Ross Fisher

Just putting this here since it was requested. I'd wanted to build the marshes of Varcoast since BOBS volume 3 was announced. Decided I'd channel that idea here instead.

Szejmus squatted in the mud. With nought but a few fields between himself and home, he was jittery. Sure, the lads had all broken off and made their ways home. And there was the old place off in the distance. Still, doesn't it pay to be careful now? Many's the time a Varköszi has returned home to be greeted with a light sprinkling of arrows from the feckers who're moving in. Mayhap Szejmus and his kin got the homestead that way in the first place. But that's by the by now isn't it. There was old Nuadia on the stoop. As good a sign as any that there weren't any unwanted visitors. With all the blarney she gives out, you wouldn't keep her around if you weren't related to her. The dog was the first one to spot him. It ran up, yapping and happily waggling it's silly little tail. He reached down and gave its belly a brisk rub. A back leg giggled along. The wee-uns were next. Before he had a chance to set his gear down he was mobbed. Didn't they have chores to be getting on with? He lifted little Mikki over a shoulder, and grabbed Eilene in to his side as he strode home. If he didn't move quickly the rest of the little feckers would catch him and weigh him down before he reached the threshold. "Oh yes?" called sweet Ainye. "Brigands, is it? And I suppose you think this is a reasonable hour to make an appearance?" "Ainye, my love! Ain't you a sight for sore eyes!" The heart and the loins both stirred at the sight of her; the disapproving frown and the gorgeous hips both drawing him on. He caught up the little woman and held her in a fierce embrace. Mikki dropped on his head and Eilene damn-near smothered, but they'd both walk it off, probably. "Oh no!" Ainye chided him. "You're not- you're not-" but she was giggling too much to get her words out. He set her down quickly, and opened a bag of toys he had carved on the evenings away. "Here kids, take these and sod off for half an hour. Give me a chance to remind your mother the strength of my admiration." "Spirits preserve us," muttered Nuadia as she picked up her spinning and moved off. The kids all scattered, squabbling amongst themselves. And Szejmus turned back to his woman with a mischievous twinkle in his eye...

Don't let it stop you. Most of the Faction challenges will let you build in other nations. And yeah, I like the idea of the Nexo Knights being an Arthurian Myth. One day these heroes vanished into thin air, but legend says they'll return when you need them most. I'm also the guy who put Ninjago into the main BOBS game, so this is very on-brand for me.

Unrelated: Has Corrington ever been linked with Clay Moorington? I feel certain there is an association back in their history...

This is correct. I guess with more time, players could build more impressive responses. Likewise, less build time would limit what they're able to do. One month felt like a reasonable compromise that allowed us to keep running prompts at a good pace, telling an unfolding story. That depends on how well this game goes. The more popular it is, the longer it is likely to survive. Successful elements might rear their heads in BOBS. There's a good chance that stories we write here will officially become part of the lore of BOBS.

Szejmus O'Legg is a brigand, a cut-throat, a mercenary and a rogue. His people are nobodies, and his da? Well, you wouldn't have heard of him. The O'Legg clan hail from the peat bogs of Varcosia's Morin Peninsula. They're one of a dozen clans, tribes and warbands in the area. And, wouldn't you know it, they're not the ones on top. Haven't been for generations. All of which is to say, our boy Szejmus doesn't have much to look forward to in life. Not if he plays by the rules. And it's not like anyone does, mind. So, yes, if things are going to get better, he's going to have to fight for it.

Some of my Pyros builds: Pyrite Empire forces Phoideratoi Troops Varkösz Troops

For those of you who are interested, prompt #1 is now live:

This being a record of all that happened (history is written by the victor, after all) during the age of heroes. In the Autumn of 355AE, many adventurers headed home. In particular, according to @evancelt, Duncan Brickleton returned home to the family castle. This set in motion a chain of events that rippled out across the following year. In the winter of that year, many nations sent their people overseas to learn the lay of the land. According to @Professor Thaum, Sahir Al Thaumeddine took an unusual trip to Oleon that paid off in some very strange ways in 356AE. Adventurers subsequently put to sea.

Autumn is when soldiers are released from service to gather in the harvest. Please introduce your character, show their home and the life they have built for themselves. This prompt will be subject to the rules laid out in How to Play. The subject is open to your interpretation. Your MOC can be literally any size. You don't even have to include terrain if you don't want to. Just remember that every player gets the chance to vote for their favourites. If you want that to include your build, think about how you'd get people to vote for you. To submit an entry, add your own thread topic under Tales of Old. Start the title with [FACTION - CH1]. Then, once that topic is published, link to it in this topic. Easy! Entries will close and voting will open on Monday 3 November. Entries submitted after that date may miss out on votes from their colleagues. Players must belong to a faction before submitting an entry. We just want to know where your home is, geographically. It may also help you to think about what your homeland is like. Feel free to ask questions here or to your faction leaders.

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Welcome to the general discussion thread. Feel free to get weird with it!

Pyrite Empire The Divine Empire Home of the revered Mount Aplynicia and once a pillar of civilization, the Pyrite Empire is now a relic in decline - its discipline unmatched, but its institutions bloated and slow. Bureaucracy stalls action, and its armies, though elite, are too few. The Emperor now travels with his generals, desperate to stem collapse. Foreign auxiliaries are enlisted as a last hope. Sub Factions: The Phoideratoi | Exarchate of Varcosia Heraldry Flags: Sand blue, light blue Colors: Sand blue (and light blue) Sigils: Eagles * * For example. Faction colors are key. Lay of the Land Political Ruler: Emperor Heliandros IV Capital: Currently there is no fixed capital; Pyros, de jure Government: Semi-feudal theocratic empire Faction focus Faction Focus is a roleplaying instrument that helps indicate what a Faction finds important on a quick glance. It can help inspire your builds or shape your stories. The ranking of the Focuses indicates what a Faction finds more important, i.e. the Focus that comes first is most important to a Faction. People and History The Pyrites tend to approach things rationally and methodically and war is no different. Their generals are famous for the manuals they have written on war and how to deal with certain types of enemies. Their tendency to collect knowledge and pass it on along generations in a structured way is one of the reasons the empire has managed to stay alive for such a long time and helps to gain a marginal advantage over their enemies. Geography While the territory of the Empire is significantly smaller than during its heyday, it is still vast compared to many other nations and as such it is home to a diverse climate and geography. Overall, the geography is mountainous and the climate is warm, ranging from pleasantly Mediterranean in the west to increasingly hotter and more arid to the east. Vegetation follows the climate with the west being generally greener and a well-known home of olive trees and vineyards to drier shrubbery and grasses in the east. Example builds Real world inspiration and influences Late Byzantine Empire and other late-stage empires and Balkan kingdoms. Future equivalents in BOBS: The Middle Kingdoms, the Great Alliance States, Varcoast Subfactions Sub Factions are for all intents and purposes part of the Main Faction, but they offer the chance at playing a character of a distinct culture or subgroup of the Main Faction. As Sub Faction are mostly less strict in terms of uniform, the overall Faction uniform is of less importance here. What is important is that soldiers or armies of the Sub Factions still fly the main colors/flags of the Main Faction The Phoideratoi Fleeing Horde subjugation, these proud horse clans have accepted Pyrite lands in exchange for border defense. Some fight with honor, others wait for opportunity. To the Empire, they are both sword and serpent: valuable allies, yet a danger the moment trust falters. Lay of the Land Political Ruler: Strategoi appointed by the Emperor Capital: Koskouva Real world inspiration and influences Kievan Rus', Novgorod Republic, Principality of Moscow. A Slavic-inspired horse culture that has only recently settled in the borderlands of the Pyrite Empire. This is reflected in their architecture, with only relatively few stone buildings and most structures made out of wood. Exarchate of Varcosia A wet land of poor quality mostly known for its marshes and dark forests. It is sparsely populated by the seclusive Varcosians, who are led by their Druids. In exchange for a tithe to the Emperor, they enjoy Pyros’ protection against trespassers. Lay of the Land Political Ruler: Exarchate, local king subservient to the Emperor Capital: Lisreagh Real world inspiration and influences A sparsely populated land with forests and significant damp, foggy marshes and bogs. Coastal areas are more akin to western Balkan countries, such as Croatia. Culture has characteristics of druidic cultures, mixed with tribalism and Balkan influences. Want to join the Pyrite Empire and bask in wealth and glory? To sign up, post a picture of your signature figure, preferably accompanied by Pyrite formal flag colors. You are welcome to include a bit of a description as well. Your signature figure, or sigfig, will represent your character throughout your MOCs within Tales of Old (That does not mean that your sigfig has to be in every MOC you make). Although this is the “Sand Blue” faction, that does not mean that everyone should have a sand blue-uniformed soldier as sigfig. Within Tales of Old you build your own story – for example, your sigfig could start out as a carpenter that decides to work on a ship.

Join a nation To start playing, look at the 5 different nations available and pick one that you'd like to build for. Then contact the leader for that nation. Those are currently: Mardier: @Khorne Corrington: @evancelt Oléon: @The Sarge Pyros: @Ross Fisher Mogholay: @merc The Challenges Every other month, players will be given a prompt. You will then have until the end of the month to build a Lego MOC in response. Digital or physical, large or small, purist or third-party, legal or illegal; we don't mind. If you put something together, you're good. That's because everyone gets a chance to vote for their favourite builds in the first week of the second month. You can vote for as many builds as you want, but only once for each. At the end of the week, the MOC with the most votes is the winner, and gets to help choose what happens in the next challenge. Every second challenge will be a team challenge. This means that different nations might have to build slightly different things. For example, one nation might be trying to capture a flag, one nation might be trying to defend it. When we vote on these, the single most popular MOC determines what happens in that challenge. This means that teams with lots more players have as much chance of losing as their opponents. Scoring in the event of a tie In either case, if there is a tie, the 5 Faction leaders will cast the deciding votes. Number of challenges There will be a total of 6 prompts to build for per year; 3 individual and 3 nation challenges. In addition to these, if you'd like to build up your own character's story, or interact with characters from your nation, or even from rival nations, please do! We'd love to read your stories.

If you're not on the Discord, please consider joining. A lot of the important conversations about BOBS-TOO are happening there. https://discord.gg/cjDPZqrSp

Nice, nice.

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/forums/topic/208335-sff-cat-c-the-saman-league/

Early into their encounters, the Human species discovered that, uniquely among the stars, they shared a common reverence for history with the otherwise hostile Undivik. Efforts to expand on this theme proved fruitful, and the Saman League was founded as a result. L-R: Scrapper, Historian, Pilot, Guardian, Miner, Engineer

TBH, only if the missing story pieces are filled in.

We kinda let this series stall, which is a real shame. Here's the last build I did for it:

Is there any chance you could dial back the complexity to make it easier to launch? We don't need complex rule sets and charts of who owns what. We just need an excuse to build.

? No. I already explained this comment was about my last character?

@ImBrickingIt Smart thinking! It makes sense to start with a younger character, so that they can age with the game, gain promotions and earn properties at a logical pace. I started with an already old character seven years ago and the weird uptick in his career at a late stage has always bothered me. Plus now he should be in a retirement home, not roaming the brick seas.

They grow up so fast. Kid probably doesn't even remember the 90s.