Entertainers in Dardunah

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    • Entertainers in Dardunah

      So...Entertainers of Various Kinds in Dardunah...Acrobats, Mummers, Singers, Dancers, Puppeteers, Storytellers, Fortune Tellers, In my mind my Danish Landrance Sow Character Si'Ni works as a Cook in her Family's Tea House but what she really wishes to be is a Storyteller but at the moment is resigned to the fact it could never be not only because of her many social faux pas caused by her Autism but she simply isn't good at public speaking (It isn't that Si'Ni is 'shy' or scared of public speaking she simply isn't good at it, she gets easily exhausted when she has to be social and she knows it would be bad form for a Storyteller to stop in the midst of the story because she can't remember exactly what to say next and just saying 'Uh' and 'Umm' which she knows she does frequently when speaking)

      But on the subject of Entertainers of various kinds in Dardunah, I'd like to ask the Forum, have any kinds of entertainers featured in your games? Even if they weren't PCs were they NPCs of any importence to the plot?
    • So what you're basically saying is, "who wants to play the bard?" :P

      Currently I'm running a campaign set in the University of Nilam, where all the players are faculty (or a grad student, in one case). One is an elephant with an eidetic memory who studies ancient poetry. He has given performances on more than one occasion. He is good enough that he can captivate even those who don't understand the language he is speaking, so he has occasionally been instrumental (pun intended) in influencing other janah.

      I also had a poisonous bird NPC, I believe it was an ifrita, who was rescued from a slave ship by the PCs in the last campaign. He had been a slave all his life, trained as a musician and singer. He was on his way to be sold to the Klin, as a poisonous bird is definitely quite exotic and rare. The Klin PC decided to "liberate" him... and eventually, after a lot of soul searching, he did actually free him.

      Finally, there was an NPC hedgehog who was quite a good storyteller, and she eventually became quite important to the campaign. I love when that happens -- it wasn't anything I was trying to force, it just grew organically.

      Other than those three, I have sometimes had entertainer NPCs show up for one or two sessions, but these are the most significant ones.
    • There are all sorts of entertainers in the game of SHARD, indeed I myself have run quite a few, which include the following.... an acrobat, a story teller, a famous dancer and a juggler... These are just a few of the possible choices available to all players who choose to create multi dimensional characters which may have many different aspects which all combine to make them more unique and believable characters to interact with. If we use the examples of our everyday life here on Earth we see individuals who are simultaneously Waiters, Martial artists, Dancers, Painters, Storytellers, Priests, Singers and Parents all at the same time... The same thing would be true for the game of SHARD. This is the wonder of our everyday existence and the better others get to know us as people the more they are able to discover about those hidden aspects of the personalities of those they keep within their circle of friends and by becoming privileged with such insight special bonds are created...
    • Watching a clip from Young Frankenstein hosted by an Italian YouTuber,one of the commentators explained that it is a much loved movie in Italy but because most of the jokes didn't work when translated the Italian Writers had to re-write with their own hilarious jokes.

      And I've been thinking a lot about American Culture compared to Asian Culture and how an Average Janah watching our movies with a translator spell in his/her ear would find Americans insanely rude Si'Ni is the kind of iconoclastic Janah who actually WOULD find American Insult Comedy funny but what would a Sunborn think of the Marx Brothers movies who were all about sticking it to the Class above you?
    • Politeness is a huge thing in the world of SHARD due to the concept of honor being able to be gained or lost. Most inhabitants see those occupying the castes above them as blessed by the Devah, however in certain instances I am sure the type of attitude you mentioned above might be felt. Caution should be exercised however because consequences for transgressions whether real or imagined could be demanded.
    • Thinking specifically about Plays in Dardunah, while I remember most Janah think of their 'Jenu' as a disguise and sometimes don't mention it unless absolutely necessary. Part of me was thinking about moments in Dardunah Fiction where a characters' species specific abilities form a critical plot point like say the character was able to save his/her life because of her musk spray/quills/shell etc, and what happens if they can't get an actor with that quality
    • If they were unable to secure an actor possessing the qualities naturally they would do the same thing which actors upon Earth have done through out the ages. They would use artistic talent to create props , make up and special effects which closely mimic the original. The Janah think of their many different forms as a disguise against a manifestation known only as the Great Devourer, what this means and how it is manifested may vary from region to region and from culture to culture.
    • An entire troupe of entertainers and performers was used as a means of allowing the main characters of one of our earliest games to travel into the northern Sarpah lands to infiltrate Benáng during a time of war... Merely having that kind of travelling communal group created MANY different and very cool interactions... I'd compare the experience to many aspects of the HBO series "Carniválle" with its many unique flavors and types of characters, as well as the strange and sometimes creepy circumstances the main PCs found themselves in...

      I could EASILY imagine and entire game campaign run exclusively in this format,…taking excellent advantage of the crazy-cool “Eastern” influences that are rarely explored in the traveling-carnival/circus venue (since many of them lean toward the American Midwest flavor)… This same kind of thing done in the flavors of ancient India and ancient Persia for the purposes of the world of Dárdünah would be quite exotic indeed!

      Scottie ^^
    • The singing champions of the Vajrah could be any number of mammals with unique vocal powers from the Bats of Klin Ra which would be able to sing in keys which non bats might have a difficult time hearing, to elephant Janah which have the power to emit ultra sound, ultimately however any character who spends the points to purchase the skill of Performance (Singing) and has a high Presence Maximum would have the potential to become a legendary singer. If you also purchased other Talents such as Virtuoso, Eidetic Memory, Empathy, Keen Focus, Natural Leader, Natural Mimic, all of which could be used creatively to enhance a characters singing performance...
    • In TMNT Adventures the 2nd of the TMNT RPG Books one adventure requires you to help a Bear Mutant with Human Looks Full (Yeah you have the option to Mutate your PC into something that looks like almost completely Human with only a few giveaway traits like a Badger Mutant having striped hair and a long nose, hardly anyone ever took that opton) who is a Rock Star but has extreme emotional issues because of his ultra religious adoptive Father teaching him to hate his Animal origins considering this was the time D&D was accused of getting kids into Satanism I get the sense the creators created this adventure to vent a bit but yeah Imagining a Bear's singing potential