/wfg/ - Writefag General

An elevator pitch is expected to be at most two lines.

Fine, then make it three sentences instead of three paragraphs.

Those are three different things:

>summary
Start at the beginning, outline every major plot development until the end. Don't try to build suspense or any kind of narrative - you're condensing your story down to a quick precis without any of the art.

>pitch
Like a summary, but more concise and with some art. Feel free to use dramatic language to build your climax before revealing it. Either way, don't hold anything back and keep brevity at the forefront of your mind.

>blurb
Write a summary using all of the dramatic techniques of a pitch, but only reveal the first 30% of your novel. The first two are for publishers, this one is for consumers.

That's the spirit!

Sounds like it could meander a bit. Try writing down a chapter-by-chapter plan of what you want to happen in the story.

So /wfg/ what does this image fill you with: fear, anticipation, or something else?

opportunity.

I've tried that a couple times, and ended up deleting what I had more than once. Here's what it is currently

>chapter 1 and 2 I've already listed
>chapter 3. Marcus and Vergil are sneaking around DC during the attack, trying to find the library and, more importantly, a map inside the library. They find the map - along with other artifacts that they take with them - and run to the hills.
>chapter 4. Marcus and Vergil are in the wilderness, trying to find a route to Cheyenne Mountain (where the temple is). They decide that going through the mountains is suicide, and that its better to go south and take the long way around. This chapter has a generally up-beat feeling to it, as both characters are excited by their newfound freedom.
>chapter 5. while going south, Marcus and Vergil encounter slavers. this interaction is a little tense, since M&V have their zombies following them (and Marcus rather dislikes slavery) and the slavers are armed, but the situation quickly defuses.
>M&V and the slavers sit and share stories/rumours. Slavers mention that they only have one slave with them, but it's a valuable one: a live druid.
>Marcus, having a big heart and fearing for the safety of the slave, wants to buy her, telling himself that he'll free her after the pilgrimage. He's able to convince Vergil that this is a good purchase, since the Druid will be able to grow food for them in the wastes. Vergil agrees, and Marcus is able to buy the slave by trading in some valuable books.

I'm still not sure what I want to do with the slave character. I don't have a name for her, but I have the basic personality down. She's rather strong willed and heavily prejudices, initially hating M&V. She eventually sees that M&V are not bad people, and comes out of her shell a bit. She ends up being the Misty to their Ash and Brock. I'm not sure if I want her to be a love interest or just another party member.

char limit. more coming

procrastination

I suddenly realize there's a lot of other stuff I need to do.

Then I come here.

Frustration

>Writes one line
>"That sounds like shit"
>Erases line
>Repeat

>chapter 6. The Party is in northern Georgia/Alabama, traveling west to Memphis, as they're hoping that they can cross the Mississippi there. From there, their route takes them north to St. Louis, then west to Kansas City, then to follow the South Platte river until they can get to Denver and the temple.
>While traveling, they encounter troops of the Lich Queen and some tribesmen fighting, and Marcus goes and fights for the tribesmen like a reckless fucking idiot.
>its a close call, but the tribesmen are able to retreat with the party in the confusion. Turns out, the tribesmen are from Memphis, and for saving them, they will vouch for the party back at Memphis.
>chapter 7. The Party in is Memphis, hoping that the elder council there will let them pass. The people of Memphis don't like necromancers much, what with being so close to the Lich Queen.

This is where I am, currently. I still need to flesh out the culture of the Memphis tribes, as well as whoever lives in St. Louis and Kansas City. I'm thinking of making Iowa/Nebraska really fucking terrifying, with fields of what looks like human hair growing 2 meters high out of the ground. while traveling here, the party would be ambushed by violent cat-headed mutants, and something or other would happen here.
Most worryingly, though, I don't know what will happen when the Party gets to the temple. I need something big and climactic to happen, and I don't know what I should do. I was thinking of having a big siege battle ala Helm's Deep, but I'm not crazy on the idea.

I've written (more like planned) myself into a corner: if the whole story is about the journey, what do I do to make the destination worthwhile?

I have an idea if you're interested, but I don't want to step on your toes.

You could try adding a bit more to the stuff before the attack on DC and have a character who has a rivalry with Marcus and Virgil, and needs the stuff they take from the library for some mysterious purpose. This person is supposed to be a priest but they're actually a necromancer and pursue the protagonists and try to kill them over the journey. Then near the end the protags could battle against the guy's undead who are wearing special hoods that stop other necromancers from controlling them. Then during the fight the hoods could be knocked off revealing some sort of deception involving characters being impersonated or something like that.

Maybe. I'm not sure how I feel about the deception part, but I'm liking the idea of the party being followed by someone or something from DC.
You reminded me that, in an earlier work of the story, I was gonna have a bully character in DC who Marcus encounters and defeats at the library. I ended up cutting it because "defeat" either means kill or stop in an unsatisfying and contrived way, and I didn't want Marcus to be a killer.

Also, please, make more reccomendations. Don't worry about stepping on my toes or anything. Feel free to give any ideas that come to you.
If you want to be really helpful, tell me what parts of the story you like, and what parts you dislike

Anxiety.

I use PyRoom with a relatively tiny visible area so that it fills up fast.

Oh, also if anyone want to recommend a name for my writefaggotry, you'd basically be solving one of my biggest headaches while writing this thing, and that'd be really fucking nice of you.

Hey Veeky Forums can i get feedback on my crap? this is the 1st time i've ever done anything like this.

Beran woke in the night to a worrying sound, there was something nearby, four legs stalking slowly past his head. It was late into the night but under the stars beran could see clearly, though after rolling over in his sleep he was facing away from the dieing fire place and away from whatever crept past in the night. Stealing himself and moving slowly, praying that he wouldn't be seen or heard beran reached up to the knife under the pile of clothes he used as a pillow. Griping the familiar hilt he paused a moment trying to listen for where the beast was. Nothing but silence at first, until a piercing scream broke the night and beran stood quickly turning as he did to see a great grey wolf, its face buried into flecks neck as it began to drag his friend toward the tree line. Fleck struggled as he went and threw wild unthinking punches towards the beasts head. Beran took three large strides before seeing the dim fire reflected in another pair of wolf eyes at the edge of the wood and in the moment decide to throw the blade. Flying four meters and cuting into the side of the wolf holding his friend before bouncing into the underbrush.

The beast let Fleck go as the knife hit it and fleck scrambled searching for the blade as the next wolf came plunging out of the darkness toward him. Beran continued his charge now standing between fleck and the new wolf as it lunges for his friend, The jaws shut overs berans leg as he bends down and counters with a strong punch into the wolf's side. Fleck screams again as the other wolf attacks again, distracted by the pain and adrenaline beran punches again and again landing heavy blows in the wolves side as it locks its jaws down and rips into his leg. Then a blow to it jaw and beran feels the teeth slide through the meat of his leg as he rips himself free. The wolf lands on its side dazed or dead there's no time to make sure as beran turns to see the other wolf biting down on flecks forearm. Fleck holds the knife by its blade and blood runs down his arm as he makes fast and shallows stabs. Beran kneels down by his friend and wraps his arms around the wolf's head, his fingers snake into the wolf mouth and beran struggles to pull the beast from his friend as fleck kicks and screams pulling himself away. The wolf struggles in berans arms as fleck gathers himself and plants the knife into the wolf's face, narrowly missing berans arm in the mess of the fight. Standing now and looking back into the woods and to where the other wolf lay there is nothing to be seen now but a dark and quiet wood. Both of them bleeding heavily and fearing another attack hurry back to the camp, fleck dresses himself and wraps a spare shirt around his arm tightly as beran takes his shirt and wraps it around a stick before pushing it into the coals of the fire, taking the torch and his pack beran begins to march into the night down the road and fleck hurries to follow.

Looks good, just needs a bit of spelling/punctuation changes

>Beran woke in the night to a worrying sound. There was something nearby; four legs stalking slowly past his head. It was late into the night, but under the stars beran could see clearly, though after rolling over in his sleep he was facing away from the dying fireplace and away from whatever crept past in the night. Steeling himself and moving slowly, praying that he wouldn't be seen or heard, Beran reached up to the knife under the pile of clothes he used as a pillow. Griping the familiar hilt, he paused a moment, trying to listen for where the beast was. Nothing but silence at first, until a piercing scream broke the night and Beran stood quickly, turning as he did to see a great grey wolf, its face buried into Fleck's neck as it began to drag his friend toward the tree line. Fleck struggled as he went and threw wild unthinking punches towards the beast's head. Beran took three large strides before seeing the dim fire reflected in another pair of wolf eyes at the edge of the wood and in the moment decided to throw the blade. Flying four meters and cutting into the side of the wolf holding his friend before bouncing into the underbrush.

also, the last sentence is a little awkward. It would read better if it said "The knife flew..."

Well, if they're going to NORAD then you could have some sort of scuffle over ancient weapons. The obvious thing would be the DC artifacts are arming devices for nukes but it could be something more interesting. Maybe underneath the temple they find a fallout shelter-type city full of survivors, and Marcus and the antagonist have the opportunity to kill them all in revenge for destroying the world (since the journey highlights how fucked up and trashed the world is) or enlist them in helping rebuild civilization?

Or maybe there's medicine that could cure zombies and the antagonist wants to destroy it so he can raise an army and fight the invaders, but Marcus wants to restore the dead to life or something.

Or maybe they find a giant robot.

Also as for a name for the book or whatever, how about something like Travelers Under the Eagle's Eye? You know, since America has bald eagles or something. It might be too vague though, do you want something edgy and pulpy like Necro-Fallout or Still Walking 2055? What sort of image does this story have?

arousal.

>haven't wrote anything new except one short story in months
>uni takes too much time
>spend the rest of my time trying to advertise my own book
>still shit at marketing
Self-publishing hell. Does someone experience this as well? Before anyone ask, I don't write in english

I was always thinking that NORAD was gonna be filled with monks worshiping old nukes as gods, but to be honest, I never considered the idea that they could be /more/ than just gods of some crazy people.

Also, this may seem odd, but the book is actually gonna be really upbeat, rather than dreary and dour. The wastes that Marcus and Vergil travel through are hauntingly beautiful, and surprisingly filled with life. I even imply at the beginning that, in the long run, nuclear armageddon was good for humanity as a whole, and really /is/ a new beginning for mankind.

As for names, I really don't want it to be edgy/pulpy. Some of the earlier names for the story that I scrapped were 'Into the Wastes' and 'The Weird New World.'
I've struggled with the name for so long, I'm considering just writing the whole book first, finding a memorable line or phrase in it, and turning it into the title. Kinda make a reverse title-drop

It's incredibly difficult to find an audience for self published works in general, and I'd imagine that the smaller audiences for non-English language works (unless you happen to write in Spanish or Mandarin) would make that even harder.
I would suggest getting friends to read the book and post reviews on whatever platform you're distributing it on. Make sure you get them to give honest, balanced reviews or it will just look like shilling and turn people off.
Perhaps you should look for a title that reflects the tone you're going for? 'Into the wastes' sounds plenty dour and 'the weird new world' mostly sounds goofy. If you have themes of renewal and new beginnings put something like 'new' in the title.

>Make sure you get them to give honest, balanced reviews or it will just look like shilling and turn people off
Ha! Just today I got my first review on amazon, 5/5, could be written by anyone that has read the first thirty pages. Amazon itself doesn't show any pages read the past days, but maybe it needs to update. Now the guy asked me to review his book. I feel dirty.

Annoyance. I don't like GDocs.

bump

So my setting is a simple alternate world with a little bit of magic thrown in. Techwise think Greek/Roman empire at its apex, but geographically persia/egypt. In the main culture/realms at least women are regarded as equal to men because religion says so, but at the same time women are encouraged to mostly do things we would consider feminine. (So female soldiers are basically nonexistant, blacksmiths rare, but they're a majority of healers and are also well represented in commerce/trade).

Now, my story has two protagonists, one of which is a woman. In the section of writing I have coming up, I have her enter a relationship with another female healer. They're both part of a group of healers/clerics attached to the army defending against a foreign invasion, when they get ambushed and the girlfriend gets killed. Protagonist breaks down for a while because "she should've seen the signs of the ambush" as well as just oh god girlfriend dead. This goes on until basically she gets forced out of it by divine revelation, launching her into basically empowered prophet-hood and leading a successful counter-invasion.

How good/bad/silly does this sound? Would a lesbian relationship in such a setting be "acceptable"? (I know it's my setting and thus my rules, but if I, for example, I'd write alternate history in which a random pope one day decides that the papacy shall be adoptive hereditary and that every pope must have a husband, that would break suspension of disbelief quite a bit.)

I dunno, part of it is also that I find writing about relationships/love a bit harder I guess.

it could be a secret relationship. It could even be just an implied relationship.

As for the other stuff, I actually like the idea of a character doing a 180 from shellshocked to hulking out, as long as you make it clear that, just because she's not cowering in fear, doesn't mean that she's not completely psycologically damaged.

>Women who appear on Greek pottery are depicted with affection, and in instances where women appear only with other women, their images are eroticized: bathing, touching one another, with dildos placed in and around such scenes, and sometimes with imagery also seen in depictions of heterosexual marriage or pederastic seduction. Whether this eroticism is for the viewer or an accurate representation of life is unknown.[22][25]

>Women in Ancient Rome were similarly subject to men's definitions of sexuality. Modern scholarship indicates that men viewed female homosexuality with hostility. They considered women who engaged in sexual relations with other women to be biological oddities that would attempt to penetrate women—and sometimes men—with "monstrously enlarged" clitorises.[26] According to scholar James Butrica, lesbianism "challenged not only the Roman male's view of himself as the exclusive giver of sexual pleasure but also the most basic foundations of Rome's male-dominated culture". No historical documentation exists of women who had other women as sex partners.[27]
>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian#Ancient_Greece_and_Rome

Are these healer/clerics part of a religious order of sort? Without men? Relatively free from social norms? Because if yes it could be common that they would end up in sexual relationships.

Healers themselves (and the religious "caste"), are predominantly female, though men aren't that rare. (The two protagonists were both trained at the same temple). I guess I'll keep the relationship a thing they both hide from most and only a few people really know of.

Oh yeah. Part of the counter-invasion is her having to deal with constantly going between states of divine inspiration gloriousness and then going back to just regular herself in more private settings where she's more angsty/shellshocked.

From the previous thread
No porn, user, sorry. Just a bit of cheesecake. Here's the source, anyway: janus3003.deviantart.com/gallery/59874991/Amaranth

>elf girl
>modern soldier
Automatically shit. Reeks also of self-wankery wish fulfillment so much, that it would make your average harem anime blush.

Meh. It could just be Gate, but good

Caught me red-handed.

Less epic fantasy novel and more of a series of short stories connected to one another through an over arching plot line.

Basic jist of the book is that one day a princess is set upon by a group of bandits after running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage. She is saved by a traveling/bumbling Bard who she ends up following because she has nowhere else to go. The book follows the two as they go solving problems from city to city.

The Bard is actually a powerful wizard that is searching across the land for a series of powerful stones to stop a powerful plane shifting ritual.

Any ideas for titles? At the moment it's "The Bard's Song"

Also I'm writing a Greek/Roman inspired Sword and Sorcery RPG and an RPG set in Hell.

It's not really all that epic.

Setting is that one day people woke up with powers. Nobody wants to call it magic but it acts like magic and looks like magic.

Ten years later a High School Wrestler is having an ongoing debate with a girl in the new Republic of Japan over whether or not he should just say fuck it and become an MMA fighter or try to pursue a career as a collegiate wrestler and beyond on an international level.

The girl reveals she's coming to America with her family on business and they make a date.

The date is promptly ruined by the fact that her dad is actually defecting, not going on a business trip, and a fight breaks out as a result.

Things escalate from there and three different groups try to survive the aftermath. The teens who grew up in the weird new world of powers, a PMC who remembers the old world without it and a bunch of sneaky fuck who managed to make the transition rather well.

>who she ends up following because she has nowhere else to go.
So her Kingdom is pursuing this guy like he's Osama Bin Laden right?

Bumping for feedback, thanks for replying.
I went to bed after posting and was hoping to see something more when i got up

>DC after the apocalypse developing a Hindu like system.
How would that come about.

It came about because the hindu caste system isn't such a novel concept.
>brahman priest/wizard caste at top
>rajput warrior caste below that
>commoner caste for the majority
>pariah necromancer caste at the very bottom

Like, they're not actually hindus there. I just liked the idea of necromancers being both absolutely necesary and reviled - like pariah/untouchables - and said 'fuck it, might as well copy all the other castes as well.'

But how would such a powerful group end up like that? Or being seen as that?

He's not enemy #1 in the kingdom the king and queen are trying to keep the affair under wraps from the public while their retinue of knights are madly pursuing her.

Bear in mind the tone is a bit more comedic. Serious setting, smart ass characters.

>how would such a powerful group end up like that?
because the priests were more powerful. They have a sort of magic that can fuck you up if they know your name, and they use these curses to keep the warriors and the necromancers in check.

>Or being seen as that?
To answer this, first I need to tell you about zombies. In this world, Zombies are not just walkers wit ha virus. They are actual corpses that are sustained by an unknown and potentially limitless energy source. a zombie that is locked away for a million years will not die of starvation.
And yet, wild zombies will mercilessly kill any living thing they can see. Just because.

And necromancers spend most of their days near these fucking abominations. Imagine what that does to your reputation. Even someone who cleans latrines is considered more clean (both physically and spiritually) than someone who is perfectly at home among unliving terrors.

bump

>I feel dirty
Don't. He should feel dirty. What a shitty thing to do to someone else.

>YouShouldBeWriting.jpg
I knoooooooow!

I have a few settings that I want to flesh out, and possibly write stories for.

1. Setting where people explore a massive cave system looking for treasures and discoveries. It's a mixture between STALKER, the underground portions of the Matrix movies, and Metro. It's not post-apoc though.

2. Post-apoc story about a wandering group of boys tries to survive the ruins. It would most likely have a lot of young adult characteristics, but it would end up being very graphic and unpleasant to think about at times. There would be things that seem like magical realm at times, but it'd be mainly for shock value. Hopefully not as stupid as Stephen King's shock content. It's based off of a nightmare I had a year ago.

3. Story/setting about a group that explores ruins on other planets. Think Prometheus, but less horror and more wonder/exploration.

4. Weird fantasy setting, inspired by Dark Souls (how original!) I don't have a story for this one, just a bunch of ideas that I would put in there.

Are any of these interesting/ would you read them? Should I go more in depth on any of them?

>3. Story/setting about a group that explores ruins on other planets. Think Prometheus, but less horror and more wonder/exploration.
I've always liked ideas like this. Like some kind of intergalactic Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones.

Exactly! Ever since I saw Prometheus I've wanted a movie (simply because some things are better visually) or a story that really did this well. Hell, I even liked Prometheus just because of the sense of discovery in the first half.

Sup Veeky Forums. Here's my novel. Basic premise is "Party of 4 unoptimized 1st level adventurers beats epic-level campaign using common sense," mixed in with some Pratchett, Tolkien, and a pinch of Warhammer.

Student graduates from university in vague Euro-Renaissance world, tries to go adventuring because he needs to pay off his student loans. He (a white male fighter) teams up with his former roommate (the wizard), an adventure-seeking halfling gal (the rogue), and a zealous but naive acolyte (the cleric) to get some sort of magic orb. They realize it's being held by goblins, and a Mexican standoff ensues, but things are defused when the fighter offers to just pay for the orb. Everyone's happy until the cleric drops the damn thing, sending them (including the goblins) through an interdimensional rift.

They end up in not-Sigil, where they try to make a living and follow up on any leads to getting home. Soon the wizard finds out about a powerful archmage that might be able to help. The archmage reveals that the orb they're carrying is one of the last remaining Gatestones, which were used to summon gods and monsters in ancient times. He offers to send them back using the Gatestone, but only if they promise to destroy it (which is damn near impossible without the use of god-tier magic). The party agrees, and are sent back to their world- hundreds of miles from their destination.

They end up going into a dwarven city, where they relax, write home, and try to plan their next move. While they are there, elf spies find out they have the Gatestone- which causes the party to flee the mountain, pursued by dwarf musketeers and elf rangers.

(cont'd in next post)

The party and their pursuers are captured by a flight of dragons and their wyrmling minions and taken to their volcano lair, where it's revealed that the dragons plan to use the Gatestone to summon their god, Not-Tiamat, to the world. It is also revealed that the dwarves and elves were trying to get their hands on the Gatestone to destroy it- and that destroying it will return anything summoned by it to its rightful place. After being let out by a sympathetic guard (who decidedly does NOT want Not-Tiamat to lay waste to the world) the party, now with dwarf and elf allies providing covering fire, decides to capture the Gatestone and destroy it in the volcanic caldera.

Though the Gatestone finds its way into their hands, it is too late! Not-Tiamat has been summoned, and lays waste to the fortress. As the god prepares to incinerate the party, the cleric thinks fast, throwing the orb in the dragon's mouth as it breathes its deathly breath. The enchantments broken and with the god's roars of rage echoing in their ears, the party with goblins is transported back to the old goblin lair, where they say goodbye.

I need help with foreshadowing the dragons' importance to the plot. As of right now, they're coming from left field.

So far, fighter is halfway between Ciaphas Cain and Rincewind. Wizard is essentially Eddy with Edd's smarts, Rogue is female Koichi with an improbable amount of skills, and Cleric is literally just a bigoted Jonathan Joestar that gets much better as the story goes on. I need help with ideas.

So the guy owes people money but has the money to purchase the orb?

>Thanks to Abud Nagarjuna's 'Small Alchemy: Investigation by Prophetic Magnification into the Reactions between Microanimals and the Concrete, Abstract and Elemental components of Alchemical Formulas', we now know the power of the Water and Fire elements over disease and plague. It was then that he became the 89th citizen to receive resurrection rights.

I'll summarize

>150 years from now, Earth is an utopy, everything is great for everyone, no war, disease, etc...
>Still working on space travel, they can send drones pretty much anywhere in the galaxy, but organic matters can't survive the harshness of the journey
>Scientists discover a new energy that could enable teleportation portal to portal style
>Send drones to potential habitable worlds to build those portals and prepare for the human's arrival
>As soon as energy is flowing throught the portals prototype, an eldritch space entity/stuff/whatever arrives to earth, beaconed by this energy
>The earth is ready to fight off any physical threat, but this entity is fighting with psychological terror, paranoia. And the humans, softened by a century of confort in a perfect world, didn't expect the threat to come from inside
>World scale civil war begin, the human race is on the verge of extinction
>Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, the remaining sane population decide to pass the portals prototype to the safest world they can find
>As they're teleported away and sealing the path behind them, another wave of psychic horror from their enemy hit them
>This traumatic experience, combining teleportation and pure insanity resulted in a collective amnesia of the settlers
>Some are almost unaffected, while others have forgotten everything, down to their language
>Schism in the population, between people that want to build a new earth, and skeptic that think they're just trying to manipulate them
>After a messy conflict, the skeptics retreat in the wilderness, while the other group (let's call them historians, for lack of a better word) stays withing the relative confort of the perimeter established by the Precursor Drones
>Societies are created, and that's where i'm at

I'm working on different cultures, political systems and technolgies that those colonies could have. But what do you think of the basic idea? Any glaring plothole? Do you like it?

The dosh he spends to buy the orb is several orders of magnitudes less than the cash he'll get from delivering it. Plus, the cost is split by the party.

What would someone who wants to protect allies be more likely to pick up? Like a knight "tank" (mostly just skilled with a shield jumping in the way to take blows) or a White Mage-esque healer type character? I know said character could easily do both as a Cleric archtype, but problem is: In my setting the gods are long gone, they are ayy lmaos who fucked off to go build more planets. And they aren't coming back for some nerd calling their name.

They could legitimately be either. Which path they decide will likely be decided most by their personality (though I suppose it would be possible to have a brash white mage assuming he was talented enough).

If they're the Big Brother type who's liable to lay out the chump who's picking on their friends, then go with knight.

If they're the more paternal 'that was a stupid thing for you to do' type, go for white mage.

>Societies are created
So that's where the story begins, right? All of the rest is backstory? It's mostly solid, except for the utopia thing - maybe make it a kind of 'Pax Romana' thing?

...

I want to write an awesome world for my players to adventure in, full of lore with functioning economies, politics, and a physics-based magic system.
But all my players care about is getting into stupid fucking ridiculous shenanigans. Not one of them has ever so much as bothered to write down the name of an NPC or even the goal of their quest.
They are like silly babies that need to be railroaded very strictly and expect no consequences for their actions in the game world.
For example,I spent a ton of time creating this political encounter between tribes of orcs, giants, and a town of humans struggling to survive on the edge of a swamp.
There was so much going on and so many ways to approach the situation, with the possibility to gain an ally with one or all of the factions involved.
Instead my players were more interested in seeing if any of the orcs were gay, capturing them, financing their educations in hair styling school, and establishing a franchise of orc-run barber shops throughout the land.

Like what in the flying fuck.

My players have made me want to give up on actually putting forth any effort into creating an engaging and fun game world. Now I just 100% improvise every session because nothing matters anyways.

My shitty idea for something down the line. r8 and h8:

16-17 years ago, more and more strange creatures began to slowly pour into the world and with them there also came unspeakable Eldritch horrors beyond all comprehension. This all happened around the same time a young girl with white hair and emerald eyes were born. She was brought into this world with a curse; it attracts these nightmarish creatures to her at night. However, she doesn’t know how to fight, only how to hide and run. Even if she knew how to fight, she’s not sure she’d have the courage to raise a blade against the nightmares. Her curse has killed everyone who has ever tried to get close to her.

All she wants in life is to survive and get rid of the curse that plagues her existence. When she hears rumors of others with the same 'affliction' as her, a spark of hope is lit within her.

Follow the story of a young girl with a horrible curse who’s thrown into a cruel world of magic and steel that she was never meant to survive in amidst people that don’t care or those that want her gone. Watch as suffering, struggling, hurting, and thriving despite everything defines her upon this journey where a strange girl tries to figure out if she was meant for something more.

Aiming for a Not!Ciri feel to the main character.

Existential Dread

Not particularly original, but I'd read it.