I thought about putting it in the previous post, as it is not directly related to this week's topic, but then I realized it doesn't really matter. So, the question: do you plan to completely replace element system from the original games with the new, emotion-based one? Don't get me wrong, this idea is great and has a great potential. However, I also think that those natural elements that were used previously also had its charm. It also created that "RPG-ish" feeling, if that's even a word. I saw that in Taming Dreams you tried to link character designs with chosen elements, but I thought it would great if the connection between those two systems was even deeper. I feel like focusing mostly on emotions would take away some fantasy-feeling from the game. What do I mean by that is random monsters and encounters that are not related to human actions and their emotions. Maybe elements and emotions could actually co-exist and be tied together in case of humans (you know, water-sadness, fire-courage) but apart from that they could also exist separately? This way you could incorporate new ideas and tell more personal stories with the feeling-based system while also retaining RPG-natural-elements system the games had in the past. I believe this would appease older fans without restraining you and your new ideas. Or maybe I'm just typing rubbish. Anyway, your work so far is amazing and I can't wait for more!
1
Tobias 1104~4Y
I'm not going using emotions in the same way that I did in Taming Dreams, where the 'battles' were entirely psychological, but it's sort of like a combination of the old MARDEK elements and that.
In the game's setting, consciousness is the underlying substrate of reality, and the 'elements' are sort of like the fundamental particles that it's made up of. So they're not so much 'emotions' as 'consciousness particles', if that makes sense?
So I'm using the term 'elements', but rather than fire, water, etc, they're Courage, Fear, Bliss, Destruction, Creation, and Sorrow. I wouldn't really call 'destruction' an 'emotion'! Things like fire, water, etc could be said to be formed of these consciousness elements in the same way those things might be in a dream.
They're essentially just evolutions of what I had in MARDEK. I posted this image of their glyphs on Twitter a while back; you can see the similarities: [LINK]&name=large
That is, you could fairly easily translate over Fire=Courage, Water=Sorrow, Earth=Creation, Air=Destruction (lightning etc), Dark=Fear, Light=Bliss.
2
MarninPL33~4Y
Oh, I'm glad to hear that! But does that mean that all creatures and monsters originate from human consciousness and its state in given situation, or they can still just generate independently in random places without humans nearby? Also, will magic be more focused on the element-side or human-mind-side? Aaaand how about the use of conventional weapons? So many questions, ugh! I think the idea behind existence of monsters and ways to fight them should be summarized in a single post so it becomes more clear. Sorry if I'm being demanding, but I'm thirst for knowledge and confused at the same time.
2
Tobias 1104~4Y
Why assume humans are the only source of consciousness?
'Conventional weapons' would be effective against monsters because they're made of dreamstuff too, fundamentally. It's like hitting a monster in your dreams with a sword you've also dreamed up.
Similarly, consciousness could generate effects like flames or whatever, so the magic equivalent is likely to be very similar to MARDEK's or any other fantasy game's, just with some different lore behind it.
I've probably written about these things in a few scattered posts, but perhaps I'll write a lore-specific post at some point. There's already a lore section on this site (check the footer, on the left), but there's not much there at the moment; I might update that at some point, for my own reference as much as anything.
2
Metrux3210~4Y
Just out of pure curiosity, does this means your elements relate more to the five chinese elements? The basic principles of them is that everything is made of them, in smaller of bigger parts, and that humans and other living beings can only thrive in a state of balance. Like, in this manner your system seems very similar, a sword is made of dreamstuff, it has creation to make the body, destruction in it's principles, brings courage to the wielder and fear to the enemies, both bliss and sorrow in memories... All in all, some take bigger parts, others smaller ones, but all are needed to make it.
Am I somwhat correct? Really curious about this... And a lot of other things form your lore, to be honest xD
1
Tobias 1104~4Y
I don't know anything about the Chinese elements, so there's been no deliberate attempt to mimic how they work! That's interesting though, if you see connections there.
I wouldn't say that all elements are used in everything in this setting; if anything they're comparable to the real elements on the periodic table, which all things are made up of, but not every thing contains them all. I suppose things would be 'of an element' if they're made up primarily of that element, whereas anything made up of a mix would register as 'non-elemental'? So a standard sword probably would contain all of them!
And it's good sign for what I'm doing with the lore if you're interested in finding out more about it!
1
Ampersand68~4Y
I've been wondering if maybe they should be called something other than "elements" to distinguish them from "traditional" ones (as I can anticipate a lot more questions about why you'd switch from them due to them due to the name). The "mages" are already called "sentimancers", right"? So "sentiments" seems like it makes the most sense, though "sentiment" doesn't really underlie that they're a fundamental building block of the universe... speaking of, "fundaments" does have a nice ring to it, like they're the undergirding of the universe, though "principles" could also be a good term, since it encompasses two meanings- both the physical and mental/moral starting points from which the world is built up.
1
Tobias 1104~4Y
They were originally called 'sentiments', but I've actually changed the name from that back to 'elements', and I'm using the term 'elemancy' for the magic equivalent ('sentimancy' was the term I was using when I was calling them 'sentiments'). I think 'elements' fits more than anything though because they play exactly the same role as the elements in MARDEK, and a lot of games tend to use some kind of 'elements' system with their own unique ones rather than the classical four (like Final Fantasy using Lightning and Ice, for example).
In the game's setting, consciousness is the underlying substrate of reality, and the 'elements' are sort of like the fundamental particles that it's made up of. So they're not so much 'emotions' as 'consciousness particles', if that makes sense?
So I'm using the term 'elements', but rather than fire, water, etc, they're Courage, Fear, Bliss, Destruction, Creation, and Sorrow. I wouldn't really call 'destruction' an 'emotion'! Things like fire, water, etc could be said to be formed of these consciousness elements in the same way those things might be in a dream.
They're essentially just evolutions of what I had in MARDEK. I posted this image of their glyphs on Twitter a while back; you can see the similarities: [LINK]&name=large
That is, you could fairly easily translate over Fire=Courage, Water=Sorrow, Earth=Creation, Air=Destruction (lightning etc), Dark=Fear, Light=Bliss.
'Conventional weapons' would be effective against monsters because they're made of dreamstuff too, fundamentally. It's like hitting a monster in your dreams with a sword you've also dreamed up.
Similarly, consciousness could generate effects like flames or whatever, so the magic equivalent is likely to be very similar to MARDEK's or any other fantasy game's, just with some different lore behind it.
I've probably written about these things in a few scattered posts, but perhaps I'll write a lore-specific post at some point. There's already a lore section on this site (check the footer, on the left), but there's not much there at the moment; I might update that at some point, for my own reference as much as anything.
Am I somwhat correct? Really curious about this... And a lot of other things form your lore, to be honest xD
I wouldn't say that all elements are used in everything in this setting; if anything they're comparable to the real elements on the periodic table, which all things are made up of, but not every thing contains them all. I suppose things would be 'of an element' if they're made up primarily of that element, whereas anything made up of a mix would register as 'non-elemental'? So a standard sword probably would contain all of them!
And it's good sign for what I'm doing with the lore if you're interested in finding out more about it!