a greater, more dangerous prey lurking in these Princess Mononoke-esque woods. Is it a nature spirit or is it an ayakashi? It's for the daring to find out!

Hello. Admittedly it is an idea that I've been pondering on for a long time. Generally, CR drops when framed as something sudden, and one has no control of can be very hard to deal with. There are situations where players whose characters just lost too many people, don't want to bother with playing the "angst but get back on your feet arc", or find their characters simply develop into being jaded and less inclined to form new CR - very often the player decides to just drop their character in that case.

One of the games I was in before, had a mechanic that alleviated it by having two options for drop mechanic. One the usual "going home" and other "character is still in the world, but elsewhere and not able to stay in touch regularly" - kinda like in a pre-internet era when if your friend moved to a different continent you could call each other occasionally and write letters, but that's all.

So here is an idea of how to adapt that mechanic to current Far Shore mechanics.

The options "suddenly goes home" still remains, but I'm obviously going to detail here an option of "Character stays in a world but is unreachable". I will separate it in points for Gods and Shinki

Gods: gods characters get spirited-away for their native pantheons - it can be done forcibly (old gods don't have to ask for permissions) or as a mysterious offer character ICly agrees to. Since in answer to questions in old FAQ it has been already established that other pantheons operate on a different set of rules. Because of that, all effects of drop are effective - the temple is gone, points reset (unless you decide you want to keep track of that), the bond to shinki lost (either by force or by unnaming them). CR of such dropped character can handwave interactions like random letter sending to their physical shrines on Near Shore, or maybe occasional meetings for some mundane talks (the dropped character is under compulsion to say no word what business they attend to in their new abode)

Shinki: shinki characters get assigned to old gods - again the rules is either to do it willingly for something promised to them, or by force/accidental mistake in bureaucracy (if I remember correctly it has been already established that players who OOCly want to separate their gods and shinki but can't find a way, can simply have "Heaven's did it" and shinki wakes up in temple of someone else). Perhaps they get to be stationed somewhere far far away (Far Shore is sprawling, but perhaps there are fortresses of Gates of Heavens that are manned by men of old guardian gods, idk i'm just making this up as I go). Again their CR can handwave occasional contact, but no information on their new missions will be given.

QUESTIONS

1. What if a character gets re-apped by the same person - since it's already an option to keep the memories of their previous stay, that still would be possible. Such characters know they were taken away for important business, but their memories are very hazy, as if someone sealed them away. If mods want to have it, there can be a very brief description what happened (again, shinki getting stationed on a Gate for training, but it was all mundane training and guard duty), if not then sealed memories are a better idea. For God characters, they can still appear as an incarnation of a different god.

2. What if a character gets re-apped by a different person - then the current rules are still in place. Such characters don't have memories of their previous stay, and it's up for their CR to interpret if the old gods messed up with taking away all their memories, or they just went home and reappeared.

3. What if God character was from Japanese pantheon - that's of course more tricky, but I would work with either having some different pantheon hijack them, or having some old gods taking them away for Important Mission (like, the Gates need to be manned by gods who can work with shinki too, right?). Throwing away all the "earthly" or "heavenly" in this case possessions (like temple and current shinki) would, of course be required. Maybe it's something, something, buddhist and shinto tradition interwines in Japanese Heavens but there are parts that are still quite seperate. (not to mention some of the Japanese gods have their counterparts in other pantheons, that could be played here too)

Edited 2019-05-05 19:36 (UTC)

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Monthly Training Temple Rotation

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