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Messages - Eleaneth

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16
Brandon Sanderson / Re: what the metals do in feruchemy and hemalurgy
« on: March 19, 2009, 11:35:20 PM »
It'll be interesting to see what he puts in the second Mistborn trilogy... For instance, what would a Lerasium hemalurgical spike do? Lerasium and Atium feruchemical abilities? And what would their many allomantic alloys do in the other two powers?There's still a lot to be explored with feruchemy, especially if he introduces feruchemical "Mistings".

Of course, Sazed might just not release any God metals to the population. They are a bit overpowered... And hemalurgy seems much to morbid for Sazed to encourage it, except maybe in ridiculously rare circumstances.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: [MISTBORN RPG] Your wish lists, please
« on: March 19, 2009, 11:28:16 PM »
I think the most realistic way to do it is to only keep track of Pewter and Atium mathematically. The other metals don't seem to run out fast enough to make a big difference, but the GM could always say, towards the end of a prolonged battle, "your iron and steel are running out" or something.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: ***SPOILERS Official Hero of Ages Spoilers Thread. Includes Q&A w/Brandon****
« on: March 18, 2009, 08:19:02 PM »
So, I wanted to speculate a bit about the future of the Mistborn world.

First of all, the Kandra and Marsh will both be under Sazed's influence just like they used to be under Ruin's. Considering Sazed's character, I imagine that he'd let them have free will but have enhanced ability to communicate with them. I'm imagining a temple to Sazed/Adonalsium made by the Kandra under Sazed's influence. He might ban all metal from the temple, so that he can see everything in it clearly. I'm imagining Marsh as doing what he wants unless Sazed has an errand for him, in which case Marsh could understand what Sazed wants better than anyone else.

I'm also imagining the kandra taking the role of priests. Occasionally, Sazed might give them permission to receive extra Blessings (from a dead kandra or from someone who was executed lawfully or something like that). A kandra with extra Blessings would be more powerful and more in-tune with Sazed's speaking to them.

It would also be a very challenging world for non-Mistings.

You also might find people trying to develop a breeding program that would reintroduce Mistborn.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Table of Allomantic Metals *Spoilers*
« on: March 18, 2009, 06:54:25 AM »
I'm also curious on Lerasium. The Allomantic chart hints that its alloys could have other abilities than just creating Mistings.
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In alloy form, it produces various expanded Physical and Enhancement effects (including the creation of Mistings).

I guess we'll have to RAFO if/when he returns to Mistborn to make a later series...

20
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Let's try something new with Alcatraz!!! (May include **SPOILERS**)
« on: March 18, 2009, 06:45:27 AM »
I had a random idea. What if, in a critical moment, they needed some more power to save the day? Alcatraz and Bastille could just officially marry, get their parents' permission, get Grandpa Smedry or someone to authorize it and make it official, and walla! Two people with the Talent of Breaking!

Of course, that would complicate their lives. Not to mention spreading the Dark Talent. But it just might get them out of a dangerous situation.

Heck, they could even Break each others' Talents... that would be rather interesting, if they could do it.

21
Brandon Sanderson / Re: [MISTBORN RPG] Your wish lists, please
« on: March 18, 2009, 06:30:03 AM »
BTW, I don't like supplement books. Then I have to pay more, it's harder to find what I'm looking for, etc... I like simplicity so the average player can understand how things work.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Mormon Doctrine & Sanderson's Writing
« on: March 17, 2009, 06:22:25 AM »
You know, pretty much every major belief system teaches tolerance in some way or another. I've heard many Mormon leaders speak from the pulpit about being respectful of other faiths. Agnosticism without tolerance is self-defeating. Athiesm, Islam, Judaism... all generally claim to be the most intelligent, most true, most logical, but they generally also teach to be tolerant, except for extreme offshoot groups.

And yet it amazes me how intolerant most of us are. I read something I disagree with, and I suddenly find myself feeling angry or disgusted. I have to calm myself down. In religion (and politics as well), we become so passionate sometimes. It's easy to get carried away. (Not that we shouldn't state our views and disagree plainly and honestly. It's just easy to resort to thick-headed stubbornness and personal attacks.)

Anyway, I think we've done a pretty good job of keeping it polite here, like readerMom said. It makes me happy. :)

23
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Mormon Doctrine & Sanderson's Writing
« on: March 16, 2009, 09:28:59 PM »
Since I am a Mormon and also noticed some Mormon themes in Sanderson's writings, I wanted to post my thoughts.

First, I really only noticed one Mormon theme in Mistborn. Mormon scripture teaches that the universe is governed by law. God is God because he obeys and uses those laws. Theoretically, if God were to be unjust, He would cease to be God, though of course that is inconsistent with His nature. That theme appears in the Mistborn series, especially the final book, as the main characters try to discover the laws that Ruin has to obey. It also appears in Alcatraz versus the Scrivener's Bones, with the Curators who obey their laws. I doubt Sanderson intended this to be a religious theme, but it may have been influenced by his background.

Second, I wanted to respond to a couple of Skeptic's concerns.
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those that elevate racism to the status of divine judgment of a people's intrinsic worth as human beings.
Honestly, most Mormons would find it offensive to be called racist. (Although, of course, there are racist Mormons, just like there are probably racist people in every religion and culture.) I don't think this board is the right place to have an in-depth theological discussion, but I'll touch on it briefly. It is true that the Church refused to ordain people with black African ancestry to the priesthood for a long time. However, the Church never, ever taught that any race is superior or inferior to any other. Priesthood is a privilege, and even in the Old Testament God only allowed the Levites to hold the priesthood. The Book of Mormon itself states, "he [God] denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile" (2 Nephi 26:33). In other words, the restriction of the priesthood was never intended to be permanent, and it was never intended to affect the salvation of any race or person.

But I can certainly see why it bothers some people.

Another thing that bothers a lot of people is the idea of humans becoming like God in every way, essentially becoming Gods of their own worlds and spiritual children. It may bother you less to know that we also believe that this can only happen through the grace and atonement of Christ, and that we will always be subject to God as our Eternal Father. In other words, He will always be our God. (Not to mention that we believe that it will take a tremendous amount of learning and work and instruction from God after we die before we reach that point.)

Anyway, I hope that helps. :) Many religions seem absurd at first glance, but almost every religion has been analyzed but scholars and laypeople for years, if not centuries, who continue to believe the religion they have studied. Mormonism makes sense to me.

I think Brandon Sanderson has done a very good job at not putting his religion into his books. Core beliefs, such as the universe being a logical, orderly place, and such as family being very important, will obviously show up in his books. Otherwise they wouldn't truly be his books.

24
Brandon Sanderson / Re: [MISTBORN RPG] Your wish lists, please
« on: March 16, 2009, 08:50:15 PM »
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* What's your favorite part/most anticipated element of a Mistborn RPG? (1)
* What are some character concepts you were hoping to play/see at the table? (2)
* What parts of the game world do you most want to see done "right"? (3)
* Are there aspects of the Mistborn setting you would like explored further, beyond what the books covered? (4)
* Are there any particular elements that you have a tough time visualizing or would like to see an artistic treatment of? (5)

1. Playing it! The creativity of being able to create and play all sorts of different characters?
2. Kandra are incredibly cool.
3. Powers. I'm hoping for a way to keep Mistborn, Mistings, and other characters balanced and realistic. (For instance, someone who spends all their time training their Mistborn powers may not be as knowledgable, diplomatic, or sneaky without their powers.) A simple battle system that doesn't bog down gameplay looking up endless technicalities and rolling endless dice would also be very helpful.
4. Yes--cities outside of Luthadel. Wouldn't it be fun to have a campaign in a yet-unexplored Dominance during the Collapse?
5. Art ideas... the inside of Luthadel keeps... Misting battles... Feruchemist feats... You could show a metalworker refining Allomantic metals.

Here's a quick idea: one hindrance for Mistborn and Mistings is that they need to buy their allomantic metals from a specialist, and they run out of pewter relatively quickly. OOC, they could have a pool of tokens representing their Pewter stores. The other metals tend to last long enough that they usually don't have to worry too much. They could flare their pewter by spending three tokens for double the strength (since flaring is less efficient).

25
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Elantris vs. Mistborn *Spoilers*
« on: March 13, 2009, 09:43:55 AM »
I think that the Feruchemist and the Dakhor would be pretty evenly matched, but it depends entirely on how much the Feruchemist has stored up and how strong of a monk the Dakhor is. Sazed with a ton of stored-up strength, health, and speed would be pretty even with Dilaf, I think.

Elantrians have the most versatile power by far. They can do almost anything... However, it does take a few moments. I think the Mistborn would win, since they could dodge almost anything, practically fly, and attack extremely quickly. However, we don't really know the extent of the Elantrians' abilities. We only glimpsed their abilities at the end of Elantris. Maybe Elantrians can fly, dodge, and have prepared AonDor that can be released suddenly in battle. Maybe they could develop swords that active an AonDor like their light plates glowed on touch.

Of course, if the Mistborn had much atium, then there would be no contest.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: ***SPOILERS Official Hero of Ages Spoilers Thread. Includes Q&A w/Brandon****
« on: March 13, 2009, 09:23:28 AM »
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8. Concerning the two types of mist: Does burning Tin make the Ruin mits more clear, just like it makes the normal ones translucent?  Does using Hemalurgy attract the Ruin mists? Can a person using Hemalurgicly-stolen Tin powers still penetrate the mists?
If I understood it right, all of the mists belonged to Preservation. Ruin simply encouraged them slightly so that they would make it difficult to grow crops. So, Hemalurgy always drove the mists away.

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9. If the Lord Ruler was controlled by Ruin through the Atium Bracers on his arms (which stored age), shouldn't that have shown what Atium's Hemalurgic Power is?
So far as I know, they weren't actually hemalurgic, since they weren't used to kill someone and steal their powers. However, having metal embedded in his skin still caused the Lord Ruler to be under Ruin's influence. I'm not totally sure about that, though.

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10. How does the Steel Inquisitors' Eyesight work?  Is it just the Allomatic properties of Iron and Steel (the blue lines) or is it a different power granted by Ruin?  It doesn't seem to work in exactly the same way that Ironpulling and Steelpushing lines work.
In the first book, Vin blinded a Steel Inquisitor by throwing up a metallic powder. So, I think they have the steel/iron blue lines in much more precision and depth than the average person.

27
Brandon Sanderson / Re: **SPOILERS! The Shards of Adonalsium
« on: March 12, 2009, 07:15:20 AM »
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I'm pretty sure we have only seen one shard's influence on Elantris and if there is another one it is sleeping.

Actually, I really like the sleeping shard idea... especially if it's the shard of Rest or Peace or something like that. So much more to find out!

28
Brandon Sanderson / Re: [MISTBORN RPG] Your wish lists, please
« on: March 12, 2009, 07:11:06 AM »
**SPOILERS!**
The Lord Ruler created the Steel Inquisitors, and during his reign he controlled them. During WoA, the Steel Inquisitors were largely controlled by Ruin, but seemed to have a small amount of autonomy (for example, Marsh apologizes before attacking Sazed). After Ruin was released, Marsh seemed to have difficulty so much as wiggling his finger on his own. It took all of his will to make one quick movement at the end. Afterward the world's rebirth, Sazed could have controlled Marsh, the last Inquisitor, but it seems out of character for Sazed to do so.

However, I think that some GM's will want to stray slightly from the canon of the books and allow Steel Inquisitors more autonomy, or allow them in time periods where they really did not exist. So, if you want players and GM's to have that kind of freedom, then go for it.

Regardless, you will definitely need mechanics for Steel Inquisitors. They'd make delightful villains, so GM's will need to know what their rules are.

29
Brandon Sanderson / Re: [MISTBORN RPG] Your wish lists, please
« on: March 10, 2009, 06:35:51 PM »
I think it would have to be a point-buy system, like GURPS is. The setting would be completely up to the GM and the players. Why not be able to play in the period after Sazed's Ascension? Or anytime?

I think it would work best to have an ordinary, generic system, plus the ability to use your character's development points to buy certain abilities: Misting, Mistborn, Feruchemist, Feruchemical Misting (only exists post-Sazed's Asc.), Hemalurgist. Hemalurgists can get their abilities in several ways: they can get a single random spike, or they can be a Steel Inquisitor, Koloss, or Kandra. Although koloss may not be entirely sentient, so they might not be very fun to play.

Ultimately, it's the GM's responsibility to enforce things like Feruchemists being Terrismen, Hemalurgists being influenced by Ruin, Skaa mistings/mistborn being very rare and hunted by the Steel Inquisitors, and Nobles trying to figure out who is a misting/mistborn.

If you want to do a class system, I suggest this:
Basic Classes:
Skaa (With thieving, stealth, underworld contacts, crafting, and merchant abilities)
Noble (With diplomacy, contacts, merchant, scholar, etc. abilities)
Terrisperson (Spying, scholar, contacts)
Kandra (Spying, stealth, Blessings give bonus to strength&speed/senses/intelligence/emotions, speed for forming a new body--must serve Contract) (Kandra couldn't be a prestige class because humans don't become kandra through hemalurgy; mistwraiths do.)

You could also replace Skaa, Noble, and Terrisperson with Thief, Soldier, and Diplomat or some such thing.

Prestige Classes:
Obligator (from Noble or very, very well-connected Skaa)
Steel Inquisitor (from Obligator)
Crew Boss (from Skaa or Kandra)
Misting Specialist
Misting Savant (from Misting Specialist)
Trained Mistborn (must be Noble or have a trainer)
Keeper (from Terrisperson)

Sorry if that's too much. I really enjoy coming up with ideas for things like this. :)

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: **SPOILERS! The Shards of Adonalsium
« on: March 10, 2009, 05:40:27 PM »
Yeah, he's certainly clever enough to think up plenty of new ideas. I mean, look at how many beautiful worlds and creative magic systems he's already developed... the colors of Warbreaker, the metals of Mistborn, the Dor of Elantris, and the silimatics and Smedry talents of Alcatraz. I've never read another author who rivals him in the building of "magic" systems.

Edit: Although, I do think that the Dor and the Elantris Pool are opposites... They're too different. It's like the Dor is Energy and the Pool is Rest, or something like that.

Another idea: The shards might be organized based on the Spiritual, Cognitive, and Physical realms. The powers of Preservation and Ruin are very physical-world based. On their world, metal is power. Metal glows so brightly they can't even look too closely at it. Metal is very physical. In contrast, they can't read minds, and they can only touch minds with difficulty (unless, for example, the person has metal embedded in them, in which case Ruin can touch them more easily). The Warbreaker powers seem to be more spiritual to me, and the Elantris powers seem more cognitive (it takes great precision to use the Dor at all, either through AonDor, the ClayShen form, or for the Derethi monk-demons). Alcatraz's powers also seem Cognitive to me.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. :)

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