What Are The Players?

[breadsmith]

It's all a dream.

There, I said it. It's all a bloody dream. Yay Solipsism!

[LordKarasuman]

You should probably just turn the other way if you see my name on a post in General Discussion then, Lord Karasuman. I'm all about exploring the nooks and crannies and gaping holes of lore. I might miss obvious details, read too much into things, and reach vastly erroneous conclusions just because they sound cool, but still.

Flights of fancy are fine. I just think that, for this particular subject, the player's existence being a complete mystery is my preferred "explanation."

[Red]

*Turns on Dev Mode*

What's that about not being in control?

And right, I forgot. ToME's come a long way since the various copyright issues.

[LordKarasuman]

It has.

By the way, I just realized something: you mentioned that ToME4 probably doesn't take longer than a few months. But the game DOES have a functioning count of how many in-game days you spend in it. My character at the moment has 421 and she's only in Ungrol's cave, so, hm.

[Red]

I've not payed much attention to that, so no reason to assume your run is anyhting but average. That being said, even if it takes you twice that time to complete the game, that's only about four years. Much more reasonable, but still seems a bit quick for the vast leaps in skill. A large part depends on the class-an Archmage accelerating that fast makes some sense, but a warrior learning how to shatter the ground with the sheer force of arms? Less likely.

A point I suppose must be brought up is that characters never practice. Think about the last time you learned something new-it might not have been teleporting through the shadows and repeatedly stabbing someone, but the idea is the same. Think about how much you had to practice before you could get it done right, and even then you screwed up sometimes.

Characters? They don't. They learn instantly. This would seem to suggest a kind of locked memory or divine gift, either remembering something perfectly they once knew or some higher being literally giving a new power to them. Might make sense for Sun Paladins, if there's a sun god, but ToME's stepped away from the usually roguelike god system, so it's a bit much to assume we're all chosen of one god or another. (Or I suppose not. We are the protaganists, why can't we be chosen for greatness?)

Maybe we're just a shadow of the Spellblaze, given life through quirk of fate and absorbing knowledge, power, and talents as we feed lives into the ever-burning pyre of the universe. I'd be cool with that.

[Sradac]

Or its just possible in this universe for a Hero to become all powerful quickly, if that is their Fate. Garkul was insanely powerful and he was just a single orc. He wasnt Spellblaze incarnate, or born from the souls of Sher'Tul. He was just awesome, just like the player.

[Lyoncet]

Comparing the PC to Garkul calls to mind a harrowing thought: What if Garkul had [gotten Eidolon's attention // been playing on Adventure/Exploration]? Can you imagine being on the opposite side of something that monstrously powerful who kept being resurrected every time you killed him?

Or maybe he was playing on a non-Roguelike difficulty, and scumming encounters is how he achieved all his feats?

[darkgod]

Mostly sradac is right; some people are born to be awesome!

[Lyoncet]

I think that's my favored explanation.

[Red]

Actually, the most obvious explanation. We were all chosen by a Dark God to amuse him, in victory and failure, especially last minute failure.

[Doctornull]

Garkul was insanely powerful and he was just a single orc.

Are we certain that he never married?

[Red]

Pretty sure that would've been mentioned in lore. Any (wo)man Garkul would marry is likely to be a badass in their own right.

Better question, did he have kids? Because depending on how much he believed in free love, well... Genghis Khan can be traced to the ancestry of over a billion people. If Garkul's badass gene is dominant and he got around, more likely than not his kids survived and might even make up the majority of the Orcish race. Which would explain why they're all so damn high level.

[Grey]

Yes, Garkul does indeed have a Khan-esque number of descendants.

[The Revanchist]

Actually, the most obvious explanation. We were all chosen by a Dark God to amuse him, in victory and failure, especially last minute failure.

This explanation is my favourite.

It even manages to explain quite a bit... But would that make the Eidolon Darkgod?

[Red]

I think we can assume Eidolon is the avatar of Darkgod's mercy. Notice how it has basically no abilities and only very rarely ever interacts with the world, and denies you an incredibly valuable option of warping to the world map only in the most dangerous places.