Feral Heart

I like the idea of a dreary ship with cages, it is an idea for a long-term (and fairly ambitious) RP in FH much later on. However, as I have made maps before I know that a ship would be very difficult (or at least I can't think of a way to make it work).

Important factors:

• I would like the ship to have as dreary and run-down an atmosphere as possible.
• The ship should have crates that can fit any sized character in them, but be as confining as possible (obviously there will have to be some way for characters to get in and out, just for the sake of moving from map to map)
• The crates need to be as close together as possible, and preferably stacked on top of each other.
• The room should match the appearance as closely as possible of a cargo ship from 1900-1910
• There should be at least 12 crates, but only 6 actually need to be accessible
• It should be simple to indicate which [inaccessible] crate a character is referring to. (e.g. different colors, "serial numbers" (way shorter than a real serial number though), etc.)

Helpful notes and allowances:

• As long as the ambiance of a dreary ship is established, the rest can be left up to imagination. (i.e. all I need is a theatrical stage, not a cinematic set, though the latter would be awesome if possible)
• Most pictures I am finding of these ships are primarily wooden, with some steel beams.
• I am noticing in pictures that there are a large number of pillars, so it might be nice to include those.
• I will need another portal to transport characters to another map, but you need not worry about it. I will have that other map, and can make the modifications to add the portal myself.

Mentoring is an interesting experience, both IRL and vicariously when two characters interact in an RP. I find some of my characters are more confident in their life's conclusions, and tend to influence characters that are less sure. Others who are less confident seem to need significant counseling in working through their problems. Less often, my character will get in a debate with another "character," only to find this "character" knows far more about the topic then they realistically should. I don't mind, I just RP along and depending on the character and situation may or may not amend the character's opinion. I have found that a lot of RP seems to revolve around characters trying to in some way be a hero or villain to another character. Some seem to be more passive in their roles, others more active.

So just curious about any discussions and experiences people may have on the subject.

Fairly simple, this is pretty much a conversation where everyone posts in a conversation using either the lyrics of a song or the nameof a song in their reply to the person above them. Links to youtube videos are appreciated, but not necassary. Finally, please try to avoid repeating a song if it has been recently posted. I am not going to mae you look a bunch of pages back to mae sure yours is unique, but this is just to avoid the same song coming up over and over to the point that it becomes annoying.

(Also, even though I started with a Christmas song, you are not restricted to Christmas songs)

I hope you all had A Holly Jolly Christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXE7msZvMcc

What I mean by this is did you come up with a name then fit a personality to it, or a personality fit to a name?What about physical features? What was the very first thing that made you think "I want to make a character like that"?

My characters so far (and one I am making):

Lex: I needed a character that wasn't very powerful to basically suffer under another character concept, Vlad

Vlad: I made an unpublished map with a unique game in it with lethal consequences for it, and I needed a host. Obviously a host for a game like that would have to be somewhat psychologically unstable.

Jerry: Didn't last very long. I wanted a character with an acidic cynicism that would get on every other character's nerves.

Spitfire: From a book that I hope to eventually write. I have the basic idea what I want to do with it. This was a personality-first development originally based on the song Spitfire by The Prodigy. Over time, the character deviated a lot from the song, so there is little resemblance now.

Roger: First character I ever played. Made the body then just made it all up as I went along.

Lucious: Second character I made. I wanted to play a fox that matched the lore/archetype.

Narrator/Tester: Not even a character, I just sometimes wanted to be me without constantly using (()) or []. Also, sometimes if I used my other characters to test for tech issues, people tried to RP with me. And I do hope to eventually GM a story without actually being in it, and actually have a system for combat.

Marquis: I started personality first. He is a psychic, but doesn't really gain any valuable information from it. Basically, he dreams a dream based on a mind other than his own. Even this he can't do if he is actively invited into their minds. Body and name are a loose fit that just seemed right.

Nightmare: I was listening to some Rob Zombie music, and I wanted a character that looked scary in that way. So physical features first.

Karl: Honestly, I don't even remember.

Karn: personality first (gentle giant, halfway in between the butler and monk archetypes)

Doran: My excuse to play a Vorlan like character, cause cryptic stuff is cool. So personality first.

Raiden: The name sounds really cool, and it is the name of 3 videogame characters that I know of and 1 series that I play. So I looked up the name (god of thunder) and now developing the personality.

I think the title of this post is pretty self explanatory.

Just to clarify why I am confused:

On the one hand, Watermill comes with the download, so when you think about it in terms of access, anyone can access it. This may theoretically disqualify it. Also, since generally speaking the one who makes the map sets the rules, does this mean that the rules revert to it's creator (i.e. FH staff)?

On the other hand, it is, technically, a private map. It must be exported and arrived at on Distant Worlds. In many ways, it is much like any other private map. Traffic is low, and you are pretty much making an effort to go from a public map to a private one.

So, to reiterate the question, does Watermill qualify for relaxed rules under the private map clause of FH regulations?