RPG style story

[Thagrahn]

Decided to try my skills with writing by doing one that has more of a feeling of an RPG. Haven't really gotten that far, add deciding what details to include in the description of each place for now.

The stating setup of the journey is taking shape as a simple set of basic choices, but my mind has not yet really formed much of an image of what the starting area really looks like.

https://aryion.com/iss/page.php?story=560&page=1

Hre is the link so that it can be reviewed for those that wish to help develop it some more.

[Thagrahn]

I have the warrior ready to leave the village, and will need to figure out three encounters for her. The mage and healer will likely have the same starting village as the warrior, but will need their own set of pages since they have different abilities to put into play during their encounters.

What would be some good things to use for the first encounters?

[Battalia]

I took a quick look. While interesting, I think you are going to run into problems of over-complication. Numbers and stats are great... for when you don't have pre-determined encounters. For example, video games, or D&D. With an interactive story, whether you tell me my warrior killed an orc, or whether you compare my strength to theirs and tell me I won because of my stats... It's the exact same. I can't sit and grind in an interactive. I can't go and buy something with my hard earned gold.

So while you have a decent start, I would advise that you lose the illusion of free will as you will only start many branching paths that you will never finish, or write yourself out of the project. Instead, focus on the actual characters and their interactions. What do they look like? What is their general attitude? What makes them different from the others? What is their Likes? Dislikes? etc, then try writing them into situations. Give the reader choices in how to proceed, and have the characters fail and succede on their own merit. For example, a wild snake appears! If the warrior lures it into a lake, he/she will get quickly chommped. But if the mage does it, he can freeze the water and dispatch the snake with ease. On the flip side, if the warrior fights the snake around some stalagmites, he can limit the snakes lunging and effectivly flank it, but the mage has line of sight issues and before long is tightly coiled around a stalagmite and turned into a magic flavoured popsicle for the snake.

In that way, you can still move the story forward without an infinite branching problem, and still have detail about whats going on. Because "The snake ate you" simply isn't as sexy as "the snakes lips struggled up Svana's breasts, forcing it's jaw open even further as it forced one, then the other down it's gullet while her muffled cries grew quieter in it's taught throat."

But my two cent's, take it for what it's worth. Keep on with the story, and don't give up!

[Thagrahn]

Actually, the stats are a guide post to figuring out the difference in the main characters' personalities and weaknesses.

Haven't been able to really see the different characters yet, which is one reason that there are no names yet. Trying to focus on just the warrior for the first writing so I can develop each character more as I get to know them and their choices.

[LightningLord2]

You need a different medium to squeeze this interactive into - given how many choices you'll have with things like combat actions and advancement, the first quest alone could explode into thousands of pages. Putting that stuff into Quest or another storytelling medium would save you a lot of hassle.

[Thagrahn]

Got a little more done, and the warrior is developing some personality. Will have to add a couple more pages to give the fight some choices.

Still not sure about other possible choices for the encounter.

Will need to figure out how the town quest and choices could be set up to see if I do need to switch the way I am building this.

[Thagrahn]

First of the encounters complete for the warrior, and it event includes a treat.

Still want to make other encounter choices, but not sure what to include yet.

[Thagrahn]

Second choice for the first encounter, and first of the "Bad" endings.

Could use some suggestions on other choices for the owlbear encounter, and also suggestions for the third encounter choice.

No paths that add a partner yet, and the two current choices are combat oriented.

[Thagrahn]

Getting started figuring out the Healer, and opened up a couple pages on the warrior path for a few suggestion.

Unfortunately, My mind seems to want to jump around and it takes me some time to figure out who each character is, and what to use as encounters.

I would appreciate PMs about comments on the story so far, suggestions for encounters, and tips for how to make the transitions through the encounter smoother.

[Thagrahn]

The warrior now has two paths that get them from the village to town. Also some brutal endings already.

Had to clean up some of the work others added, but could see a lot of potential in some of it.

The healer has been give the choice of risking the road or getting guidance. The choice taken affects the encounter (or lack of) the healer has getting to town.

The town is where I want the story to really fan out with options and endings. Good and bad endings should start to develop, and an option to get a companion may be possible.

[Thagrahn]

55 pages in, and the healer and warrior have two paths that bring them to the town gates to start the next round of quests.

Unfortunately, the mage/bard has not been started yet.

Since thing are going to have one more convergence with getting the gear upgraded, things shouldn't fan out to much yet.

[Thagrahn]

Starting work on the bard, and set up to give you a glimps of what is to come for the adventurers in town.

Not freeing up any additional pages yet, but here is a breakdown of how the stats work for the classes, and why custom classes should try to follow closely.

1 : Bad : 20 percent chance of success with related choices.
2 : Poor : 35 percent chance.
3 : Average: 50 percent chance.
4 : Good : 65 percent chance.
5 : Great : 80 percent chance.
6 : Legendary: 95 percent chance.

A character's chance of success should be balance against the total number of choices that have been based off a skill with that stat. This means that sometimes a character bad in a stat should succeed, and a character great or legendary should suffer failure.

Weaknesses add flavor to the character and can cause them to make bad choices, or get over-confident in their ability.

[Thagrahn]

Once again opening up a couple pages for others to take part in the story telling.

On a Wing quest, and the Sewer Secrets quest for the warrior have been opened for other's to try their hand at.

Each quest has a brief quest description, and success routes shoul link to a new trio of jobs on the job board. Remember, the story does allow the use of link loops, and the storyline is supposed to reconverge after the second set of jobs with the warrior getting her upgraded gear.

[Thagrahn]

Since there in no direct feedback system for the interactive stories, I'm adding a short term poll to see what readers think.