stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. II [OOC]

[Stormwind]

Okay, I finally figured out Ashlyn's response ...

She is using all her abilities and skill to convince people to stay together and fight undead. I'm not necessarily expecting this to work (thats entirely up to you guys), but it's the only thing thats really in keeping with what Ashlyn would do and in keeping with her goals and motivations.

 

[stonegod]

So, what I see here is a lack of communication on two sides of the PCs causing the party tensions right now.
- Janis has a plan, but doesn't feel safe enough to share it.
- Not seeing this plan, others are left to assume that she does not have a plan and is risking herself and others. This especially gets at the Flamist's goat.
Complications with initial distrust and taint are mucking with things, of course.

Now, to be fair, some things that happened in thread were DM fiat: Marot's possession and Khensu/Marot guarding the Castle route (not an abandonment, more a redeployment), Khensu's fall were not PC decisions. Jarrith's crisis of faith was, Janis' refusal to get the lycan curse removed is. I have noticed Janis coming out of her shell with the "little people", though things keep on reminding her of past.

Of course, the classic TV way to solve this in PC land is to trap you all in some time ticking death-trap where you all have to cooperate in order to survive, you rant at each other, and when you all have the epiphany the exit route magically appears.

I'd rather avoid that. I think fundamentally the characters can work together, but recent issues all around are making that difficult. From an OOC side, I'd prefer if Janis got the lycan curse cursed ASAP cuz its a ticking time-bomb and is one of the source of PC tensions. On the other hand, it would also be nice if the Flamists actually noticed some of the good Janis has been doing---when she isn't biting your head off, that is.

To that end, I'm going to have a few of the NPCs suggest different olive branches as Ashlyn is doing. I'm not forcing anyone to take it, but I think its the quickest way to begin to resolve things.

Oh, and I hate to remind you all of this, but Jarrith and Marot are under the geas spell as part of their atonement. They can't leave the Castle yet---they have to find the Tome first. Well, they can, but its going to potentially hurt.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Despite all the explanations, justifications, and reasonings of why everyone's character is where he is and is going what he's doing... it doesn't change my main point in the first place.

I... DEFCON 1, the player... is tired of roleplaying against Janis.

It's as simple as that. As the only two original players in the entire game, James and I have been roleplaying this major conflict between Jarrith and Janis the entire time... where both characters are constantly sniping and arguing with each other because both are insufferable. But for the same reason why most DM's say "no evil characters!" in a game they try and put together... because invariably the inter-party conflict overshadows the game itself... most of my time is spent reading the insults James writes for Janis. Either it's things she says, or things she's thinking... usually against the other members of the party. I'm just tired of it. I'm tired of trying to roleplaying the inter-party conflict... regardless of whether it's justified or not.

So here's the deal... the only way I'll continue to play Jarrith is if James agrees to one simple rule... we have a truce... no more insults, verbally or thought-wise to each other or within the party. We channel all of the character anger outward to the NPCs and the game itself, rather than inward to each other... then I'll continue with Jarrith. Otherwise I leave the game altogether, or I play a character like Ladreth, who hopefully won't get under Janis' skin and become another brunt of Janis' ire.

 

[stonegod]

Understood (now).

I would prefer we keep the original party together. That would require some toning down on the animosity between various characters then, of which I am in favor. I don't want to use DM fiat, personally; I'd prefer the players to work it out. A gentleperson's agreement as it were. I've liked the arc both Jarrith and Janis have been going through (the test of one's faith in one, the seeing that she can be a 'good' person on the other), and would like those parts to continue. Other parts can hopefully go by the wayside.

New characters is a possibility, but one I'd like to avoid. There are only so many caravan members.

 

[James Heard]

The funny thing is, I've never considered Janis as having a major conflict with Jarrith.

 

[stonegod]

The funny thing is, I've never considered Janis as having a major conflict with Jarrith.

But that does not address the issue. You may not considered it, but there is the perception on Defcon's part. So, the question is will the apparent anamosity be played down? Or shall we look at a different solution?

 

[James Heard]

I've been trying to figure it out. I mean whether or not I'm offended that I'm being given an ultimatum to metagame the character or else I've got to deal with the issue of being blamed for someone quitting/making a new character? I'm not sure if there's a point to writing Janis if she's suddenly not Janis, and I'm not sure if it's it's important enough to me to continue writing Janis if Janis, or maybe it's me, is causing enough friction that people are rallying in groups against her.

The best solution for the most people is for me to drop out of the game.

 

[stonegod]

Its not an ideal situation for either DEFCON nor James to drop either out of the game or out of a character (unless they are tired of the character; that's a different story). And to be clear, I'm asking that the animosity be toned down universally, not just in Janis' case.

That being said, I can see means for Janis to be less snippy without compromising her character (in my mind): Being more focused on the immediate Barovian threat and dealing with who she has to deal with for now or whatever. I realize she has the aggressive taint trait, but, just in case folks missed it, remove curse removes taint as well. Marot can also bury the hatchet, focusing on his need to get himself cleansed and deal with the larger issues. I do not see these things as fundamentally altering the character more than focusing on some parts differentially to others.

I have valued Jame's contribution to the game, and, as I have said, I have liked overall Janis' arc. I would like to see that to the end. I have also valued DEFCON's contributions, and as our two longest players, your input is valued. I think you can both continue to contribute, we just need to determine in what form.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I've been trying to figure it out. I mean whether or not I'm offended that I'm being given an ultimatum to metagame the character or else I've got to deal with the issue of being blamed for someone quitting/making a new character?

That's the thing... you're not being given an ultimatum, and you're not being blamed. I'm voluntarily offering to switch characters because I myself personally do not want to play a character in constant conflict with Janis anymore. That's all. And I'm fine with that! I have no problems with it... I'm sure the rest of the group has no problems with it... and it seems as though while it's not the most preferable option for stonegod I'm sure (since Janis and Jarrith are the longest-running characters in the game), it looks like he'll go along with it if we ask. So it's no-harm, no-foul.

The only possible reason why this wouldn't work is if you feel as though you *have* to have Janis be at odds with every other player character regardless of who the character is... even if I were to make a "friend" character of Janis'. And if that's the case... then quite frankly *I'll* quit. Because that tells me that's just your particular style of roleplaying-- an "every man for himself" kind of gaming... and that kind of combative gaming is just not a style I want to play against anymore.

So that's that. If you honestly say that you are incapable or are unwilling to play Janis in any way where she at the very least non-judgemental (if not actually somewhat nice) to any character I may make, regardless of who it is (even if the character is an out-and-out "friend" of Janis')... then I will respectfully drop the game myself.

My real preference is to be able to reach a detente with Janis and Jarrith where they tolerate each other and work towards the common goal of freeing Barovia. But if you feel as though being asked to just tone down the direct insults to be "metagaming" or "railroading"... then swapping characters seems the only possible solution.

 

[DEFCON 1]

You know what... forget it. I'll just keep playing Jarrith and make the decision that he will just ignore anything and everything Janis might do or say that he'd normally respond to. I don't want to have to worry about it anymore.

I've posted in-game as such.