Roleplaying and Balthazar... a major change.

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Ben
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Roleplaying and Balthazar... a major change.

Postby Ben » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:49 pm

THE PROBLEM

There was a major problem with Balthazar and I'm not sure where it went wrong. At one time he was feared and roleplayed with to great effect, when the world was younger and the population was smaller.

More recently, however, he has become this huge demon that 90% of the population claimed single-handedly had killed their entire village, family, or cub scout den... and yet when they came face to face with him, 90% of people stick out their tongue and taunt him.

This is extremely poor roleplaying on adventurer's parts (sorry, but it is), but they really can't be blamed entirely. After all, what do they really have to fear from Balthazar? Getting a spell cast on them for a few marcs? One more death and a trip to a life monument? These things don't mean much, and are a pretty good trade for the chance to walk up to the most evil and powerful non-god creature on the planet and give him the finger.

True, the extremely good roleplayers manage to balance their enthusiasm for flipping Balthazar off... but that is very rare and takes an extraordinary individual. People all play, more or less, heroes in this game... and confronted with evil that they know can't REALLY hurt them, the heroic thing to do is attack... and since adventurers can't physically attack Balthazar most of the time, the attacks come in the form of insults and general rowdiness.

THE CHANGE

Balthazar is displeased with people's recent reactions to him. As such, he has regained incredible new magics lost during his banishment post-golden-age. Balthazar now has regained the ability to drain the very life from adventurers, PERMANENTLY scarring and destroying parts of their bodies and minds.

Balthazar can strip away experience, using it to power his own demon body... Balthazar can sap your strength, feeding off your power and giving you a handicap in every battle you will fight from now until your virtual death... Balthazar can bleed your mind, making you lose intelligence for all of eternity... Balthazar can cast dimension-bending vortexes that can suck entire levels of training from your existence, weakening you substantially.

Balthazar hates humanity and will do these things indiscriminantly and without hesitation, and without regard for personality. He seeks great power, and now has the ability to take yours away from you and add it to his own.

NOTES

What does this all mean? Balthazar is no longer the impotent creature some players have been treating him as of late. You now have a REASON for good roleplaying with Balthazar, because if you meet him and do not run away as fast as you can, you will have real, permanent damage to yourself (aka your character.) The dude is evil.

Another important note, this has NOTHING to do when with the gods punish by muting or taking away XP or levels... those things are done for behavior. Balthazar does these things indiscriminantly as a form of unstoppable combat... he does not care if you are "that annoying punk player who nobody likes," or if you are "that 3-year veteran guild leader revered by everybody in the land for your helpful and friendly attitude." Of course, those who taunt him, if worthy opponents, will most likely make more attractive targets.... but now that Balthazar has these abilities, I doubt anybody will WANT to be a target, since it could mean losing AC or attack ability forever.

We of admin hope this change in the game greatly enhances your roleplaying experience, and helps you treat Balthazar with the fear and sense of danger that he now truly represents. By our lessening the need to pretend, you now have to do less work in roleplaying.
Last edited by Ben on Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ben
Grimoire Entertainment Inc.
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Ben
Lead Worldbuilder
Posts: 7370
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2003 5:50 pm
Location: Nebraska

Postby Ben » Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:30 pm

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Balthazar also has the ability to destroy most magic items, including those you attained many many levels ago and can no longer get.

As I said, he is one evil guy.
Ben
Grimoire Entertainment Inc.
Click HERE to contact Ben or another Admin. Actually, don't contact Ben, he's somewhat pretty much retired.
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User avatar
Ben
Lead Worldbuilder
Posts: 7370
Joined: Sun Jun 15, 2003 5:50 pm
Location: Nebraska

Postby Ben » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:12 pm

It is good to read the forum. I posted this last year. It was still on the front page handy for anybody to see. =)
Ben
Grimoire Entertainment Inc.
Click HERE to contact Ben or another Admin. Actually, don't contact Ben, he's somewhat pretty much retired.
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