Sorcerer's Place NPC in Numenera!

Taluntain · Dec 29, 2014

Remove all ads!
I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts at least on the NPC fate aspect if nothing else - please post what you think about any part of what I posted above!

Blackthorne TA · Dec 30, 2014

I'm fine with what you've chosen above; a gruesome fate would be great in my opinion

Taluntain · Jan 1, 2015

OK, this is what I submitted (400 characters really doesn't allow for much in terms of description so it was a hard compromise what to include):

1) NPC Description: An inquisitive, good-natured bearded man in the prime of his life who seems to be very comfortable with many kinds of weapons in his possession, perhaps even too much so... he carries trinkets and little images from many far-away places that he has visited, happily showing them off to anyone curious about his travels. He lets slip that he is to meet up with a sorcerer to quest for a fabled magic board.

(There's also an additional comments field where I explained who our NPC is supposed to represent and their RL fates. Hopefully the devs will come up with something special for our NPC.)

2) NPC Fate. Would we be OK with our NPC suffering a gruesome fate: Yes, whatever best fits the game

3) NPC Type 1st choice: Explorer

4) NPC Type 2nd choice: Traveler

5) NPC Location: Any

6) NPC Race: Human, non-mutant

Any comments welcome!

Also, we still need to fill out the "Dead Hero" parts I listed above and I welcome any suggestions for that.

Blackthorne TA · Jan 2, 2015

Nobody wants to help? Sheesh.

OK if it's not too late, here's a generic and somewhat cliché poem for an epitaph; feel free to change Blackthorne to any two-syllable name:

Here lies Blackthorne also known as the wise
Adventurer, hero, star on the rise
Roamed through the lands in vagabond guise
To his own and to everyone's surprise
Shot by a poacher through one of his eyes

Taluntain · Jan 2, 2015

Ooh, awesome one.

Actually the Dead Hero part has no deadline yet (the NPC one is still open as well) so anyone can still contribute at this point.

Laclongquan · Jan 7, 2015

Xartik
1) NPC Description :

Quietly watching everything, sometimes mutter to herself, the sorceress Xartik is not some pleasant companion of an evening. Wise comments and practical advices aside, her distracted mutters drew some curious person into eavesdropping, but what she said make no sense and the sayings get wiped out of their curious mind just moments later.

2) NPC Fate. Whatever must fit the game. Going out in a blaze of glory sounds good.

3) NPC Type 1st choice: Explorer?

4) NPC Type 2nd choice: Cultist?

5) NPC Location: Sagus Cliff

6) NPC Race: Human.

7) Art: Sagus Cliff at Dawn

---

1) Dead Hero Name: Xartik the Distracted Sorceress
(Name for the Valley of Dead Heroes.)

2) Dead Hero Epitaph:Alas, her mutters can no longer distract Death and he came for her at first chance.

Taluntain · Jun 30, 2015

Just got this via e-mail, any comments?

Thanks for sending us the details about your NPC, Beltrax. I edited your description and included it below so you can review it. My edits bring things in line not only with style guides for the Torment computer game and the Numenera tabletop game, but also Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) and the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition).

Since the description is what the players will see when they look at the NPC, I focused on the physical parts of the text. For example, the players can't see that he is inquisitive, or that he is searching for a magic board. Those aspects will have to come out in the dialogue provided by the writers.

Any additional comments you made about the NPC have been passed on to the designers to consider when including the character in the game.

If you have any changes to suggest for the edited text below, let me know and I'll be happy to consider them. If you think the text looks good as is, please let me know that, too.

Ray Vallese
Torment: Tides of Numenera editor

CURRENT REVISION:

The bearded man in the prime of his life has a kind expression and seems to be very comfortable with the many kinds of weapons in his possession—perhaps a little too comfortable. He also carries trinkets and little images from many strange places and displays them eagerly, as if waiting to be asked about them.
Click to expand...

Blackthorne TA · Jul 1, 2015

Seems close enough to your original.

Old One · Jul 1, 2015

I like the way this is going. Now I really want to see the game.

Taluntain · Jul 1, 2015

I was assured that what was cut from the description would be conveyed via dialogue, so it should be all good.

Taluntain · Jul 2, 2015

I haven't had the chance to read and think about this much yet, but I wanted to run it by you guys and hear what you think before I reply:

[...] I'm Adam Heine, the Design Lead for Torment. I've got a placement idea for Beltrax that I wanted to run past you. I think it could be good, but it doesn't 100% fit the information you gave us, and I know that Beltrax (or rather Kitrax and Sir Belisarius, whom Beltrax is memorializing) is very important to you, so I want to make sure before I commit the design.

We have a group of people in the Valley of Dead Heroes called the Memorialists described here: "The Memorialists believe the Ninth World is the afterlife, and the tombs in the Valley of Dead Heroes are the graves of everyone “alive” today. They seek to maintain the graves so that no name is forgotten, and no monument is lost. If everyone was to “remember themselves” by finding the grave that was their own, then the Ninth World would become the paradise that the afterlife was meant to be. But if everyone forgets, the Ninth World will become a Hell. (Many Memorialists think they have discovered the ancient hero that they were in life, and they take particular care with that grave.)

The Memorialists dwell in the Valley of Dead Heroes and tend to the graves and tombs as best they can, though their numbers (never large) are diminishing. They fear that the graves will ultimately be abandoned and forgotten, and all hope for the Ninth World will be lost."

My thought for Beltrax was that, assuming the player asks him about himself, he will mention that he came to the Valley to meet up with a sorcerer to quest for a fabled magic board. He's still waiting for that sorceror (possibly for months, or years?), and in so doing came across the Memorialists. He became fascinated with the idea that this is the afterlife, and the names of the dead are actually the names of the living, so he joined up with them to learn from them while he waited.

That's just my initial thought. The Memorialist concept felt like an interesting way to touch on the deaths of your friends and the concept of death altogether, though I admit it might be a bit cross-purposes with the idea of Beltrax as an Explorer/Traveler.

How would you feel about that? Would it be doing your friends a service or a disservice? Or if making him an actual Memorialist is too much, how would you feel about him being an explorer who just happens to be with the Memorialists -- learning from them, perhaps, but not an official part of their faction?

(Side note: I don't know whether Kitrax and Sir Belisarius are also named as part of the "Be Dead and Remembered" reward -- or the name Beltrax itself -- but if they are, it might be cool to mention that in Beltrax's conversation as well: perhaps that's where the Beltrax NPC took his name from, because he found what he believes is his own grave.)

If the whole idea feels off to you, that's okay. Just let me know :-)

I'm happy to hear any additional ideas you have along these lines as well. Thanks for your time and your contribution to Torment!

-- Adam Heine
Click to expand...

dmc · Jul 2, 2015

Seems a little morbid to me. I would think we would want our representative character to be like Kit and Bel were on the boards, and the Memorialists seem more like a death cult based on the brief description. YMMV.

Blackthorne TA · Jul 2, 2015

I kind of like the idea of Beltrax at least being with the Memorialists; it seems appropriate for a memorial.

I think it would be difficult to have Beltrax represent what Bel and Kitrax were like because the two of them were very different people.

I'm not sure I'd want Beltrax to be part of the Memorialists (they seem like a crazy bunch; and neither Bel nor Kitrax were crazy like that ), but to be interested in what they believe as he's waiting to continue his next adventure? I like the idea.

Taluntain · Jul 3, 2015

Agreed, I'll let Adam know.

Blades of Vanatar · Jul 4, 2015

You guys actually went with my Beltrax suggestion for a name???? Wow! Reading this thread just (as my five yr old likes to say when she feels giggly)" made my tummy tickle ". There have been times when I felt I have put my foot in my mouth over the years. This definitely helps balance the scales. Thanks guys!

Taluntain · Jul 4, 2015

Any time.

Go this back from Adam: "I won't make him a Memorialist then, but he will be with the Memorialists when the player meets him, while he's waiting for his next adventure. Thank you!"

Taluntain · Mar 19, 2017

Anyone found Beltrax in the game?

Also, I've spotted this in the backer portal:

Valley of Dead Heroes
Enter the following code into the Valley of Dead Heroes' terminal to find your personal in-game tomb.

3-2-2-4

So this should highlight (?) BTA's in-game grave.

xosmi · Mar 19, 2017

Taluntain said: ↑

Anyone found Beltrax in the game?

Also, I've spotted this in the backer portal:

Valley of Dead Heroes
Enter the following code into the Valley of Dead Heroes' terminal to find your personal in-game tomb.

3-2-2-4

So this should highlight (?) BTA's in-game grave.
Click to expand...

You find beltrax upon the beginning of the second 'chapter' of the story :

This is what you find if you go to the tomb corresponding with the code 3-2-2-4 :

Log in or Sign up

Sorcerer's Place NPC in Numenera!

Laclongquan Gems: 5/31
Latest gem: Andar

Veteran

dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

xosmi Gems: 20/31
Latest gem: Garnet

Resourceful Adored Veteran

Log in or Sign up

Sorcerer's Place NPC in Numenera!

Laclongquan Gems: 5/31Latest gem: Andar Veteran

dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

Blades of Vanatar Vanatar will rise again Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

xosmi Gems: 20/31Latest gem: Garnet Resourceful Adored Veteran

Laclongquan Gems: 5/31
Latest gem: Andar

Veteran

xosmi Gems: 20/31
Latest gem: Garnet

Resourceful Adored Veteran