The ultimate Arcanum 2 plot: The day the future past

200 years has past since the Last Arcanum. Science after many set backs has finally gained support of the world. Magic is still used but Barely and mainly by "old school" Elders who are not "Hip" to the new tech. There are Laser guns, Teleporters, There is even some clown in the Main port town of Gardena (once known as Blackroot) who clames to be building a "Vacumus Coach" (a coach capable of travel in outer space!). Many things have become possible since the invention of the centeral "PC" (the peoples calculator) some 39 years ago.

But the most amazing rumor comes from the deepths of a ghetto town once known as Tarant. There it is rumored that a Slum Lord, Has forced one of the worlds leading scientest to create a stable temporal rift! (A hole leading back in time!) No one really belives this but then why are things and people starting to mysteriously disappear? Even stranger why is it that YOU (the hero) are the only one who actually remembers how thing used to be?

It is up to you now to decide the future of Arcanum by travelling into it's distant past (some 50 years B4 the First arcanum takes place). If you are a tech some of the weapons you take back with you would be thought of as magic! How would time be effected if one were stolen or left behind? Your job (if you are of good alignment) is not only to undo your enemies foul deeds but you must beware of your own actions as well because YOU don't belong here either!


I think this story would rock because not only would you be able to see Arcanums Future world and the effects your fisrt adventure had on it but you would also be able to visit it's past and get answers to some of the questions you had about how Arcanum came to be!

Well what do you guys think?

 

Sounds pretty well thought-out. I've got a few things to add, like maybe you have spend time ine the future for a while to find out about the lost art of magick, and to find an elder mage who has knowledge of the temporal school of magick, in order that you can go back and set things right again.

In the past, you also have the option to learn and use the forgotten magicks, allowing the use of some of the spells from the first Arcanum, as well as inventing new ones.

As for the influencing tech stuff - that might be a bit hard. what if you finish the game, but have left all that stuff you couldn't carry during the game, back in that faithful wooden chest in the inn you frequent most. If you can't carry the things that you came with, then you would be screwed.

It would be much better to limit it simply to influencing certain people - like being in the Black mountain Dwarven clan when Bates first discovers the plans for the steam engine. You can affect the future by what you do.

If you're tech inclined, you might help him by enhancing the engine with your skills to make the technology you use, more advanced by bringing them back from a now more technologically-enhanced future, and thus improving your technological weapons that you have. Or do you wreck the engine, and ensure Bates never finds it, to lessen the hold of technology in your future, and thereby enhancing your magickal abilities?

The possiblities with your idea are massive, but could be very complex - leading to a very involving and versatile game. Provided it's done of course! :razz:

 

Hey thanks for the tumbs up! I like your Ideas to improve upon the story but I really had intended on them spending some time in the future (as needed to learn available magic / Tech and complete a few side quests (Like the teleporter, the Vacum bubble or Learning old school magics from elders) )

The future would be the first 3rd of the game the past would be the second 3rd of the game and events leading up to the final confrontation would be the final 3rd of the game.

Yes it's ambisious (spell check) but no less so then the original Arcanum was, man it blew me away with all the choices and possiblities, sometimes I am still blown away by it! :stoner:

 

"Back to the Future" meets "The Quintarra-Hillibillies"?

Sounds great!

The only thing that I would question is the fact that is you go to the time that the BMC allows bates to take the schematics and all that ...
Well ...
Then you will end up in the future in a time where Technology doesn't exist ...
And if you get there with a gun ... BOOOM!!!!

 

A good point but if I know my Star Trek your weapons would still work in the past while you were in the past trying to "fix" thing cause the fact that you still exsist suggest that the timeline has not been totally "broken" Yet. Only when you got back to the future would you feel the effects of the changed past. But while you were in the past your personal time feild would still treat the past as your present thus the stuff you had would still function until a time wipe occured.

Also I thought going back to and seeing a young bates and the dwarfs in their prime would be kind of Interesting and would help tie into the original Arcanum.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Why don't you make a Mod out of this idea?

I'm serious.

You can create a section with an "alternate" future with no magic (where the Tarantian Overlords rule in a two party democracy and they control the TNN (Tarantian News Network).

Another section would be an alternate future with no technology, where the Dark Elves finally achieve their objective and rule Arcanum ... where the gnomes serve the half-ogres they created.

Then, to make things right, your mission is to find a way to make these alternate universes colide so they balance eachother out.

What do you say?

 

He couldnt make a mod about it, because WorldEd won't let you add the required animations to give the correct looks. It's a good idea, though. Sounds like Fallout in Arcanum.

 

Right on!

Except if you were to really do it right it would be WAY to big for a MOD I mean even although Magic is not AS popular, this has only been true for the last generation (20 years) or so. Over the last 180 years schools of magic have come and gone and some have remained. So there is that to learn for mages. Thieving tech has progressed with technology so there are new skills to learn (some which would be helpful in any time, and others that may be valuable in the future but useless in the past). Persuding a person to do something in year 1800 would be VERY different from persuding someone in the year 2000 for example, the same for gambling and standard weapons. No a MOD would be way to small and confining to give the story it's full flavor.

 

well i think the plot of arcanum 2 is....You the main character is tired from you long journy and decide to take a nap. You wake up like normal and look out your window.Undead are every where.Disaster is every where. You now must find a way to get home and escape the madness...So how do you all like it?

 

uke:
Sorry, it isnt that great. Not much of a storyline.

 

Well that could be a way to tie your original 50 + lvl charecter into this storyline. Have something make him/her sleep for like 200 years. That would be cool cause then you could keep your magical knowledge and add on new schools as you go.

But it would also kinda suck cause you would already be close to God like in power. Which means the game would have to be that much harder and thus unbelievable.

I think it would be best with this storyline to start off with a fresh charecter, you could however choose "ancient ancestor" from the charecter generator and there by "inherit" a special ablity or one or two items of power to start you off.

 

Hmmm... sounds a little like the March of the Undead RP thread....

 

Sounds like a long, boring dungeon crawl.

 

That's what I think too. Sorry, keep thinking.

 

Hmmm... the many years into the future is always a good way to start off a sequel ...somehow I think its also lacking...stated within the game was a mention of cycles...isn't it always appealing to have the next story break the mentioned cycle, in fact, isn't that how the world works? The more one learns of one cycle, the more one tries to avoid that cycle (or at least, that's how it should work...), but anyway, maybe a new idea could be learned in the later age, that being, not only does technology exist, but magic does also, yet, to break that cycle, and bring about new ideas, the twist would be that both worked in unison, and worked stronger than the previous type, leading to the idea of neutrality being power, never to stray to either side, would make being powerful more difficult, because although full magic is strong, and full tech is strong...being both...well, is obviously stronger. (btw: a nice hint to know is, in arcanum, if you fully place points to both magic and tech...you'll still fall on the magic side, and thank you for reading my essay, farewell. )

 

It could be while your in the past that you discover that if technology is slowly destroying the fabric of magic itself and if you do not find a way to slow the rampantly increasing power of tech all magical creatures in arcanum (everything except real life animals, humans, dwarves and gnomes) will be ripped apart by the disipating magical field.

 

Um... Ray? Gravedigging?

 

Impressive, I'd like to add the possiblity of two way to go back in time if you're a mage or a tech. The one for the mage would abviously be magic maybe using the Ring of B..(sp? the thing you go to get to the void). Or if you're tech, an old fashioned time machine like in HG Well's the Time Machine. Also I'd like to see 3or 6 starting locations (Tarrant/Wheel Clan for tech, Tulla/Quintera (sp) for magic, Caldaun/Blackroot for undecided/neutral). Also I don't like the idea magic people going back in time and sabotaging the future because some mages may want to play good. So have good karma for tring to restore the time line (which may be in favor of tech or magic) and bad karma for altering it in anyway. Also 2 bosses, one for tech one for magic. Like with your story line the magic boss is tampering with the time line and would be the one to kill if you're a tech, if you were magic you would find out that a tech person has been influencing the time line and this magic person is actually tring to restore it and the magic person's boss is that tech person. Am I making any sense?

 

That was when I first stated to post Etalis, I never payed attention to the dates....I think that's the only one anyway.

 

Here's a clue. If the icon next to the topic is gold, don't reply to it.

By the way, looks like this one's been double-dug. Amos Trask, looks like you need a thwap from the Pain Stick.