Heeh, more literate than what I’ve been reading… (My blood runs cold, my memories have just been sold! Nya Nya na na-na-Nya, my angel is the centerfold!)
Just kidding, haven’t been reading much of anything
@jeantown l’m wondering could I make Arthur feel guilty of my cautivery. Like hey, hippie if you stop playing with daisies and start to fortify borders tons of women would be safe. How many outlaws wander due your stupid criminal friendly laws. Oh, and don’t make me start talking about your foolishness way to treat rebellions how many rebellions happen in a year? Stop daydreaming and become a man. Or I would search a man in other beds,honey"
@Doctor To be fair, I have also spent many hours in the last week playing a video game. I read the Oxford Guide to assuage my guilt for taking one week off of writing as I recovered from being sick. But I’m now fully recovered and have finished the game, so writing will re-commence forthwith! 
@poison_mara Oh, Arthur will feel quite guilty, wait and see. I’ve always had a plan for exactly when Guen can start “hardening” him, and you’re on the right track. It will be a little different from what you describe, but a similar idea. What better time to influence someone than when they can’t deny they made a huge mistake?
@jeantown I know you have a great mind :* I’m dying to start plotting and persuade my pawns make them hate each other, kill Cheese lover. More hype for your game than for Dragon age inquisition and I’m an ultra fanatic of a Bioware
@poison_mara As a fellow Bioware fanatic (who is, like you, buying a new machine just for DA:I), I’m humbled by such praise. I hope you’ll help me make the game live up to your expectations!
@jeantown i bought a ps4 for my birthday to play DAI literally it still in box due i hate shooters and all ps4 has in the catalog is all i hate in games, no custom ,no choices zero story. So i am just waiting to DAI i pay 400 euros plus game so that makes me crazy i suppose :((
@thesunfloweramazon, @Leingod Wow, very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
@jeantown Soo, spending your convalescent time playing Divinity: Original Sin, I see! I have decided to replace the sympathy I had for you when you were ill by jealousy. Can’t wait to see its price go down.
And as I read the word “fanatic” in the last posts my mind went all: fanaticism->extreme and uncritical zeal or enthusiasm, as in religion or politics->faith->religion-> Arthur’s legend and the evolution of religion. So here comes the question: do you think you are going to portray the decay of the Paganism in front of the Christianity during the game?
@poison_mara Well it doesn’t make you crazy (or not that much more than the average human being). It just means that you were willing and able to buy a ps4 early even if the catalog doesn’t have games you like yet.
@poison_mara I’ve been saving for a while to get a new desktop PC with an i7 chip and an nvidia card, just for DAI (well, also for Pillars of Eternity and the new Torment game, and I’ll probably catch up on some old games I haven’t played yet). It seems ridiculously self-indulgent when I already have a laptop, but I don’t think my laptop will run DAI. It crashed a lot while playing DOS, and also the screen is not very good quality. To be honest, I’m glad Bioware pushed the DAI release date back, because that gives me a little more time to save up and get a better machine!
@Tehani DOS will be a great game to get when the price goes down and they’ve patched a few more bugs, and also once some mods come out. It’s beautifully designed and so much fun to play. The plot and non-companion NPCs are very well done. Having two PC characters is a fascinating idea with tons of potential for relationship-focused storytelling, but unfortunately it falls far short of its potential in the actual game. If I weren’t so behind on Guenevere from being sick, I’d seriously consider trying to write a mod that gave the PCs more interesting characterization and relationship progression. Since, as in the old games like Baldur’s Gate, there’s lots of non-voiced text conversations, it wouldn’t be immersion-breaking to drop more/different text into the game, if that were possible. I just have to hope someone tries it, or at least writes some better-developed companion NPCs!
As for religion in Guenevere, I’m just not going to go there. The Arthurian stories do provide a great venue for imagining Christian/pagan tensions, but there are plenty of other tensions that I’d rather explore. So consider this a fantasy AU where Christianity just doesn’t exist. I do think, though, that I’ve found a way to include the grail, but I’m still working out the details. Obviously it won’t be associated with Christianity, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still have a sacred cup/bowl. I’ve been overhauling the plot of part 4 (so far in the future, sigh), and I think it now might involve Avalon and the grail in ways I hadn’t originally planned.
Why can’t I write faster? I want to be writing part 4 already!
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@jeantown Lol I will just copy/paste. It doesn’t make you self-indulgent (or not that much more than the average human being), it just means that you will be willing and able to buy a new PC to play recent games.
OK no Christianity in your universe, I got it. That will be a fresh way to see the Legend for me.
Hehehe can the grail be a cooking-pot or an anchovies jar? 
And yay for new ideas for part 4, for Avalon and for your motivation!
P.S: Pillars of Eternity has been on my “I want” list for a long time, and I am more than happy to learn about the new Torment game: you made my day!
Link to the game:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/248628703/web/mygame/index.html
Well if one is going for a non christian version of Camelot than the grail would probably be a cauldron, the cauldron of rebirth fits the best.
Hmm, looking up magic items King Arthur was supposed to own, he was quite the collector. A cauldron that shows if a man is a coward or brave by how quickly it cooks meat, and a cloak of invisibility.
Magic sword, magic scabbard of protection, and a cloak of invisibility, Arthur is a munchkin. lol
Is he a munchkin with hairy feet and an Arthur hole?
@Tehani I suspect that Pillars and Toment will be more interesting than D:OS when it comes to story and characters, but they’ll have a tough act to follow in terms of stat-building and gameplay. Really looking forward to both, though. I’m thrilled that these kinds of games are being made again!
@stsword That’s a good suggestion. I’ve read in a few places that early versions of the grail were more of a bowl than a cup anyway. I always have to think about what might be the best balance of recognizability vs. doing things a little differently from what people expect.
I’ve heard a lot of Arthurian stories about magic items that test marital fidelity, but not the bravery-testing cauldron. That’s interesting. Sounds like Munchkin could easily make a King Arthur booster pack. (I hear there’s going to be a Princess Munchkin game, which I can’t wait to combine with my Munchkin Zombies and/or Munchkin Cthulu sets.)
@Doctor As much as I like fusing characters, that might be a bit beyond me.
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Here I thought someone would make a joke that Harry Potter must be a descendant of King Arthur, what with the cloak of invisibility and all. lol
Well, if that crack theory that Harry is descended from Godric Gryffindor, and that other crack theory that King Arthur was descended from Godric Gryffindor (and the one that Merlin is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, since Merlin was canonized a Slytherin) is true, maybe he is, lol.
The cauldron and cloak are 2 of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain, a series of items in medieval Welsh tradition (Celtic lore just loves to write long lists of cool magic swag to give to their heroes; they’re like modern fantasy gamers and writers that way). There are of course variations of the list, but here’s one of the more common ones:
- Dyrnwyn (White Hilt), the sword of Rydderch Hael - bursts into flames when wielded by a brave or well-born man, but only burns cowards.
- The Hamper of Gwyddno Garanhir - food for one man is placed inside, the hamper is closed, and when it’s opened up food for 100 is found inside.
- The Horn of Bran Galed - a drinking horn that filled itself with whatever drink you wanted.
- The Chariot of Morgan Mwynfawr - a magic chariot that could go anywhere almost instantly.
- The Halter of Clydno Eiddyn - Whatever horse is wished for can be found in the halter.
- The Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant - it would cook no food for a coward.
- The Whetstone of Tudwal Tudglyd - a sword sharpened by it will slay any man whose blood it draws, but a coward who uses it will never draw blood.
- The Coat of Padarn Beisrudd - it perfectly fits any noble man, but cannot be worn by a churl.
- The Crock & Dish of Rhygenydd Ysgolhaig - any food you want can be found in it.
- Chessboard of Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio - a huge chessboard made of gold with pieces of silver and crystal that can play by itself.
- The Mantle of Arthur in Cornwall - an invisibility cloak.
- The Mantle of Tergeu Gold-Breast - reaches the ground when worn by a faithful wife, hangs down to the lap of an unfaithful one.
- The Stone & Ring of Eluned the Fortunate - grants invisibility. Used by Merlin.
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@thesunfloweramazon Merlin a Slytherin?! Wha…how…I don’t even!
@Leingod Seems they REALLY didn’t like cowards in those days. And that faithful wife mantle is such a cheap cheat. Certainly wouldn’t go well with my Guen.
The Celts. What a bunch of munchkin power-gamers.
I’m surprised Cuchulainn isn’t mentioned in there somewhere. Irish hero, said to have slain the guard hound of his master and offered to be his replacement until another one could be raised.
A prominent spear user, he fought all over the isles and is generally regarded as a national hero. Of course I only know of this legend because he appeared in Gargoyles and his spear, Gae Bulg, was wielded by Lancer in Fate. The English Isles certainly have their fare share of heroes, don’t they?
Info page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuchulainn
Info page with embellishment: http://badassoftheweek.com/cuchulainn.html
Although if we were to talk of famous English heroes, we could continue till Guenevere were a few more chapters completed I think.
Edit: You’re talking about items, where I went for legends… Okay… Blarney Stone? St George’s Lance, Holy Hand Grenade? Hmmm… nothing comes to mind.
DID SOMEONE SAY HARRY POTTER
And yeah, in the HP universe Merlin really was a Slytherin. 
Sorry for crashing the party and spamming your thread, @jeantown. The HP reference was practically calling to me. :’)
Speaking of which, useless question but I don’t suppose Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exists in your Guenevere universe?
@stsword My mind did go there, actually. There is a very brief moment in one path of Guen 2 where she can use something similar to an invisibility cloak. (It only lasts for a couple of minutes, though.) Harry Potter was all I could think of when I was writing it.
@thesunfloweramazon @MutonElite @CrayFoPottah I would have a hard time putting my own Merlin in any one Hogwarts house… he has some characteristics of all four. He’d have been a great Hogwarts headmaster, though (a few years ago, before old age really started setting in). And @CrayFoPottah HP is totally relevant, somehow… because wizards? because HP is relevant to everything? Anyway, I don’t feel like it’s spamming or crashing. Hogwarts could be imagined to exist somewhere in almost any universe, I suppose, so, although it won’t get mentioned in the game, if you want to imagine that Merlin spent some time at medieval Hogwarts, feel free.
@Leingod @Taiho Oh, the Celts… always with the seven feats of X and the three great leaps of Y and the fifteen wonders of Z… Sometimes it feels like reading a magazine cover or clickbait (“Twelve tips to improve your combat rage tonight!!! The seven secrets behind Cuchulainn’s success!!”) But I’d never seen the list Leingod posted, so thank you! (Most of the early Celtic stuff I’ve read is actually not Arthurian.) It sure does look like something out of a Dungeon Master’s Guide. Lots of good ideas, though.
Whatever Guen’s skill specialization, I’d like for her to have an appropriate powerful magic item by the time she gets to part 5. Part 2 gives her the option to acquire a rather evil magic sword, though it won’t be easy to get. She can use it for combat or for dark magic, or both. I’d like to come up with a parallel “good” sword that she can get in part 3 or 4, and I have some ideas for other things that magic-focused Guens could get. But I’m stuck on what sort of magic item a leadership-focused Guen might acquire. I’d like it to have some basis in Arthurian legend if possible.
A magic mantle will feature prominently in part 3, although (@MutonElite) fortunately it won’t be a fidelity test. So if I make a leadership-enhancing item, I’d rather it not be a cloak, since Guen might already have one magic cloak, and two might be a bit much in the summer.
@Havenstone seriously. I would not want to DM for any medieval Celts. I bet they’d be the biggest minmaxers ever.
And @Taiho I certainly hope Guen will be able to be considered a famous English hero by the time I’m done.
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