Strong Conflict Problem - Mythology on an RPG Game

[SoulPour777]

I was taking some thought on tackling my first mythology based game to be created on RMVXA. I wrote down a few conflicts that might be the cause of the whole game's story and the development of the characters. I am however, still on the thought of revising this idea, so story writers who are more capable than me of thinking of a good and better conflict, please give your honest feedbacks and critiques.

Origin:

This is the origin of the game story's creation, taken from the Philippine Mythology:

Thousands of years ago, there was no land, sun, moon, or stars, and the world was only a great sea of water, above which stretched the sky. The water was the kingdom of the god Maguayan, and the sky was ruled by the great god, Kaptan. Maguayan had a daughter called Lidagat, the sea, and Kaptan had a son known as Lihangin, the wind. The gods agreed to the marriage of their children, so the sea became the bride of the wind. A daughter and three sons were born to them. The sons were called Likalibutan, Liadlao, and Libulan, and the daughter received the name of Lisuga.
Main Conflict:

When Asuang (The evil god who always try to steal the sacred fire of Mount Mayon from his brother, Gugurang. Addressed sometimes as Asuang, he dwells mainly inside Mount Malinao. As an evil god, he would cause the people to suffer misfortunes and commit sins.) finally stole the fire of Mount Mayon from his brother Gugurang after slaying him on the time of his weakness, Gugurang, on his final breath, created a Memory Ball where his memories are stored and transferred it somewhere on the mountains. The world falls into turmoil when Asuang went down to the land and taught people how to use fire and light, and many people became greedy, evil, and the rulers of each Puod (or in English, Kingdom) fell into war. 

 

Guided by the mercy of the gods, each Elemental Gods and Goddesses promised to lend their powers to for the worthy 'successors' in return of returning the stolen Fire of Mount Mayon and stop Asuang before he finally controls the other deities and gain the favor of the evil gods.

 

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Cliche as it may seems, what do you think of the Game World and Game Story? ​

 

 

[FC Groningen]

Greetings,

I'm not sure whether I count as a viable critic, but I might as well answer as I'm the first one it seems. I'm also not sure what you're asking of us precisely, but I assume you ask for some general feedback on what you wrote down so far.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there is a whole lot of names in it. Considering that no one, or almost no one of your audience will ever have heard of these names of the mythology in general, it might be wise to either simplify things a bit or introduce the details a bit later. I must admit that this is something that might go for my own project as well, but that's the general thought. 

edit: If this eventually leads to a confrontation with said evil god, then it would be best to iron out the plotline before you go any further. It's the details and how well you execute this type of storyline on whether it will be successful. 

 

[whitesphere]

It sounds like a good backdrop.  But what is the player in all of this?  Is the player one of the gods?  A minor person in one of the cities, who must rise to power in the city, then perhaps, prove his/her worth to the various Gods.    So, I might do this:

The character is, say, the bastard son of a minor merchant.  Said merchant has died.  So, he must pull a type of Cinderella, making a name for himself as if he were of the ruling class.  Then, winning their support through bribery, blackmail (by finding proof of dark deeds some have done, perhaps) and so forth, he overthrows the corrupt ruler of the city.

From there, he hosts a tournament where he finds some trusted Champions who will venture with him to prove worth to the Gods.  And, perhaps, some of the rulers are truly good and will help, if the player does the right things.

On the way up the mountain, the party must defeat a lot of dangerous opponents, and venture through puzzles and trials by each of the Gods.  Succeeding, the other Gods imbue the party with divine powers for the climactic battle against Asuang.

Originality isn't as important as the story being told well.

 

[The Prince of Sarcasm]

I think this is very interesting. If you are planing on making this into the game i suggest that you have the player play as different characters throughout a large prologue to get them used to the characters and story. After they are done playing through little bits of the prologue then choose a main character for them to be. I agree whit FC Gronigen about it being a lot to take in at once especially if you are trying just to play a game.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there is a whole lot of names in it. Considering that no one, or almost no one of your audience will ever have heard of these names of the mythology in general, it might be wise to either simplify things a bit or introduce the details a bit later.

 

[SoulPour777]

I'll consider the characters and how they should be presented. I think I should rewrite that part. 

According to the legends, Asuang trapped Gugurang during his weakness, which is the Night...since Asuang becomes stronger when night time, while Gugurang during Day time. Gugurang does not want to give the fire to Asuang because he likes to teach people how to use it, and seeing how it can cause mass destruction, he never wanted it to have stolen...but Asuang took the fire from the Volcano and trapped the fire into a coconut shell (according to the exact legend)... the main character starts as the Chosen one and seek journey to find the other chosen ones by the gods to restore the fire to the mountain...

what do you think?

 

[whitesphere]

I think it will be an interesting game.  Since the mythos is Philippine,  I think it makes sense to take place on a large island.

Think of things which add spice to the game, and which flow from the plot.  As I mentioned above, there are a lot of ways to put interesting combat, puzzle and even political intrigue into the mythos.  After all, is the Chosen One automatically ready for his quest?  Perhaps he becomes Chosen by the gods by going through a classic hero arc, with loss, sacrifice and triumphs. And, at the end, the gods smile on him, and his merry band as they take part in the divine phase of the quest.

So the Chosen one has to go through a lot of human drama and challenge to become what the gods destined him to be.  

After all, that's a big part of what RPGs are about --- the player going through the hero arc, either alone or with friends along the way.    And the hero arc is very, very old.  So, if you tell the story well, drawing the player into the plot, you'll have made the key start to a good game.

 

[SoulPour777]

I'm planning to take it with a variation, but this is what I have in mind at the moment. When Asuang saw the things he caused after giving the fire to the people (such as volcanic eruption of the mountain, also the rise of different people who exactly want the full power of the fire), he thought of controlling the people to wage war against the gods. Alarmed by such, the gods and goddesses' powers would soon be no match against the massive power of humanity, let alone their powers would weaken when the trust of humanity stops on to them. Therefore, placing their powers to the people that are worthy of handling it would be their best route.

Right now, I am drafting which is the best one to cut through this. Since some of it also introduces the whole world's mechanics, I need to draw out more game time on the humans rather than on the gods. Here's my initial thought:

Rajah Sumakwil was enraged when the people worthy to the gods and goddesses favor are against of what they believe. The Rajah believes that the people who has the power of the gods and goddesses should serve the god Asuang instead, rather than the other gods. But considering the chosen humans wants peace and carry out the God of Fire's wish to return the fire to the mountain, they crossed swords with the Rajah.

This establishes the Rajah as the second to the last boss before Asuang himself. However, I think the story is subject to be divided what the Rajah would do as well. Rajah by the way is our traditional counterpart of Kings, Rulers, or Governors.

 

[whitesphere]

Personally, I wouldn't directly disclose the Rajah as the Nearly Big Bad right away.  Especially if you want human drama, it's far better to say the Rajah appears to everyone, even the Chosen Ones, as a kind and just ruler.  But, when his subordinates learn of you, they start asking reasonable favors.  When you succeed, these requests become more dangerous.  

At one point, your party must infiltrate the Rajah's palace, unseen by the guards.  Where you find evidence the subordinate seems to be corrupt.  You take the evidence to the Rajah, who then says something like "Oh, certainly, I will deal appropriately with the subordinate."

Your party leaves, then gets ambushed by some guards.  They cry out for help, but the Rajah has left the room...

Your party gets free (or escapes from the dungeon with some help from an unexpected ally who later joins the party).  They go again to the Rajah, directly and openly.  The Rajah then says something like "I've no time for this.  Good day."  

The goal is for your party to learn the Rajah is evil indirectly.  Then, they decide to start snooping around his palace and perhaps stumble onto, say, a cutscene of him torturing people or communing with the Evil God.  But there's no proof --- yet.

So your party merges with the Rajah's high society, goes to a party --- but MUST remain unseen by the Rajah for obvious reasons.  Eventually, one of them gives you a tip, so you look in the right place, find the evidence.  Then you confront the Rajah openly, showing the evidence to all his courtiers.  The Rajah then says "Well, now I must take care of you all."  Cue boss battle.  The Rajah should be able to draw on (minor) powers of the Evil God, so he's powerful magically, and a resilient fighter...

For a good RPG, the player must discover each piece of things you want him to learn.  Then the player uses his/her innate cleverness to put them together and deduce your intent...  Think of it as:  Show, don't tell.

 

[SoulPour777]

I'll take that whitesphere. I'll re-write most of the things I have written here initially since I haven't started the project yet. I want it to be as enjoyable as it should be, considering that most players may not be well acquainted with the mythological characters, so giving them a bit of introduction and element must also be considered. As for the Rajah, I think you're right, placing him evil at the beginning would ruin most of the game's discovering part. Thank you

 

[whitesphere]

Most RPGers, including myself, would not have the background in that particular mythos.  So, it's important to introduce the characters.  But the tricky part is to do it in such a way that shows, without dragging into a very long intro.  

For example, if I take the plot-line from FFIV as an example:  At the start of the game, all you know is Cecil has been ordered to take the Crystal from Mysidia --- a peaceful town.  He does this, and brings the crystal back.  But his merely asking a question "Why did we need to take this, Your Majesty?" causes the king to remove him from the Red Wings....

At that point, the king might seem moody or abrupt, but not EVIL.  You later find out why.

Let the player discover the mythos in the game.  The discovery makes the player care more for the info than a straightforward text blurb would.

That's why I like the idea of having the evil Rajah be polite and seem kind.  In real life, Ted Bundy, a notorious murderer, was very pleasant and likable.  Most people thought he was a very nice, quiet boy...

Your player might even find his concerns about the Rajah get townspeople upset with him even when they have experienced bad things:

"The Rajah has always been kind and just!"

"But your son disappeared." (which you know means he was taken and sacrificed, perhaps)

"In his kindness, the Rajah has agreed to provide me food and shelter, until my son returns."

"But he murdered your son."

"I don't believe your pack of lies!  He has always brought me kindness.  You are trying to bring me pain!  Leave!"

See tvtropes.org for excellent plot ideas.  I'm thinking of "Villain with Good Publicity"

 

[SoulPour777]

Most RPGers, including myself, would not have the background in that particular mythos.  So, it's important to introduce the characters.  But the tricky part is to do it in such a way that shows, without dragging into a very long intro.  

For example, if I take the plot-line from FFIV as an example:  At the start of the game, all you know is Cecil has been ordered to take the Crystal from Mysidia --- a peaceful town.  He does this, and brings the crystal back.  But his merely asking a question "Why did we need to take this, Your Majesty?" causes the king to remove him from the Red Wings....

At that point, the king might seem moody or abrupt, but not EVIL.  You later find out why.

Let the player discover the mythos in the game.  The discovery makes the player care more for the info than a straightforward text blurb would.

That's why I like the idea of having the evil Rajah be polite and seem kind.  In real life, Ted Bundy, a notorious murderer, was very pleasant and likable.  Most people thought he was a very nice, quiet boy...

Your player might even find his concerns about the Rajah get townspeople upset with him even when they have experienced bad things:

"The Rajah has always been kind and just!"

"But your son disappeared." (which you know means he was taken and sacrificed, perhaps)

"In his kindness, the Rajah has agreed to provide me food and shelter, until my son returns."

"But he murdered your son."

"I don't believe your pack of lies!  He has always brought me kindness.  You are trying to bring me pain!  Leave!"

See tvtropes.org for excellent plot ideas.  I'm thinking of "Villain with Good Publicity"

I'll look on to that. What a coincidence, its a site I visit when I have something in mind I don't know anyways, thanks for all your suggestion. It is a big help on developing the exact story and how it would be made into a game.

 

[whitesphere]

Glad to help.  Also, look at the plot for some highly successful RPGs to see how they do what they do.

There is a site that talks about why Chrono Trigger works so well as an RPG.  It mentions how the pacing is nearly perfect.  The player is always doing some smaller task, yet no task ever feels useless (i.e. "Go get me 20 bugbear hides for my soup, so I will give you the key to the castle.").  The smaller tasks all lead into the larger ones.  The tasks go like this:

- Go to the Fair

- Meet princess

- Save princess by jumping through time vortex

- Oops, princess was mistaken for her ancestor. Rescue the real queen...

Good pacing means there really aren't long stretches where the player is doing little, nor are there points where the player has a ton to do all at once.  And the grinding is kept to a minimum.  According to the site, it takes 20 hours of gameplay to finish Chrono Trigger.

Now, if you want to explore all of the side quests and really max out your party, it takes much longer...but those are optional.

Good luck!