Theme/Plot Discussion

[jacob w.c.]

Hi ya'll! So we were talking in the Discord and I was wondering if any of you would be interested in a new theme for Snowbound? We don't use the naturalistic elements a lot, especially now that they're in the village and tbh I think the ranks and traditions are currently a bit muddled? Anyway, this is just to see if anyone would be interested in this and, if you are, what kinds of ideas you have. I have a couple ideas myself but I want to develop them a bit more before I put the whole thing up.

So something that Arcy brought up was that we should have a plot to go along with the change so I thought of a couple ideas! If you have your own though, feel free to throw them out there. We'll have a proper poll and stuff for all this eventually unless there's an overwhelming consensus on this thread or something like that. Anyway, the plot we sort of talked about on the discord is below:

So to break away from their current traditions with the ancestors and whatnot, I was thinking it might be interested if all the ancestors were actually one malicious spirit that's attempting to use Snowbound or cause trouble for it. Now that Snowbound's been keeping their traditions and ranks for awhile, they think they've lulled them into a safe spot where they'll do whatever they want. They're going to give a prophetic warning about Tanglewood but Jake isn't going to act on it immediately because he doesn't want to provoke them but then there's a murder on Snowbound's border with Tanglewood's scent on it. Obviously Tanglewood will be accused and this will cause some drama between them until Snowbound finds out that it's really the 'ancestors' doing, at which point they'll find a way to get rid of the spirit and then create their own way of life with new traditions and ranks and whatnot.

Obviously this idea isn't completely fleshed out so feel free to offer up ideas and whatnot! A

[Owlie]

In the past groups I’ve been in, many have mentioned an idea of a religion or traditions but very few I have seen ever stick to it. With the new site it’s viable to set a precedent with sticking to traditions.

You can attempt to make something having to do with the snow terrain or pull ideas from cultures.

[arcy]

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yeah, im obvs down for a new theme!! the natural thing is a little overused anyways hh. and the plot idea is rlly rlly cool tbh?? the only problem is how little we've done w ancestors till we just drop it but guess thats all the more reason to get rid of it adshgjsfsa
i can p come up w a ton of ideas if you need me to?? traditions and the such. however, im not quite sure what youll want and i dont want to slamdunk like a dozen ideas you might not want lol. just hmu if u rlly want tho sdgdsf
so, a culture/theme around snow/cold would be rlly cool, yeah!! its basically the same as it is rn but i guess the views on stuff could shift just a Little. tho we'd p need to drag in Another lowkey theme for the ranks and stuff. tbh we could still do a more strictly tribal thing, tho thats a little more overused.
if we were to go for another religion we'd p need to put it off for a while till things settle tbh. if we did one itd p be something simple tho, or at least easy to understand i guess?? that or snowbound could have Trust Issues™ and just have a general wariness of all sorts of religions lmao.

[cobblepot]

i'm down with the idea of redoing snowbound's theme, since no one is really playing into the current one much and i dont feel like it's super unique tbh ?? like it's not overdone but it definitely has BEEN done u know. i've never been super into set religions in clans and neither have my characters but i do think snowbound could be one of those clans with a really interesting one?? tho i do also like arcy's idea that snowbound might be tentative to get involved with religion again after their "ancestors" turned out to be one evil spirit.

im Very uncreative so im not much of a use lmAO but yea h

[jacob w.c.]

Yup! I agree that whatever we do, we want to stick with it for awhile. My primary issue with the ancestors is that no one really believes in them or cares about them, which gives v little ic reason for them to exist. If we want to do a plot that solidifies them rather than taking them out, I’m also open to that!

I’ll probably wait until we get a few more opinions as to whether we’ll change themes but I thought it might be interesting to do something with Swedish culture, especially since we have the village and the whole thing with food already so a lot of their traditions would be easy to ICly incorporate. This is just a quick mock up but I pulled from a few areas of their history for some possible ranks:

Kunglig/Konungen: These are both approximate translations into King or just a ruler/monarch in general. This would be the new leader position.
Riksdrots: Deputy
Riksmarsk: A chancellor in charge of war. Basically this would be a replacement for the Snowstriker.
Krigare: The replacement for Lionhearts.
Rikskansler: The replacement for the Arcticplayer.
Adiutar: The replacement for Flurryhost.
Lach: A Doctor. Replacement for Frosthealer. This is actually in Anglo-Saxon because I couldn’t find a good fit for it in Swedish culture.
Amme: A nurse. Replacement for Tenderfoot. This is in Danish because, again, I was having problems finding medical terms in Swedish.

Another option is having a mix of English and Swedish/themed terms of having everything entirely English with the exception of the leader just to make sure that the theme is still somehow in the ranks. I’m this situation, the deputy would be a chancellor, the three hps would be magistrates (distinguished by department/faction), and the shps would be stewards with the exception of the medical position which would probably be called a nurse. The medical magistrate could also be changed to a doctor or something like that. The word magistrate could also be replaced with Constable, as that’s what they would’ve been called at one time in Sweden but that can also mean a police officer-like figure and I wasn’t sure we wanted them to give off that vibe.

[MysteriouslyMaple]

I'm definitely in support of us changing the ranks/religion around since Snowbound isn't really invested in their religion. I'm not sure what kind of plot that can really solidify them, though I would be interested in Snowbound actually becoming invested in a religion. I've noticed not a lot of groups actually practice their religion a lot and of course you can't force anybody to believe in said religion (or force their roleplayer to make them lol), and I've always thought a group that actively practiced a religion would be really neat.

As for the ranks, I think it'd be a good idea to mix-and-match with English terms because I feel like having all the ranks based of Swedish/Danish words might hinder people from coming since they're kind of hard to pronounce/read at least to me aa I think idea for the doctor/nurse positions are fine, as well as the replacement for Flurryhost, but I can't feel any attachment to the others. Of course it's entirely your choice on whether you want to do the Swedish theme - I do think it's an interesting concept! - and I'd never leave Snowbound because of it, I just think that maybe having Swedish names might potentially put off joiners?

[jacob w.c.]

I was actually thinking we’d just drop the religion tbh. It’s very hard to maintain because new and old members have no reason to believe in it ICly and, in the past, there’s been very little interest in tradition/religion based events. The only way I can see it working is if everyone was required/if we had an established member base that already believed in it but that just isn’t our situation rn. I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually adding one if it made sense ICly but right now I can’t think of why they’d rush into another religion, given the plot where the ancestors basically have tricked them and whatnot. I would be up for a religious plot in the future tho! I just want to make sure that whatever we do doesn’t seem random ICly.

And I agree with the ranks! When I looked all those up and seemed like kinda a lot so I think we’ll do a mix of the Swedish and English titles so it isn’t so overwhelming. I’m also totally open to more theme ideas if anyone has some!