[RFC] Help needed with World Building in Massive Multi-Crossover - Printable Version +- Drunkard's Walk Forums (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums) +-- Forum: General (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=1) +--- Forum: Other People's Fanfiction (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=8) +---- Forum: Hangar 13 (http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=36) +---- Thread: [RFC] Help needed with World Building in Massive Multi-Crossover (/showthread.php?tid=8545) |
[RFC] Help needed with World Building in Massive Multi-Crossover - Black Aeronaut - 08-29-2016 Hey guys. My brother, who rejoices in the handle Bloodfox564, has a BIIIIIG project that's been literally keeping him up at nights. Yeah. He really needs some help working out the details in the world building, so would some of y'all be awesome and lend him a hand? I can only do so much by myself. :p (He'll be posting his pitch on this thread as soon as Bob approves his membership... which is apparently a thing now?) - Bob Schroeck - 08-29-2016 Has been a thing for years now, BA, ever since the plague of Nike spammers a while back. Requiring membership application was the only thing that stopped them from posting uncontrolled. And every once in a while one still spams my inbox in a request for access, apparently under the mistaken impression that sufficiently obvious ad will impress me enough to let them into the forums. Anyway, your brother has been approved. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - Bloodfox64 - 08-29-2016 Okay guys, you don’t really know me and I am fairly new to online forms, so please bear with me on this, because I think you all will find this idea of mine intriguing. Basic idea, a R.O.B. has yoinked a collection of people and beings and plops them down into unsuspecting Star Wars Galaxy approximately 6 years before Star Wars Episode 1 (late 38 BBY). The fictional universes that have the most yoinked from them are: Halo, Stargate, Forgotten Realms, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Destiny, Naruto, RWBY, and Lord of the Rings. There is also a slew of other universes as well, but what is taken from them is mostly individual characters and I should keep this short… Ah! Yes, I should tell you the gist of my story. There will be a group of bad guys and a group of good guys and their fighting will be a running theme in the story, but their fighting will not be the only plot. The biggest overall plot line will be the purpose that the good guys are given by the R.O.B.: to prevent the death of all life in the Galaxy. While this is hopefully going to be an expansive story that will depict the epic struggle for the fate of the Universe, a big thing that I’m having in this is the close, and often entertaining, interactions between many of the characters. The good guys are, well, mostly made up from the universes that I listed above and the good guys will try to work out their place in the Galaxy. The bad guys are mostly made up of good old Covenant from Halo, the Wraith and Goa’uld from Stargate, the Arachnids of Starship Trooper, and the Xenomorphs of Alien/Predator and overall the bad guys will have varied goals. Now what I am hoping to do by posting this is to get help with the world building on this, because while I have a much of the broad strokes worked out, there is a lot that I may or may not have taken into account without realizing it and there could even be things that could ruin what I have planned if I don’t take it into account. The last piece of info that I was told would help: most of the main x-over worlds are “islands in the sea of time”; from what I understand this means that what is taken from one world stays the same when placed in another world. So, Halo, Stargate, MLP, RWBY, and Naruto are basically that. There will also be a slew of characters fused into them, along with some OCs. Destiny and LotR, they will be somewhere between “islands” and fusions. They and their main plot lines will basically be the same, but there will be a fairly significant background change occurring for both of them. And finally there will be a slew of small scale x-overs are full on fusions, the story and plot of these fictions won’t matter as much as the individual characters being used. A important thing to note is that while I am going to be keeping to cannon for the most part with a lot of stuff in this story, there is going to be a fair bit of deconstruction going on as well. Uh, don’t know what else I can add without making this a lot longer, so tell me what you think and if you want to know more. - classicdrogn - 08-29-2016 Well, first off any setting that has explicit, active gods (real ones, not Goa'uld or Ori pretenders; meaning FR and Naruto, and maybe RWBY depending on how supernatural the origin of the Grimm turns out to be) is going to either need considerable effort to write them out or explain them, or rock the galaxy on its side with the paradigm shift if the gods came with. My next question is whether you only brought the planets, or FR's entire star system? It is both pretty huge (if not as much as Greyhawk's crazy-big, geocentric system) and includes at least a couple of planets that don't work with conventional physics, though it's been long enough since I read the Realmspace book I don't remember all the details. My only solid recommendation is to avoid mentioning a ROB at all if possible, and minimize it if not. Have Ao sneeze and bump into Q at the corner shop and make them both spill their grocery baskets then say "Well that's going to be a bother to sort out" for the first couple lines and then jump straight into the story and never mention them again, for example. -- "Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows - Bloodfox64 - 08-29-2016 Well, there will be semi-active gods/deities and while I don't exactly have their role worked out, they will not be all powerful like Ao of FR, but more of like Lolth (I think). Basically extremely powerful, but they aren't going to change the fabric of the universe. As for planets, yes there will be some planets/solar systems pull in as well... Oh shit! I forgot, are really big thing that is also being pulled: Alpha Centauri's trinary solar system and Pandora of James Cameron's Avatar along with the Na'vi. I can't believe I forgot about that. But, uh, yeah. Planets. As for FR, I was thinking that I would bring in Abeir-Toril and just that planet... Though, to avoid having any more major problems (and for my sanity's sake), only a small percentage of the sentient populations and magical flora/fauna is being pull along. Trust me, I want avoid the mass madness that will come with FR/DnD. As for the Rob... Uh, how should I put this... Well, I am using him to explain parts of what is going on in the story to the readers. In fact I have written two chapters and I am close to finishing the third. So unfortunately I cannot take up your recommendation, but my Rob will not be actively involved in the story, more of having fun and setting things up at the start. Hmm... Would it be bad for me to post the chapters on here... - Bob Schroeck - 08-29-2016 Not at all, assuming they aren't 100K+ monsters. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. - classicdrogn - 08-29-2016 Hm, well, I'll wait to see what you've got before making any final judgments, it's just that the "ROB sets up the story because he feels like mixing things up a little, haha" was clever the first time, meh the next couple times, and now it's a decade later and I've seen so many recaps of it as a beginning that it just makes me roll my eyes and put a tick in the "close tab" countdown, like having a bunch of variations on punctuation on dialogue markers and bold/italic text at the top of the page to denote normal speech, thoughts, talking to aardvarks, and crazy voices in the main characters head who make comments no one else can hear as if watching it from the theatre on the Satellite of Love, or the canon characters meeting the MC and just "getting a feeling" they should believe him when he tells his ridiculous and/or insulting story about being from a world where they're all fictional. I'm not saying a good story can't have a few of these things, but they do tend to be warning signs. Let's see what you have, and then I'll see if I have any suggestions for how to make it better instead of generic "don't do this," "but I kinda already did..." which only leads to discouraging further writing, because that's the opposite of what I want to do. -- "Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows - itsune9tl - 08-29-2016 Start simple. Keep a notebook of "Worlds" that you will be adding. Each "World" should have its own page as a minimum. Write down what each world brings to the party, what problems that will have to be overcome. Plot out in the timeline when each world is introduced to another. Each world should have a general list of reactions to the others. As you add worlds you will need to go back, and add reaction/responses to the other world's note page. Then you will need to do the same for the individual characters POV. If you haven't got a Headache by this point, you may have missed something. - ECSNorway - 08-30-2016 Also, only pick worlds that will actually have a meaningful role in the story. Don't toss things in 'just because it'd be neat'. Have a -reason- for including each world you pick. -- Sucrose Octanitrate. Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode. - Black Aeronaut - 08-30-2016 Oh god, has he got a notebook... HE'S GOT FREAKING CHARTS. - Bloodfox64 - 08-30-2016 *Chuckles* Yeah, I went past notebooks a while ago. I guess I should have been more specific on what I needed help with the world building. The reason I had Destiny (along with LotR, but I'll get to that later) singled out is because of the fact that, for the plot's sake, I am having Destiny's Sol system and the Darkness Four (Vex, Cabal, Hive, & Fallen) be from the Star Wars universe. Sol system will be somewhere on the edge of the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy and has had very little contact with the rest of the Galaxy, but in the Unknown Regions, it is known as a bit of a Death system. That is mostly due to the extremely high amount of activity from the Darkness Four. What I've worked out in my head for the Darkness Four is this: Due to the Hyperspace Boundary around the Unknown Regions, they haven't been able to say hello to the Republic, yet. When Chaos Abound starts (my story), the Boundary will be wiped away. Oh and the Darkness Four are all from various galaxies in the galactic cluster that the main Star Wars galaxy is in. So there is that, but what I wanted help with was how I want RWBY to be in the story. Black Aeronaut suggested that what I could do for it was to take the four Kingdoms, some of the smaller towns, and the Grimm, then plop them down onto Destiny's Earth. Time line of when RWBY gets transferred is that ten years before story start is the infamous Battle of Twilight Gap in Destiny. Ten years before that (20 years before story start) is when RWBY gets to be on Earth. I was thinking, to help the plots mix better, that When the Kingdoms are taken, it would be about ten years before the start of the RWBY show, that way, instead of Volume 3 going Game of Thrones on us, the cast of RWBY get participate in the Battle of Twilight Gap. Now, to what I need help with world building wise, figuring out how the Destiny and RWBY worlds have interacted for the past 20 years and what would be the state of things when the rest of the good guys meet them. I'll post the first chapter here in the next few hours when I get a some time to do it. - Bloodfox64 - 08-30-2016 To let you guys get an idea of how I'm gonna have the Rob here is what I got for him, it is most of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two. Chaos Abound, Chapter 1: The Beginning of Chaos... --- --- He walked onto the stage of a dark auditorium and as he did so a spot light revealed him to the crowd. As the man walked to the stage the audience is quick to notice that he is average in every way, from appearance to clothing. Similar in many ways to some of his current viewers, but as his more local audience knows all too well… He is far from average. He clasped his hands and spoke, "Now ladies, gentlemen, and Robs of all shapes, sizes, and genders of choice. I have gathered you and the readers here today so we all may observe and, more importantly, bet on a most interesting series of events. I have used my abilities as a Random Omnipotent Being to put on a show that you can all enjoy and hopefully not many of the readers will stop reading and leave flaming reviews after they're done; as for you, my fellow Robs, this is an anti-omniscient zone, so you can't see into the future before you place any bets." At this most of the Robs, now identified as such, groaned, while a few others laughed at their misfortune. "Now, if you are done, I will tell you what this is all about. Oh and you may call me Bert." The newly identified Bert clicked a button on the remote, which had suddenly appeared in his hand, and the projector screen lit up with a blank white screen. Bert stood there for a moment and clicked the button again. Nothing. "Damn it…" Bert muttered as he smacked the remote and then clicked the button a third time. At this, three columns of text appeared. "Finally… As I was saying, this is what we are all here to see or rather a list of poor saps that I dragged into this." The first two columns showed lists of Good Guys and Bad Guys, while the third, which really was just a header, read The Star Wars Galaxy. "This is a basic list of the groups of beings that I've borrowed and as you can see, it should prove to be… *Evil grin* Fun... Now, my fellow Robs, if you would pick up the tablets that you received earlier, you will see the extended list of who will be on each side and what they will have resource wise. Oh and readers, you don't have to read it all, but I do advise at least glancing at it, or you'll be totally lost later on." --- --- (I'm not including the listings here, I just want you guys to see what's going on with the Rob, but I'll post the info later.) --- --- "As you can see, the "Good Guys" are in this for the long haul, but they won't quiet know what they are being put against, and they aren't the only ones going into this looking for a fight, so here are the baddies." --- --- "While the "Bad Guys" don't have an as extensive list, they are going to be out for blood and ascension." Bert paused and reached over to the suddenly there table next to him and drank from the glass he acquired from it, "Ah, much better. Where was I? Oh yes. Now each side has their reasons for doing what they are doing, for the soon to be organized U.N., it will simply be so they can live their lives, do the Star Wars galaxy some good, and later on, fulfill the role they have been given. "As for the newly reformed Covenant Empire, well… Hmm… That is a bit more complicated. Now the Covenant will be comprised of two kinds of aliens, and I'm not just talking about the Xenomorphs. One kind is the sort that we know the Covenant for: religious fanatics. The other is the sort that just wants to have power and/or eliminate all who threaten their existence. For the latter, their motivation will be the fact that if they stay with each other and the rest of the Covenant, they will be very hard to get rid of. For the former, their motivation is something that I really didn't want to include, but in the end was forced to. "At the center of Covenant worship is the idea that if they activate the Halo rings, they will ascend to god-hood. And in order to properly get their asses into gear, I will have to have the minor Halos and Ark, along with some other Forerunner stuff in the Galaxy (the Star Wars one). But there are some things you must know, one there will NOT be any Flood of any sort. Two there will be NO Forerunners around. Three, all of the technology will still be keyed to humans from Halo. But they will be able to have the key changed to something else later on, as for how or what they would change it to, I'll be keeping that a secret for the moment. "Now I will let the Robs ask some questions. Please raise your hand if you have one." As looked over them a few dozen hands shot up. "Okay, I'll go with you ma'am, in the red shirt. Please say where you are from and what your question is." She grabbed the mic that appeared in front of her, "Thank you. I'm from around the little bit of reality that's in-between the Marvel and DC multi-verses…" At that many of the other Robs winced. "Yeah, I know, that is part of why I'm asking what I'm asking. Now, what are you going to do about the bull shit that happens in the universes that you're taking people from, particularly Stargate, Naruto, and Forgotten Realms? And also, what are going to do about the bull that takes place in the Star Wars universe, I mean, they are very entertaining places to observe, but when you come from a place like where I'm from, that sort of shit just gets old and fast." Bert looked at and nodded, "Ah, I understand your concerns and I hope to not let you down on this. As for what I'm doing about much of the bull shit, first: they cannot perform the SG-1 trifecta, which is time travel, parallel dimension travel, and alternate reality travel. The only stuff that any one will be able to do that is under the category of Space and Time is the following: teleportation, FTL travel (slip-stream space and hyperspace of varying forms), pocket dimensions (dyson spheres/shield worlds, sealing scrolls, and other similar things), and a few other very select things. And as for the bull from Star Wars, well I try to curb it in, buuut… Well, as you know, Star Wars is a really difficult universe to work with from a logical standpoint. Next question. You, sir in the black." "Thank you. I'm from just outside the Forgotten Realms Containment Zone and I was wondering how you'll introduce all of these people to what is going on and how do you expect them all to work together? I ask this for the reader's benefit." "Good point and thank you for that. First I must point out that as a Rob, I can just implant the basic understanding of what is going on to them, so they don't try to kill each other. The other thing that I'm doing is having them forge bonds via combat. Many of the people who I consider important to the plot will be put into different situations where they have to work together to survive. I'll have something similar going on for the bulk of the "good guy's" fleet. As for the "bad guys", well they are the sort who it would take more than fighting together to get them to cooperate in the long run, hell even short term for some of them. So I'm gonna have to do full on R.O.B. hand waving to get things going with them. But that isn't to say there won't be any problems, there will be, they just won't be popping up immediately or really violently until later. "Next question. Hmm, let's go with you sir, in the camo hoodie." He stood up and grabbed the mic, "Thank you sir, as you know, many of the readers who are MLP: FiM fans generally... Disapprove of Alicorn OCs. How are you going to balance that with the fact that you seem to have a small population of Alicorns participating in this situation?" Bert sighed, "Yeah, that I forgot about that for a bit. The situation is complicated, due to the various sources on Alicorns and how they are depicted in general. I am having there be more Alicorns other than the Princesses, the why comes down to a number of facts. One, it has been shown that Alicorns can be born. Princesses Luna and Celestia. Flurry Heart. The less know cousin Leon. These characters show that it can happen and for some, Leon for example, there is no real explanation for as to where they came from or who their parents are. Two, it has been shown that the kind of Pony one is can be very... Random. The Cakes are the main example, two Earth Ponies having a Pegasus and a Unicorn, with the genetic traits being very vague. Three, Alicorns are considered a perfect balance between the three common Pony types: Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth Pony. So thus, with the three tribes becoming one nation, inter-breeding between them would become exponentially higher." Bert stopped for a moment to take another sip from his suddenly there glass, "That fact leads me to say that slowly, extremely slowly, Alicorns would start to be born, and even then they would be incredibly uncommon. They would be long lived, only three or four hundred years, they would usually be powerful, but not too powerful, just more so in comparison to normal Ponies, let’s say Shining Armor or pre Element Bearer Twilight Sparkle. And finally, an Alicorn would have much higher chances of having a Alicorn child, even if their partner wasn't an Alicorn. Cadence is a good example of this, but that could be written off as as the fact that she is a Alicorn princess, which will matter in this situation. Overall, the common Alicorns will not be super powerful, they will not have natural lifespans of thousands of years, and they will not be Mary Sues. "Now there is one other note about Alicorns. For the moment, I will be having only three minor Alicorns (Alicorn OCs) that will be important, all of them are highly experienced military commanders, and have been so for at least several decades, so they will be quick on the up keep and won't make too many mistakes." Bert took a deep breath, "Now, next question? You in the neon pink. Yes, you, please stand up..." --- --- Now here is the bit from Chapter 2: Introduction to Madness. It takes place after the Robs take a break to make their bets. --- --- After a break, Bert walked back on to the stage and waited as the auditorium fill back up. As soon as the last of the Robs entered the room, he cleared his throat, "Okay, now that we are all here again, let's get back to business. First things first, I have many things going on that I've shown to you, but there are going to be a number of little surprises that are important and I won't be saying much about. Bu–" *THUMP!* *THUMP!* *THUMP!* Bert glanced to the right side of the stage, where the sounds that had interrupted him came from and then gave a disbelieving stare, "...I though he would be out for a few more hou–" *THUMP!* The edge of a wooden crate appeared. The holes along the top, along with the crates movement, made it obvious that there's a very displeased animal inside it. *THUMP!* *THUMP!* The crate was now in full view of the crowd, who broke into whispers at the various and numerous labels on it: LIVING CARGO - WARNING - DO NOT ANTAGONIZE - FIRE HAZARD - THIS SIDE UP - RUSHING JAWS - ON LOAN FROM ERU/ILÚVATAR Bert listened to their whispers with a smirk as he walked up to the crate and sat on it. "No way, did he really...? "Holy shit, is it safe to be near it? Let alone in the same building?" "How can he be so casual about this?" "I don't know about you, but if nothing else this will end up leading to some very entertaining situations." "Entertaining situations?! Shit, I'd have left the building by now if it weren't for the bets I made earlier!" "If he has him under control, we should be fine... Right?" "Whatever..." The Rob sighed and turned to the stage, "Hey Bert? Should we be worrying about that or what?!" Bert's smirk grew into a full on grin, "Ah, everything's fine, he just woke up sooner than I thought he would. Speaking of..." Bert, still sitting on it, looked down at the crate and rapped his knuckles on it. "That should keep him down until after I want to let him out." Bert sighed, stood up, and gave the crate a hard kick. A vortex opened over it and the crate slowly rose, until it went through. After the vortex closed, Bert turned back to the crowd and he gestured to where the crate was a moment ago, "See, all's good... Now, What I was saying? ...Oh right, I won't be saying much about the surprises I'll be having, but they will be all sorts of fun and will make things very... Interesting." Bert walked back to the center of the stage and took a drink of water. "Oh and for the readers who wanted to see more of the Q&A, if there are enough questions that raise good points, there will be a section or two featuring those questions in future chapters." As he said this he started to fade away. "Now we are going to move on to where important people are waking to their new reality and having new bonds between them be forged in fire. This isn't what I originally going to do, buuuut a friend of mine said that what I had was too boring and un-Rob-ish. So get ready for a lot of action, laughs, muttered and not so muttered curses, and the obligatory explosions." As Bert finished, he was gone. --- --- There you have it, I wonder how many people are going to figure out what is in the crate... - Mamorien - 08-30-2016 I googled "rushing jaws" and... yeah, let's just hope Bert's got that particular entity under as much control as he thinks he does. - Bloodfox64 - 08-30-2016 Oh, he does. It's that the "little" guy can be quite a handful. - itsune9tl - 08-30-2016 Sounds more like you are writing an SI from the ROB's point of view. Which would be an interesting concept in itself. - Bloodfox64 - 08-31-2016 Funny that you mention that... Basically, I am doing that and in a way, that is the Rob's entire purpose: to allow me, the author, to directly address the readers in a manner that is meaningful to the story. - classicdrogn - 09-05-2016 I really have to apologize; I keep looking at this tab and remembering I promised C&C, then physically flinching at the thought of getting into the proper headspace for reading to edit and the mental effort involved. I'm afraid I pretty much burned out on that ... months ago now, but still haven't gotten my groove back. So, sorry about not helping. edit: Same goes for your new Going Native part too, if you read this, Dartz. -- "Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows - Bloodfox64 - 09-05-2016 Well, uh, I'm not doing this for editorial help, I need help with figuring out generally what would happen over a 20 year period after the 4 Kingdoms of Remnant (RWBY) get transported onto the Earth from Bungie's Destiny. Sorry if I gave the impression that I needed editing help... - Bloodfox64 - 09-14-2016 Question time, I have put a lot of thought into this story that I've been working on and those plans had been somewhat derailed by Black Aeronaut when he came up with the idea of having the Kingdoms of Remnant be transported to Destiny's Earth. So I have some questions for you guys and I've written up a timeline of events and listed other relevant info. Please tell me what you think and ask questions. – – – 2035 – First Contact with the Traveler. The Traveler has first close contact with Humanity as he finished terraforming Mars, after he had terraformed numerous other planets and moons on his way in the solar system. 2036 to 2182 – The Golden Age, where Humanity learns from the Traveler, until he suddenly leaves in 2182. 2182 to 2525 – The Golden Age. Humanity continues to learn about and work with magi-tech, until… October 7 – 11, 2525 – The Collapse. A five day incident that has the Four Worms Gods of the Hive nearly eradicating Humanity and in the chaos, the Vex take the opportunity to break Human containment.
2525 to 2785 – The Dark Age. What is left of Humanity struggles to crawl out of the ashes of the Collapse and there is much conflict.
2785 to 3266 – The City Age. Where Humanity struggles to recover from the many and recent blows they have taken.
March 30, 3266 – The Four Kingdoms of Remnant (RWBY) appear on Earth, along with the Creatures of Grimm. The City Age ends and the Four Kingdoms form an alliance with the City. August 23, 3276 – The Battle of Twilight Gap occurs. The Guardians of Will and Hope are discovered. (This is timed such that it takes the place of the end of RWBY Vol. 3 in nastiness) June 12, 3286 AD – Chaos Abound, the fanfic that this is all taking place in, starts. January 17, 3287 – SG-1 unknowingly stumble upon Earth and Dr. Alexandra Shim, the Guardian of Knowledge, is resurrected. (This is the beginning of the vanilla Destiny) – – – The thing I need help with is what happens after the Four Kingdoms arrive. Which I’ll just leave you guys with a few notes and questions: General info about the RWBY end of things:
General, but important, info about the Destiny end of things:
Things that I am sure might happen, but I want to get a second opinion on them:
Questions/things I am not sure what to do with or about:
– – – Here I have some bios on a number of the RWBY characters, to show how I hope things to go, but most of it is subject to change:
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