COMIC SERIES!?

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VashalaReturns
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COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Mon Oct 31, 2016 1:50 am

Right? Like that hasn't been done before.

......

It has.

MOVING ON ------> SO, I personally have tried and failed at the Arelith character story thing. Maybe it's me, maybe it's that I can't play for more than like 5 hours a week (not all at once either), maybe it's my P.O.S. computer that -CANT EVEN- when I turn on anything that requires a framerate-- but I think I'm pretty well done trying to make it in Arelith.

Good news for everything else though, I think Arelith is awesome! I know you guys put a shitload of work in your builds and character stories and everything else. Hell, I made a handwritten one for Haverti and barely got to use it. I know the struggle people!! So, staying with THAT wave of positivity........

I'm thinking that I want to start a web series. Like seriously start one. If you guys haven't seen my art then stop reading and go look at it and you'll see that-- HUMBLY STATING -- I have got *some* talent in the department.

However, and the reason why I brought up the fact that I sucked at RP (played for TWO YEARS BRUH AND NEVER SAW A DM CAUSE I ALWAYS PLAYED FOR 20 MINUTES AT 8AM ON A TUESDAY lmao I sucked--) anyway, I can't for the life of me follow any of y'all's lore. I'm sorry, I'm not that awesome to sit and read hours upon hours of forum posts.

Instead, I wanted to open this forum for the folks that want to write.... a *separate* Arelith world, where city officials don't change with the seasons, and there's a constant Cordor Guard (persistent characters in the same world sort of thing?)

Your characters, and their backstories, AND their relationships with other characters CAN and SHOULD be brought into the fold, but I can't in ANY WAY see it staying canon. It's just impossible. Or at least very hard. And I'm the guy who wants to draw thousands of panels of this game, so I know my limits. haha! Arelith doesn't actually make much real sense when you think about it. It's fun, but insane. Like, an island filled with manic sociopaths that are all being pricked and prodded by the Gods until they form some semblance of a life. All those hard hits to the head I assume.

So this forum post is going to be for folks that want to collaborate. If you pick up this post weeks from now and want to contribute, be my guest. My next reply will hopefully steer us in some creative direction. Or maybe this'll just sit there and collect views. Either way, you read it all the way to the end. So kudos to YOU!

VashalaReturns
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:08 am

Alright. Steering our story along here:

So, our comic series will be a modge podge of characters, weaving a story for each area of the island. Think Game of Thrones meets GTA 3's Liberty City. The first character is someone new to the city, accepting the speedy messenger missions, meeting Cordor people, etc. They have a little mission play out and meet whoever they needed to meet when they arrived. In game of Thrones, George almost *always* makes some sort of reference to a certain area (either obviously or inconspicuously) in the previous chapter, which is a common literary tool. In that sense, each *jump* happens after a character from the previous story makes a reference to an area, or something else that is relevant to the next blip.

These micro blips will spill over into a full scale story that intertwines each main character in some way (just like Game of Thrones. I'm a ThiEVING BaStARD!!).

AND THIS IS WHERE YOU FELLAS AND LADELLAS.... FELLEDALELASS... You know what, I'll get it eventually-- ahem. Where you *people* come in.

I need some ideas. Characters, preferably not your own, or not current ones you play, but characters that REALLY stood out in your mind. Characters that when you think about Arelith, they are the ones you call to. These characters are the ones that I want. I want them to be our foundation for creating the world.

Now, being the forward thinking twit that I am, I can already tell that bringing up characters that have loads of backstory are bound to bring with them a shitload of asshats that hate them. Before we continue, please reference the following:

I. Don't. Give. A. Shite. About. Your. Feelings.

Let me remind you, I'm the guy who is planning on writing and drawing EVERYTHING, so really this will eventually be a creative piece of mine.

YES, it will include credit from EVERYONE THAT CONTRIBUTES if I finish any of it.
YES, it will include stories that "didn't quite play out that way in the game"
YES, it might even include things that never fricking happened. Ever. Because in this version, I'm the DM. The guy who sucked at making stories in the actual game. Like a bus driver who wrecked a taxi and is 'giving this a go'

So nobody panic. Or freak out. Or troll. Because I really don;t have time to figure out how to block people, or move the creative and productive people to another space. That said, you guys generally play nice, so I'm leaving it there.

So:

LETS FOCUS ON OUR NEW ARRIVAL

New Arrival will meet several people, including the commander of the watch, and will be going into the sewers OR the crypts as a mission that involves the person they are sailing to Arelith for. We'll start with figuring out who our new arrival will be. Might even like to do a pair. I want them to have some sort of Arelith specific lore to their character (the Kensai path, the tribesman thing, etc) that makes them unique and a nod to the fantastic modding inside the game that has happened over the years.

So, let's start there and go at it shall we!?!? MAYBE?? .........GO!

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Baron Saturday
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:48 am

So, at least concerning the class of the New Arrival, I'd suggest a Wild Mage, Favoured Soul, or Warlock. Totem druid and Tribal barbarian might be awkward in Cordor's urban setting, and Kensai, well, realistically it'd get to level 5 and be shelved. ;)
Favoured Soul is likely the most flexible - depending on how you want to start the story, you can swap deity around to guide them down the initial, introductory story that you want to tell. Warlock would be potentially interesting if you wanted to explore the evil orgs of the isle, Wildmage would obviously be an easy in to the Tower or Cordor's Circle, but Favoured Soul could really end up anywhere.

For race... what about hin? The small size could emphasize that feeling of intimidation, of being overwhelmed upon very first setting foot in Cordor that I suspect we all felt when we first started. (Heck, I still feel it, each time I roll up a new character...)
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VashalaReturns
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Mon Oct 31, 2016 9:34 am

I can see Favored Soul doing a fair bit! Might even do a Favored Soul and a warlock (the warlock's powers are secret to the FavSoul and they are non-combatant allies all the same) That way the first story can really have both good and evil aligned represented, and later on the warlock can discover the seedy sides of town. I like that!

Not sure about race yet though. I might wait on the hin til Brogenstein or even have a hero coming up from living in Burrowhome as an island native.

Keep the ideas coming, though! Who should be in the guard? Any awesome characters someone would like to nominate as captain/corporal/private/commander?

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Baron Saturday
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Baron Saturday » Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:19 pm

To me, the iconic Commander has gotta be Laura Sinclair. I also have an absurd fondness for Justian Fearshald as the most overqualified Private ever.

Beyond those two, I haven't really had enough dealings with Cordor's guard to offer any suggestions.
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Durvayas
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Durvayas » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:19 pm

Might be helpful to decide the main character's alignment and goals and go from there; Focus why they came to arelith in the first place, and then how they interact with it.
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Hush
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Hush » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:31 pm

Lemme know if you want some help with clean up or just to help the workload. XD I think it'd be fun to help work on an arelith comic.


Also there are some characters that have stood out to me over the years that I've seen played.
I have no idea if I'm spelling some of these right.
Amadeo pneuma.
Vivian Lachance/avaline sulivan.
Marcello Vhammos.
Euclio Cartan (Man thats a name I haven't heard about in forever)
Arytiss.
Zeshyr.
Morgan (the infernalist).
Minerva tengale (The old wharftown mayor).
Toad.
Fenix the Hiver.
Ann thrule.
Thomas Monteverde (priest of Velsharoon)
Laura Sinclair.
ugh I cant remember her name but Castillian's sister.
Alphellius.
Annette.
Stath.
Salindra.
What was her name. The matron of the Xunviir house? When it was first started.
Yazdia (sp?)
Yniah (UD druid)

Just to name a few. I didn't read the whole post but the one I did read said you wanted some ideas?

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by BlackVelvetBand » Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:13 pm

I believe you mean Camillia Castillian, the Don herself. Quirrova is the name of the first Xun'viir matron.
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Kalimere
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Kalimere » Tue Nov 01, 2016 1:08 am

My suggestion is thus. Dont put characters on the server into your series. Give yourself complete creative control over the people you create, their personalities, their history, querks, shortcomings, things like that. I wrote a few Arelith short stories with characters I knew in it, and even with only using characters I knew well, I still couldnt fully grasp how they would react to certain situations and things they would say so it was easier to create my own characters. It might be neat for like the few occasional very well known characters to make cameos and such, like as mentioned above, having Amadeo Pneuma or some other old and very well known character in there, with a little help from that characters player to aid in their involvement in your story.
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by gilescorey » Tue Nov 01, 2016 2:11 pm

BlackVelvetBand wrote:I believe you mean Camillia Castillian, the Don herself. Quirrova is the name of the first Xun'viir matron.
Qirrova was Vh'larra's. Vasarra was Xun'viir's.

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Hush
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Hush » Wed Nov 02, 2016 5:31 pm

BlackVelvetBand wrote:I believe you mean Camillia Castillian, the Don herself. Quirrova is the name of the first Xun'viir matron.
Those are exactly the ones I'm talking about. Thanks :)

VashalaReturns
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:15 pm

Good ideas, folks! And Hush, yes. I would love the help. I REALLY would LOVE someone who can do text. If you have a program that can transfer my pictures into some format and then put speech bubbles and things on the picture, you are hired. How's that for a resume?

Has to look comic quality. If you'd like to 'audition' for the text guy/gal, just edit one of my previous submissions. I give you full permission to do so! Or use a picture of your own, or find one online. I'm looking for someone who can figure out how to draw and write their own, OR has a program that they can use.

I will respond to the character ideas in a bit. I'm pressed for time! Thanks, guys!

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Durvayas
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Durvayas » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:57 am

Speech bubbles are easy.

In photoshop; use shapes, use circles and triangles to make the bubbles, then rasterize the shapes and merge those layers to form complete bubbles on a single layer. Then use a stroke modification on that layer to get a thick black line around the outside of the bubble, then type the text in.
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Ambigue
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Ambigue » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:25 pm

Kalimere wrote:My suggestion is thus. Dont put characters on the server into your series. Give yourself complete creative control over the people you create, their personalities, their history, querks, shortcomings, things like that.
100% Agreement. The occasional cameo is fine, but making other people's characters key parts of the story is asking for all kinds of problems. It's easy to misrepresent the character or make other players feel kind of left out because their own characters didn't show up.

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Rodent » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:40 pm

Ambigue wrote:
Kalimere wrote:My suggestion is thus. Dont put characters on the server into your series. Give yourself complete creative control over the people you create, their personalities, their history, querks, shortcomings, things like that.
100% Agreement. The occasional cameo is fine, but making other people's characters key parts of the story is asking for all kinds of problems. It's easy to misrepresent the character or make other players feel kind of left out because their own characters didn't show up.
While this is understandable, do consider that Vashala seems to be angling for an AU approach of sorts, so the characters they choose to employ may also be different. It might even be fun to see someone else's interpretation of your own work, not to mention flattering. If people want to offer their PCs up, why not?

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Ambigue
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Ambigue » Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:49 pm

Rodent wrote:ile this is understandable, do consider that Vashala seems to be angling for an AU approach of sorts, so the characters they choose to employ may also be different. It might even be fun to see someone else's interpretation of your own work, not to mention flattering. If people want to offer their PCs up, why not?
It's not a matter of right or wrong, good writing or bad writing, or anything like that. It is simply about the potential for discord and drama. Writing a story to represent a community is always complicated by what members of the community specifically get represented. It's easiest to fabricate one's own character to handle the narrative heavy-lifting. That said, if it is to be a collaborative effort and all parties are in agreement, then the potential for drama is much reduced.

VashalaReturns
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:24 pm

My thoughts are generally circling the 'inspired by' sort of story. For instance, I know for a fact i will include a character inspired by one I played in 2007 (and thus.... 100 years ago in game? idk). Names may be the only thing that change in most respects.

BUT

I don't want to include a character unless I have had express permission to do so. What you might realize is that it takes an UNGODLY amount of time to draw a picture, let alone a comic series. I'm going to have a great deal of this thing written and probably read by a few trusted allies here, before i put pen to the paper. And before that I'm going to do a great deal of *this* (motions to the screen in an ill-attempt to point to the forum) before writing anything.

Rest assured that a lot of thought will be put into this, a lot of time, effort, and love. I respect this community too much to create a comic that misrepresents it.

NOW,

if someone would like a character of theirs to appear in the piece, OR have ideas that they would like to share, please feel free to continue the discussion AND/OR

Email me! sharvey 88 at gmail [dot] com

My inbox here gets WAY too full WAY too fast and I don't check that as often.

That said I am still recruiting!!!! Hush, you are officially my cleaner. Give me an email and I'll send you a sample page so that I can see what you can do. 'touch up', 'clean up' or even color if you think you're up for it.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have someone who can color my images. Me being color blind. I have no idea how to send separated file types so that my line work separates from the white space, but if someone is willing to put up the gumption to color my work, I'll put in the effort into figuring out how to send onion layers.

WHOS WIT ME

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:35 pm

So to explain a little more about 'server characters' being involved:

I am going to ask the player to do a lot of the heavy lifting before I start writing them in. If they have a strong urge to be in the comic, then I am giving them a chance to do so. If someone gets offended for the mere fact that their character wasn't represented, then they really only need to look to see if they put in the effort to be included in the collaboration. If YOU haven't put in any effort, then you won't be included. Simple as that. If you are nervous that the character will be misrepresented, or that certain plot items will be given away in the comic, then I won't use your character until you are. Simple.

I'm not throwing in cameos for the sake of throwing them in, either. If your character is in the story, I need to know the heavy information about them. Consider how an artist conceptualizes super heroes. Generally it's a team effort, and there are group decisions, but one person ultimately gets handed a story to be the executive on. That's what I'm doing for you guys. You have characters, and awesome dramas. Let me know what they are, and try to incorporate as much as I can into the comic.

That said, most characters will still remain NPCs or support characters that will come and go with the plot tide. The main characters are going to be a mash of so many different things. I'm even toying with the idea that if people want a story told, but don't need it told by 'their character' then the plot will dissolve into one of the main characters and they can enjoy it through a new lens. It's really up to the community on this one, guys!

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Durvayas » Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:43 pm

For the sake of your layers and white space problem, what software are you using for the art?
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Mon Nov 07, 2016 3:15 pm

I use Android/Samsung's "Painter Pro" from the play store, and typically save in a jpeg. I can also save using .psd and I think that saves the layers separate?

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Durvayas » Fri Nov 11, 2016 6:46 am

I don't use that program, so I'm not sure, but It should?
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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by Hush » Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:20 am

VashalaReturns wrote:Good ideas, folks! And Hush, yes. I would love the help. I REALLY would LOVE someone who can do text. If you have a program that can transfer my pictures into some format and then put speech bubbles and things on the picture, you are hired. How's that for a resume?

Has to look comic quality. If you'd like to 'audition' for the text guy/gal, just edit one of my previous submissions. I give you full permission to do so! Or use a picture of your own, or find one online. I'm looking for someone who can figure out how to draw and write their own, OR has a program that they can use.

I will respond to the character ideas in a bit. I'm pressed for time! Thanks, guys!
Yeah I guess I could help out there. I think you can do that in photoshop, which I'll have to redownload.

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:48 pm

I am working on this little by little. I have some concept art that I am fleshing out, along with a little bit of some story arcs. I may be messaging people soon to see if they would like to be included, but here's what I've landed on for a 'main' character.

The main character will be my favorite DnD character: The plot support character!

This is a guy/gal (in this he's a kid) who helps other characters push their plot along, while simultaneously pushing his own story arc little by little. Generally this involves him getting into scraps with enemies of other characters, and settling scores or running along with other characters with the end goal being that the support character realizes their own story and comes into it in the end.

Our story, then:
We've got our little fella (10-12 years old) who's got some family issues. His mom has passed away with some sort of black TB, and his dad has left on a ship to the main land to find a small bit of glory. His dad is, for no better term, a hero. His mom was also. In fact, he came from a short line of heroes, with his grandfather settling in Cordor or Guldorand some time back and making a life on the island while travelling the coasts looking for treasure. His dad followed suit, and he was.... well, supposed to take his place.

The only problem? He's not really.... hero material? He doesn't have a magical bone in his body, is fairly weak, not very smart, and misfortune "always seemed to follow" him around. He's not a socialite, or a good singer, or especially devout either. He's just.... normal. In Arelith, that meant you were below the mark. (think like your adventurer character has a kid and everyone's like 'omg! he's an npc! you gave birth to an npc!!!')

So we find our little guy on the docks of Cordor. The local tradesmen have said that his father's vessel, "The Fighting Flannagan" was spotted just off the coast of (whatever's between Arelith and the mainland) and was to be headed to Cordor some time in the day.

Soon enough he spots the ship.

Boy gets up, excitedly awaiting the barges to carry the travelers aboard (it always bothered me that the large trade galleys could just pull up to Cordor's docks like the water was just THAT deep at the coast, so in Alt-Arelith the ships with deeper hulls cannot dock)

Anyway, boat after boat comes in and his dad isn't on any of them. A close friend is, and informs him that his father's alright, but something..... happened.... and he's not coming home just yet.

So for a while, we pause in our main character's plot while he gets acquainted with the people that spent time with his dad, slowly coming to realize that the late great paladin that left had some deep stuff happened to him.....

and now he's Anti-Paladin. And he's not coming home. (or at least that's what everyone says)

That's the plot so far! I will be messaging people soon. If you think you might be interested in a collaboration, again, please EMAIL me!!!!

sharvey88(@)gmail(dot)com

I check that WAY more often than this.

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Re: COMIC SERIES!?

Post by VashalaReturns » Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:49 pm

I will also share some concepts and first visuals for the editors among you to try and clean or color if you want!

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