Soul SCREAM!

[MJZ]

Wow, I thought the Wail was visible to all! Hmm..

Now, this is raising another question for me!

The concept of the Soul Mother seems to cast a negative pall around death, moreso than otherwise. It tends to paint the visage of a greedy, soul-sucking predator for some characters at times (I know Ariel certainly starts to feel that way when people go on about Her).

So I have been wondering, if death is accompanied by something so violent as having a strand torn from your soul by the Soul Mother, is it unrealistic for a character to feel that death is a release, and that it is not negative?

And, describing a Soul Strand as something that tethers your soul to your body I think is wonderful, makes much sense to me.

[Dorganath]

Wow, I thought the Wail was visible to all! Hmm..

Now, this is raising another question for me!

The concept of the Soul Mother seems to cast a negative pall around death, moreso than otherwise. It tends to paint the visage of a greedy, soul-sucking predator for some characters at times (I know Ariel certainly starts to feel that way when people go on about Her).

So I have been wondering, if death is accompanied by something so violent as having a strand torn from your soul by the Soul Mother, is it unrealistic for a character to feel that death is a release, and that it is not negative?

And, describing a Soul Strand as something that tethers your soul to your body I think is wonderful, makes much sense to me.

The visual effect is visible to all players...but it's not really a thing that our characters would see.  The same can be said about the white glow that characters have while recovering from death.  What our characters would see is a rather sickly pallor to indicate a less-than-healthy state, not a translucent white glow.  Again, we have limits in the engine and so to give some kind of easy-to-identify state, we have things like these.

Regarding the Soul Mother's nature...well, it's difficult to answer fully without giving away things that should not be given away.  There is some write-up about her in the current handbook, which is probably a good start, but to characterize her as a predator is probably not entirely accurate.  But!  I think I'll leave it there.

As for your character's feelings on death, I suppose that's up to you.  What happens on death is documented in the handbook and on LORE...and maybe still on the forums too, but that's a mechanical thing, and does not dictate how one should feel about death.  I would suggest you figure out your own answer to that question, but I believe there are many "reasonable" perspectives on death and that part of how one may feel about it may have its roots in a character's belief (or lack thereof) in the dogma of one or more deities.

[Blackguy]

Actually, the very first person that achieved perm status on Layonara actually were visited by the soulmother and had his soul taken.

This was visible by all the players that stood around the body. This was on the 10th token, and before that there was no way to check if you had lost a token.

I think that the new animation only brings the feeling to your character that something felt wrong opun that death, and perhaps a checkup at the nearest healer can confirm that another strand was cut.

[Interia_Discordius]

If there are several perspectives on death, perhaps there can be several perspectives on the loss of a strand. It'd prevent the need to reroute a bunch of RPing and CDTs, either way

[Dorganath]

Actually, the very first person that achieved perm status on Layonara actually were visited by the soulmother and had his soul taken.

This was visible by all the players that stood around the body. This was on the 10th token, and before that there was no way to check if you had lost a token.

I think that the new animation only brings the feeling to your character that something felt wrong opun that death, and perhaps a checkup at the nearest healer can confirm that another strand was cut.

Yep...that is visible.  But that's a different kind of situation.

[Hellblazer]

"Soul ripping" is not OOC...because a bit of your character's soul is indeed lost, or rather, a bit of what binds your character's soul to you (i.e. a Soul Strand) is lost.  This is an IC thing, and it would be felt by your character.

What is OOC is the "Wail" visual effect that accompanies the loss.  That's there for the player to know that a Soul Strand was lost.

Sorry dorg i meant the visual not the actual soul ripping.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

Well, I've always played Pyyran as having an uncanny sense of danger, and of the changing tides of luck. The most obvious thing I do to RP this is his "trouble itch..." Mechanically, however, this is represented by both Improved Evasion and Improved Uncanny Dodge, which are both (if I remember right) Extraordinary abilities which give the character a heightened "sixth sense" which I think fits the Trouble Itch really well.

His sixth sense, as well as his sheer volume of experience with magic and death, I play as giving him a good idea when something Big happens, like the death of a party member/friend, the loss of a Strand in his immediate vicinity, a trap that he's about to step on, or the goblin sneaking up behind him. (After all, he retains his DEX bonus to AC against attackers he's unaware of, and can get out of the way of an exploding Fireball before it is finished being cast.)

Characters with Healing or Death domains, I would think, would also get a sense of when something catastrophic relating to death occurs. Likewise, specialists in Necromancy, and Sorcerers of any flavour.

[MJZ]

Really, Sorcerers of any flavour? Do elaborate - what makes you say that?

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

They have a deeply ingrained connection to the Weave and to magic... I would think it would give them as strong a sixth sense (if not one that could react in the same way, with the same alacrity) as Pyyran has through Imp. Evasion and Uncanny Dodge.

I've always considered Sorcerers' Spellcraft to be an intuitive thing, rather than one gained through study. Therefore, if something Big happens (and I would think that the Soul Mother ripping away a strand would be big), I'd think they'd feel it.

Then again, this all hinges on how you view Sorcerers.

[Dorganath]

I'm not sure how a sorcerer's or wizard's spellcraft and/or connection to the Weave would give them an understanding of something like a soul being torn from its foundations.

Furthermore, I think that a high level sorcerer would be far more sensitive to disturbances in the Weave (and it has not yet been established that a lost Soul Strand is in fact such a thing) than a low-level sorcerer.  While both have an innate ability with the Weave, the lower-level sorcerer just may not have the experience or be as attuned  as the high-level sorcerer.  In that, an event could happen that a low-level sorcerer may completely miss but one that would proverbially "raise the hackles" of a high-level one.

So don't factor out things like experience and such on what one's character can and cannot perceive, and in this case also identify.  And don't make too many assumptions that can lead to over-RPing what these numbers and line-items actually mean.

I personally think it's incorrect to say any necromancer, cleric or the other things you mentioned would  be able to sense and identify each and every Soul Strand loss in the vicinity regardless of level, experience or other factors.  

My opinion only, of course.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

I actually agree with you wholeheartedly, Dorg - experience is a big part of it... I should've clarified that in my post, I was mainly speaking of characters with a fair deal of experience. Pyyran, for instance, is one of the more experienced people on Layonara who are devoted Adventurers (and, to my knowledge, the only one who lists his profession as such, at least among PCs). And even then, his Trouble Itch is imperfect, even with all of his efforts to tune in on it. (I plan to take him to Bard levels, if he makes it past 10th in Duelist.)

I would think, furthermore, that Sorcerers, and really anyone who relies on intuition, would be able to have greater understanding of the base intuition inherent in at least all humans, as they gain experience with it.