Forums » Elder Scrolls

Character "Snapshots"

    • 490 posts
    March 21, 2016 5:55 PM EDT

    Hey everyone,

    Just to brainstorm a bit and to express some thoughts:

    I have made a ton of builds and I still love making characters ... I just don't want to type up the long, somewhat drawn out essays to go along with them. The CB group is absolutely amazing at what they do and their standards are where the hosts want them to be. It might be a little bit more approachable to sharing a character through a shorter, more succinct process.

    Would any of you agree that some sort of "character snapshot" could work as a way to get more players to share their characters? We could do this through CB, but it wouldn't really be considered building nor would it be considered RP. This could just be a short pic, skill list, race, and SHORT description of how you play the character.

    I really enjoyed Mason or whoever came up with the little dot/stat cards so to speak. That may be artistically a huge stretch for some people. It could be as simple as this:

    _______________________________________________________________

    The Necromancer

    Name: Dren Marius

    Class: Imperial Necromancer/Conjurer

    Skills: Illusion, Conjuration, Alchemy, and Sneak

    Gameplay: 

    Dren is always in search of more power. Slaying foes from the shadows, Dren confuses and dismays his enemies to slay each other only to raise them to fight and cause more bloodshed.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Not sure if this is something we could promote? I have done builds, started the idea of RP profiles, but both are a lot of work for one character. This could be for people who want to share their characters without having it be a shit ton of work?

    Let me know what you guys and gals think. I am hoping to keep brainstorming ideas for more content that EVERYONE can contribute. These would be SUPER easy to feature on the main page because no one would have to click anything to see the entire presentation. It would be able to fit at the top and everyone would literally see the whole character snapshot all at once.

    This could work for ALL games so to speak and be a universal approach to sharing characters in any RPG or game we decide to add or not add.

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 7:09 PM EDT

    Love it, like a McProfile/McBuild. It represents a small piece of creativity which literally anyone can do without fear of getting wrong. Banging idea, Henson

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 7:12 PM EDT
    So a behind the scenes look at the character behind the build? I love it.
    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:24 PM EDT

    I admit I've always wanted to see a thread like this pop up, yet I've always been hesitant to start one on my own. I'm a bit hesitant to share my "McProfiles"  though. My name choices are less than lore friendly and I'm pretty sure if I rabble on for more than a paragraph Im bound to contradict the lore somewhere. 

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:35 PM EDT

    I think that's what is so good about this idea - there is literally no reason to be afraid of lore contradictions. These could potentially act as little pieces of inspiration, the building blocks of something bigger. People could take what they like (with the author's permission I guess) and maybe mash a few together. At the very worst and someone does come along and say, "well actually..." then it is a discussion point that will promote Henson's idea even further.

    The real gold is that they are small pieces of inspiration, like leaves on the wind for people to grab. Lore accuracy is overrated, lore interpretation - the emotional connection the setting inspires in people - is what should be important.

    In a build I think you sort of expect to see research and the presented character's place in the setting. A build represents the tree of TES with branches or RP, Lore, Art and T&T. Whereas this is the seeds or the saplings.  Man, I think I'm turning into a freakin Bosmer.

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:40 PM EDT

    Ok you convinced me Phil 

    So what build do you wanna see first?

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:42 PM EDT

    Whatever you feel inspired to share right now, what resonates inside you as you think about condensing the build and character down into a snapshot.

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:48 PM EDT

    Cmon Phil. Humor me. Pick your favorite from my list. 

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:51 PM EDT

    Alright but I am biased because I played it and loved it. The Skaal Crusader! Is that ok? Or would you prefer one that isn't a collab?

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 8:53 PM EDT

    Good enough for me. I'll get right on it. 

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 9:52 PM EDT

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Skaal Crusader

    Name: Unknown

    Class: Skaal Shaman/Warrior, Legendary Hero of the Skaal

    Skills: Two-Handed Swordsmanship, Smithing, Heavy Armor & Block Training, Alteration, Destruction, Alchemy 

    Snapshot: 

    When the people of the Skaal cry out to their maker for salvation, their prayers are answered - The Skaal Crusader is that answer. It is unknown who inhabits the armor of the people and wields the great Skaal swords of legend, but none can deny that the legend is real and walks among the people. 

    Gameplay: 

    The Skaal Crusader's fighting style is the embodiment of what it means to be one with the land and all that the All-Maker has created. The Skaal Crusader bears both the Blood Skaal Blade and the Stormfang - Powerful gifts bestowed upon him by the All-Maker. With the Blood-Skaal Blade in tow, enemies bear witness to the full force and fury of a Skaal warrior, and through the Stormfang they are reduced to smoldering ash by the full wrath and power of the All-Maker. 

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    • 490 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:08 PM EDT
    Yes!
    • 189 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:18 PM EDT

    love this idea. I find myself having ideas for builds/characters but not enough time to invest in a full play test or write up something full. And I'm not experienced enough with RP profiles to put something like that together. I love the idea of combining the two into a sort of abstract or, as you say, snapshot. Enough to give people the basic concept of a character, maybe even to let them try playing it (if it's a build). But keep it short, keep it simple. I could absolutely get behind this! I've already got a few screenshots I've been wanting to use for something along these lines if I ever got the opportunity.... 

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:25 PM EDT

    Awesome Curse!  Ahh, the memories.

    • 490 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:27 PM EDT
    Thanks man. Trying to think where these could be "housed" since they aren't really builds or too RP heavy.
    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:40 PM EDT

    Either here or the CB group maybe

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:40 PM EDT

    If there are any more you'd like to see let me know. This is actually a lot of fun. 

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:42 PM EDT

    Maybe worth cutting Legion and seeing what our RP host thinks? This is a real crossover so who wants to manage and promote it more?

    • 1595 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:46 PM EDT

    The King of Worms. Everyone is inspired by Mannimarco and a nice homage to The Necromancer in Henson's OP...?

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 10:50 PM EDT

    Oh I so want to do this, but Im working on improving the character art as we speak. Perhaps this weekend. 

    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 11:00 PM EDT

    You know what, you're right. Legion ought to love this idea. 

    • 700 posts
    March 21, 2016 11:01 PM EDT

    I haven't yet commented here properly, but I do fully support this idea. I'm all for easing entry and giving people a simple way to share characters. Honestly, I think it can stay here since it splits CB and RP pretty evenly. I'll gladly advertise this on the front page of RP to direct traffic, and that's probably the best we can do for it. 

    • 490 posts
    March 21, 2016 11:04 PM EDT
    I thought this might also be a good gateway into bigger works. If someone posts a cool snapshot, people could be encouraging to have that person post more.
    • 485 posts
    March 21, 2016 11:07 PM EDT

    This could be the start of a beautiful relationship between CB and RP 

    • 700 posts
    March 21, 2016 11:14 PM EDT

    True! Hell, I see this being a huge boon to people of all levels of experience. 

    I do have a question, though. If we decide that this stays here, are you going to include all the new snapshots in the OP? Or are they going to be left in the comments? I only ask because I do see this blowing up to the point where moving it to a group with proper categorization will be necessary, and it's not really fair of us to expect you to update constantly, or expect people to fish through comments.

    Once this gets up to the double digits, the middle pages more or less get lost to time. I think it would be worth discussing how we would categorize these and which group would house them.