Lace & Steel is over now
Aug. 19th, 2006 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nishatalithaIt's ten past eleven, and I haven't updated for about two weeks, so I shall ramble. There will be much on roleplaying; read or do not read as you please.
Lace & Steel finished last Monday. At the beginning of the game, the various party members who were unconscious woke up in their own beds in the ducal palace in Liauren. Sebastian had to get ready for his wedding, and Isthian was informed that not only was Talos dead (yay!) and she exonerated, but that Robert was possibly dying in his room in the palace. Dominici, while gravely wounded, was going to survive, and the sound that could be heard outside was the sound of cannons shelling the city; the forces from House Howdrick had arrived.
Sebastian found out that the widowed dowager Baroness Sophi de Miranda was actually the real Sebastian's sister and was going to allow the deception to continue if he told her what happened to her brother. She was none too fond of the Baron, either.
Isthian went straight to Robert's room in her nightgown and voluminous bathrobe, and then, in a touchingly romantic scene, married him then and there, the bishop who almost married them previously presiding, with the doctor and Gwen in attendence. Ines slipped in at some point with Isthian's stepsons, and this time, there were no objections. It amuses me that her complete name ended up as: Lady Isthian Bellhaven Lauderdale de Rabbanis.
Sebastian went to get married to Ines. Dominici went along as Sebastian's best man, in place of the unconscious Robert. Esmerelda was eventually roped in to search for assassins. She took out several (some with a cherry bomb, even). Then Casimir, lover to the late Dame Phillipa, turned up, and they fought on the balcony as House Howdrick shelled the cathedral, and Sebastian tried to hurry the Bishop.
Vivek turned up at Robert's apartments and more or less seconded Isthian to sort things out after the House of Doors made an arrest. Isthian, being tired, hurt, and more than somewhat stressed, was quite sharp with the remaining generals of the army. Fortunately, this seemed to be the right tack to take, and Howdrick agreed to stop shelling.
Esmerelda was caught by Casimir as she'd just lit a cherry bomb. Casimir's body sheltered Esmerelda from most of the blast of the bomb as the bishop presented the Baron and Baroness de Miranda. Turns out that Ines' inheritance was the Water of Life, over in the far off Western Isles, and well, yes, I can see why people would pay a lot for it.
Then the game ended, with two characters married to different NPCs, one character still a wanted criminal, and presumably planning to leave for Welftland at some point, to find her love, Klaus Kriger. Dominici was probably going to become a trusted family retainer to Ines' household. Ines was going to use the Water of Life as a political bargaining tool. I would hope that Sebastian could stay out of trouble, and live a long and happy life with her. Isthian is planning to settle down with Robert, and not sponsor any more charmingly wilful young women at Court, a somewhat more liberated woman than many of those at Court, and eventually, I suppose, have children.
For the most part, I'm happy with how I played Isthian. I found it very easy to slip into her character, and as such, I think I designed her well. I kept in mind the limitations of her sex and her class, and I think I played that well enough that some of the concepts about the status of seventeenth century women were automatic in the background of the game, and I think that is a success. Finally, reading many historical romances came in handy. Admittedly, the Restoration time period isn't one I know well (or not so well as the Regency), but I do know the general class restrictions well enough to play them without thinking, and that came across. At one point Isthian was paying all the other pcs a decent some of money. The guys got theirs with no strings attached. Esmerelda had trustees and condidtions hedged around it. I didn't think twice about writing it as such. Isthian wouldn't have even thought about it at all. And I tried to make Isthian a slightly atypical woman of her class. Atypical because Lord Kirkbolton encouraged her in a field of study, and espected to learn.
Another thing I think I did well with Isthian is that she changed over the course of the game; she grew and developed as a character, and yet, unlike some others that I've played, I could still see her origins in the character history that I wrote for her last October. Apart from some small changes I made in how I played her in the very first session, so the party would mostly work together, and not against each other, there isn't one point I can point to and say that is where the change in her occurred. It was an ongoing process, and I'm pleased with that aspect of it.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mashugenah said something about Ivan being interested in who a character is as a part of the game, and from that aspect, Isthian and I and the game all suited each other very well.
The biggest limitation I found with Isthian was the difference between character knowledge and abilities and player knowledge and abilities. I'm not terribly good at politics, unless it's from a very historical perspective, and Isthian grew up on social politics, and had been working with social politics and some political politics as Lady Kirkbolton for the past decade or so. I don't have those skills, and if I did, I might have been able to work out some things more easily... but that's a what-if, and you can't really count them. I tend to be too trusting as a player, I find, and that shows through in my characters. Isthianwas is a very complex person, and I may have written aspects, particularly the political aspects, as more complicated than I could deal with when they were focussed on. Of course, I wasn't expecting Isthian to be a focus of the main plot...
I talk about my characters wandering around in my head, going into different stories, and wanting know if they're there, when they were here, what happens then. And Isthian is sort of doing that. She wants to know what happens next, after Roberts married. Do they go back to Parvek and Court? Does Ines convince Isthian to act as an agent of sorts for her in the capital? Do they have children? Is her reputation in Parvek completely and utterly ruined?
...I don't know.
By contrast, Earthdawn will be wrapping up sooner than expected, as we took the the Great Hero route, as opposed to the ordinary hero route. As a player, I would have liked for it to be the longer game, but I can't see any way that Maree would have chosen the not to play the game. I'll see how much longer the GM expects it to run on Tuesday, and maybe then I'll start hunting for a new game.
For some reason, the current character who is more or less politely suggesting that I play him, is a guy named Frances or Jason or something like that (and this after seeing the troubles Mash had playing Esmerelda and more or less deciding that unless I really needed to and it would really make a difference not to cross gender game again), who is the crazy obsessive true believer type priest. Of course, whether or not he actually gets played will depend on the game and who offers themself as a character when the time comes. But Jason (I'm fairly sure that's his name) would really like to be played. It would be even better for him if the one he served was real and interactive in the world the game is set in. I'll see what happens.
I think a random dude tried to pick me up at the busstop after work drinks on Friday night. I have to admit, this was when I was waiting for the 8.20pm bus, and I was more than slightly inebriated, thanks to the above work drinks, and quite a few glasses of a very nice sav. So he introduced himself, and I introduced myself, and because I was didn't feel like reading on the bus, we chatted until he got off at Kelburn. I mentioned roleplaying as a deterrant see-what-you-make-of-this kinda thing, and he said he used to roleplay, so I mentioned Kapcon and NZRag, and talked a lot about writing LARPS. I think I scared the crazy downstairs neighbour lady who was sitting behind me on the bus, though. For some reason, I can't bring myself to care.
I have Pear, Cardamon and Sultana cake in the oven. It is my entry for the Bake-Off at work, and while I'm sure it will turn out really well, and look great, and all that, I'm also starting to angst about whether or not it will turn out well enough, and maybe I should have tried doing minature fruit pies instead or mocha cupcakes instead or something. It should be cooked soon, then I glaze it with honey, wait twenty minutes, take it out of the tin, set it to cool, and then I can go to bed.
When I've been home today, until I finished it, I've been reading Two Household IV by MadMartha, a Harry/Ron novel length fic. It's very good, very well written, not very smutty, but the main thing I really like about this series is the way that she expands on wizarding culture in a way that I don't know if JK would like, but that kinda fits in with what I understand of social history in the upper classes, and from what I understand of general wizarding behaviour. It's beautifully written, and most of the traditions make sense, and not always in a these-wizards-are-crazy sort of way.
When it comes to reading fic, I talk a lot about the slash, and about the smut, and the porn, and yet, those things aren't what I primarily read fic for. I read a lot of fic for the same things that I seek in published novels - good editing, writing, good plot, length. Perferably in that combination. I've just found, and this is probably thanks to HP being my first major fandom, that it's a lot harder to find all of the above in het fics. You have to search through a lot more dross to get something mildly entertaining. And dammit, if I've read through a characters torturous relationship, then I want to get the smut payout at the end. I'm a sucker for angst with a happy ending. I like happily ever afters, even if they're completely unrealistic.
...I might go and reread The God-Eaters, which isn't fanfiction, but is really really good, and I read it for the plot and the writing more than anything. One day, I might get it printed out and bound.
Lace & Steel finished last Monday. At the beginning of the game, the various party members who were unconscious woke up in their own beds in the ducal palace in Liauren. Sebastian had to get ready for his wedding, and Isthian was informed that not only was Talos dead (yay!) and she exonerated, but that Robert was possibly dying in his room in the palace. Dominici, while gravely wounded, was going to survive, and the sound that could be heard outside was the sound of cannons shelling the city; the forces from House Howdrick had arrived.
Sebastian found out that the widowed dowager Baroness Sophi de Miranda was actually the real Sebastian's sister and was going to allow the deception to continue if he told her what happened to her brother. She was none too fond of the Baron, either.
Isthian went straight to Robert's room in her nightgown and voluminous bathrobe, and then, in a touchingly romantic scene, married him then and there, the bishop who almost married them previously presiding, with the doctor and Gwen in attendence. Ines slipped in at some point with Isthian's stepsons, and this time, there were no objections. It amuses me that her complete name ended up as: Lady Isthian Bellhaven Lauderdale de Rabbanis.
Sebastian went to get married to Ines. Dominici went along as Sebastian's best man, in place of the unconscious Robert. Esmerelda was eventually roped in to search for assassins. She took out several (some with a cherry bomb, even). Then Casimir, lover to the late Dame Phillipa, turned up, and they fought on the balcony as House Howdrick shelled the cathedral, and Sebastian tried to hurry the Bishop.
Vivek turned up at Robert's apartments and more or less seconded Isthian to sort things out after the House of Doors made an arrest. Isthian, being tired, hurt, and more than somewhat stressed, was quite sharp with the remaining generals of the army. Fortunately, this seemed to be the right tack to take, and Howdrick agreed to stop shelling.
Esmerelda was caught by Casimir as she'd just lit a cherry bomb. Casimir's body sheltered Esmerelda from most of the blast of the bomb as the bishop presented the Baron and Baroness de Miranda. Turns out that Ines' inheritance was the Water of Life, over in the far off Western Isles, and well, yes, I can see why people would pay a lot for it.
Then the game ended, with two characters married to different NPCs, one character still a wanted criminal, and presumably planning to leave for Welftland at some point, to find her love, Klaus Kriger. Dominici was probably going to become a trusted family retainer to Ines' household. Ines was going to use the Water of Life as a political bargaining tool. I would hope that Sebastian could stay out of trouble, and live a long and happy life with her. Isthian is planning to settle down with Robert, and not sponsor any more charmingly wilful young women at Court, a somewhat more liberated woman than many of those at Court, and eventually, I suppose, have children.
For the most part, I'm happy with how I played Isthian. I found it very easy to slip into her character, and as such, I think I designed her well. I kept in mind the limitations of her sex and her class, and I think I played that well enough that some of the concepts about the status of seventeenth century women were automatic in the background of the game, and I think that is a success. Finally, reading many historical romances came in handy. Admittedly, the Restoration time period isn't one I know well (or not so well as the Regency), but I do know the general class restrictions well enough to play them without thinking, and that came across. At one point Isthian was paying all the other pcs a decent some of money. The guys got theirs with no strings attached. Esmerelda had trustees and condidtions hedged around it. I didn't think twice about writing it as such. Isthian wouldn't have even thought about it at all. And I tried to make Isthian a slightly atypical woman of her class. Atypical because Lord Kirkbolton encouraged her in a field of study, and espected to learn.
Another thing I think I did well with Isthian is that she changed over the course of the game; she grew and developed as a character, and yet, unlike some others that I've played, I could still see her origins in the character history that I wrote for her last October. Apart from some small changes I made in how I played her in the very first session, so the party would mostly work together, and not against each other, there isn't one point I can point to and say that is where the change in her occurred. It was an ongoing process, and I'm pleased with that aspect of it.
mashugenah said something about Ivan being interested in who a character is as a part of the game, and from that aspect, Isthian and I and the game all suited each other very well. The biggest limitation I found with Isthian was the difference between character knowledge and abilities and player knowledge and abilities. I'm not terribly good at politics, unless it's from a very historical perspective, and Isthian grew up on social politics, and had been working with social politics and some political politics as Lady Kirkbolton for the past decade or so. I don't have those skills, and if I did, I might have been able to work out some things more easily... but that's a what-if, and you can't really count them. I tend to be too trusting as a player, I find, and that shows through in my characters. Isthian
I talk about my characters wandering around in my head, going into different stories, and wanting know if they're there, when they were here, what happens then. And Isthian is sort of doing that. She wants to know what happens next, after Roberts married. Do they go back to Parvek and Court? Does Ines convince Isthian to act as an agent of sorts for her in the capital? Do they have children? Is her reputation in Parvek completely and utterly ruined?
...I don't know.
By contrast, Earthdawn will be wrapping up sooner than expected, as we took the the Great Hero route, as opposed to the ordinary hero route. As a player, I would have liked for it to be the longer game, but I can't see any way that Maree would have chosen the not to play the game. I'll see how much longer the GM expects it to run on Tuesday, and maybe then I'll start hunting for a new game.
For some reason, the current character who is more or less politely suggesting that I play him, is a guy named Frances or Jason or something like that (and this after seeing the troubles Mash had playing Esmerelda and more or less deciding that unless I really needed to and it would really make a difference not to cross gender game again), who is the crazy obsessive true believer type priest. Of course, whether or not he actually gets played will depend on the game and who offers themself as a character when the time comes. But Jason (I'm fairly sure that's his name) would really like to be played. It would be even better for him if the one he served was real and interactive in the world the game is set in. I'll see what happens.
I think a random dude tried to pick me up at the busstop after work drinks on Friday night. I have to admit, this was when I was waiting for the 8.20pm bus, and I was more than slightly inebriated, thanks to the above work drinks, and quite a few glasses of a very nice sav. So he introduced himself, and I introduced myself, and because I was didn't feel like reading on the bus, we chatted until he got off at Kelburn. I mentioned roleplaying as a deterrant see-what-you-make-of-this kinda thing, and he said he used to roleplay, so I mentioned Kapcon and NZRag, and talked a lot about writing LARPS. I think I scared the crazy downstairs neighbour lady who was sitting behind me on the bus, though. For some reason, I can't bring myself to care.
I have Pear, Cardamon and Sultana cake in the oven. It is my entry for the Bake-Off at work, and while I'm sure it will turn out really well, and look great, and all that, I'm also starting to angst about whether or not it will turn out well enough, and maybe I should have tried doing minature fruit pies instead or mocha cupcakes instead or something. It should be cooked soon, then I glaze it with honey, wait twenty minutes, take it out of the tin, set it to cool, and then I can go to bed.
When I've been home today, until I finished it, I've been reading Two Household IV by MadMartha, a Harry/Ron novel length fic. It's very good, very well written, not very smutty, but the main thing I really like about this series is the way that she expands on wizarding culture in a way that I don't know if JK would like, but that kinda fits in with what I understand of social history in the upper classes, and from what I understand of general wizarding behaviour. It's beautifully written, and most of the traditions make sense, and not always in a these-wizards-are-crazy sort of way.
When it comes to reading fic, I talk a lot about the slash, and about the smut, and the porn, and yet, those things aren't what I primarily read fic for. I read a lot of fic for the same things that I seek in published novels - good editing, writing, good plot, length. Perferably in that combination. I've just found, and this is probably thanks to HP being my first major fandom, that it's a lot harder to find all of the above in het fics. You have to search through a lot more dross to get something mildly entertaining. And dammit, if I've read through a characters torturous relationship, then I want to get the smut payout at the end. I'm a sucker for angst with a happy ending. I like happily ever afters, even if they're completely unrealistic.
...I might go and reread The God-Eaters, which isn't fanfiction, but is really really good, and I read it for the plot and the writing more than anything. One day, I might get it printed out and bound.
