Soulthieves: music matters.
For amusement alone (possibly):
Long, long ago, back in the earliest days of Soulthieves development (so 2003 or 2004) I had an idea for a hot band touring the country, playing for legions of screaming fans. In the present manifestation of the game, the band could consist of high elves and lauchorns. I suppose there could be a mandolin, a harp and a wind (possibly an ocarina), and of course a lauchorn lead vocalist. I suppose it could use some sort of percussion (aside from the xylophone or glockenspiel, which I could also include for the "keyboardist"). The full-out drum kit probably doesn't fit, but I'll think of something. The most important thing is that, given that these boys are high elves and lauchorns, they'll drive all the girls wild.
At the moment this is all just flavour. But it's badass flavour. They'd basically be the original rock band. Not heavy metal, since all the instruments are made of wood. So heavy wood, I guess. But it would be glam wood. (If the glockenspiel is included then this must be revised, of course. Is 'wetal' a thing? (Other than 'metal' with the 'm' flipped, I mean.))
To make this post not be a complete waste, I'm gonna bounce some ideas on musical instruments to include in the game for the musically inclined PC:
- rattle
- castanets
- tambourine (all percussion possibilities for above)
- triangle? (LOLGASM)
- tinwhistle (or aluminumwhistle)
- ocarina (Marin's ballad holds my heart)
- digeridoo (for arangas)
- pungi (for charmers and other weirdos)
- clarinet (the badass of winds)
- cornet (token brass)
- lyre
- harp (not a concert harp, obviously)
- mandolin
- fiddle
- xylophone
- glockenspiel
- flanged keytar... well, okay, maybe not (keytard! LOLP3N15)
This is already many more instruments than in Ancient Domains of Mystery... and that's all right.
The simpler instruments require less skill in Music, but playing them will obviously allow you to practise and gain enough skill to competently play the more complex ones. And through all this playing, you can't forget that, once you have skill, you'll also be able to play your own voicebox. Perhaps you could even sing the latest hits by the above as-yet unnamed glam wood band... Valotia's Joy Boys, or Alien Lemur Complex, or something similarly indiscernible. I guess those aren't very glam wood-y. Whatever. I'm not calling them Han Valen.
Yeah, the clarinet and cornet probably aren't the best fit. I don't care, though. The clarinet, after all, is too badass to not include. I'd include the fucking harpsichord if a PC could reasonably carry one around on their back. And I wanted a brass in there, but the bugle, while being simple and awesome, is too damn obnoxious for taming animals or people. I might include the bugle anyway for completeness, but it wouldn't have much use in-game, just as the token of police and military. Maybe I could allow the PC to call familiars with it, but that might be escaping the scope of the game too much; all these instruments are supposed to be used in the same ways for the same purposes. The bugle would have to be classified as a tool, rather than a musical instrument, but the Music skill would probably still be the biggest factor in your ability to use it effectively. A magic bugle might even teleport familiars who aren't nearby like the Freedom of Association spell... an interesting idea.
Flanging would be badass if I could work it in. But that's a truly stupid idea to begin with. Which is what makes it badass.
Long, long ago, back in the earliest days of Soulthieves development (so 2003 or 2004) I had an idea for a hot band touring the country, playing for legions of screaming fans. In the present manifestation of the game, the band could consist of high elves and lauchorns. I suppose there could be a mandolin, a harp and a wind (possibly an ocarina), and of course a lauchorn lead vocalist. I suppose it could use some sort of percussion (aside from the xylophone or glockenspiel, which I could also include for the "keyboardist"). The full-out drum kit probably doesn't fit, but I'll think of something. The most important thing is that, given that these boys are high elves and lauchorns, they'll drive all the girls wild.
At the moment this is all just flavour. But it's badass flavour. They'd basically be the original rock band. Not heavy metal, since all the instruments are made of wood. So heavy wood, I guess. But it would be glam wood. (If the glockenspiel is included then this must be revised, of course. Is 'wetal' a thing? (Other than 'metal' with the 'm' flipped, I mean.))
To make this post not be a complete waste, I'm gonna bounce some ideas on musical instruments to include in the game for the musically inclined PC:
- rattle
- castanets
- tambourine (all percussion possibilities for above)
- triangle? (LOLGASM)
- tinwhistle (or aluminumwhistle)
- ocarina (Marin's ballad holds my heart)
- digeridoo (for arangas)
- pungi (for charmers and other weirdos)
- clarinet (the badass of winds)
- cornet (token brass)
- lyre
- harp (not a concert harp, obviously)
- mandolin
- fiddle
- xylophone
- glockenspiel
- flanged keytar... well, okay, maybe not (keytard! LOLP3N15)
This is already many more instruments than in Ancient Domains of Mystery... and that's all right.
The simpler instruments require less skill in Music, but playing them will obviously allow you to practise and gain enough skill to competently play the more complex ones. And through all this playing, you can't forget that, once you have skill, you'll also be able to play your own voicebox. Perhaps you could even sing the latest hits by the above as-yet unnamed glam wood band... Valotia's Joy Boys, or Alien Lemur Complex, or something similarly indiscernible. I guess those aren't very glam wood-y. Whatever. I'm not calling them Han Valen.
Yeah, the clarinet and cornet probably aren't the best fit. I don't care, though. The clarinet, after all, is too badass to not include. I'd include the fucking harpsichord if a PC could reasonably carry one around on their back. And I wanted a brass in there, but the bugle, while being simple and awesome, is too damn obnoxious for taming animals or people. I might include the bugle anyway for completeness, but it wouldn't have much use in-game, just as the token of police and military. Maybe I could allow the PC to call familiars with it, but that might be escaping the scope of the game too much; all these instruments are supposed to be used in the same ways for the same purposes. The bugle would have to be classified as a tool, rather than a musical instrument, but the Music skill would probably still be the biggest factor in your ability to use it effectively. A magic bugle might even teleport familiars who aren't nearby like the Freedom of Association spell... an interesting idea.
Flanging would be badass if I could work it in. But that's a truly stupid idea to begin with. Which is what makes it badass.