The Company
- Thread starter Grimhelm
- Start date
Fyrestryke
Explorer
That was a very awesome adventure. The shield bash will go down in infamy. He utilized it well.
Just to clear things up a bit, The Owl isn’t really evil or even that chaotic, at least in the way that I would like to play her. I just think that she comes from a completely different background that many members in the party, especially Olan. Olan is a man who fights for freedom and the cause of good, and that’s great; that’s what this adventure needs. But The Owl doesn’t see things that way. In her world, everything has a price, and the only Good is what’s good for her. Her background is that she bought and sold stolen goods, usually without asking too many questions. And she didn’t treat everyone fair and didn’t necessarily abide by the rules of a contract, unless it was good for business. To her, not looting a mage’s underground lair or freeing some old man’s soul just because it’s what we ought to do is silly. The party should do what puts it in the best position to accomplish its goals. She fights the slavers because the slavers destroyed her livelihood, not because they are inherently bad. She’s seen too much bad to just go around fighting every scrap of it. She and Olan don’t see eye to eye on this or many other things in life. To her, HE is the strange, chaotic one. Just know that she will continue to have these head-butting sessions with party members and continue to be the voice of reason within the party, just to add balance! Otherwise, I still think that Mark and everyone else are great guys, and I am enjoying this game a lot.
On the other hand, I’m frustrated with how she is progressing. I know that I’ve missed some sessions that would have added to her improvement rolls, but I also think that I’ve just spread her out too thin. Her highest stat is a 60 in Dodge, and that’s not very impressive. Don’t get me wrong, I love her as a character, I like playing her and I enjoy getting by on my wits more than my brawn, but I’m afraid that she’s going to become a detriment to this party because she just can’t do anything effectively. Vince, can I try to rearrange her numbers a little (maybe dropping the Spirit Protection spell since it’s in our spellbook) and trying to boost that Dodge number up a little? At least then she can enter combat, even if she can’t fight well.
On the other hand, I’m frustrated with how she is progressing. I know that I’ve missed some sessions that would have added to her improvement rolls, but I also think that I’ve just spread her out too thin. Her highest stat is a 60 in Dodge, and that’s not very impressive. Don’t get me wrong, I love her as a character, I like playing her and I enjoy getting by on my wits more than my brawn, but I’m afraid that she’s going to become a detriment to this party because she just can’t do anything effectively. Vince, can I try to rearrange her numbers a little (maybe dropping the Spirit Protection spell since it’s in our spellbook) and trying to boost that Dodge number up a little? At least then she can enter combat, even if she can’t fight well.
InzeladunMaster
First Post
Yes, you can rearrange her.
Grimhelm
First Post
Chachi, your post made me smile. I know that we have butted heads (as I have with several party members...) but it should never be taken in a personal way, and I am glad that no one has really gotten truly upset. Olan is who he is and The Owl is who she is and I wouldn't change her for anything. However, Olan is under the impression that people will do what is right if the right path is revealed to them. (This is of course somewhat ludicrous, but Olan is an idealist.) And, when I say "right", of course I mean it in the generic goody-goody sense. Olan believes that when a man does what is right, that only good things can come of his actions. He is also under the impression that death is completely meaningless. He doesn't want to die, necessarily, but he isn't afraid to die in the defense or pursuit of the cause.
It is okay to have party conflict. What the party really needs, I feel, is a collective vision. Olan will reveal his plan for the future in the next game, and perhaps this will convince some head-butters to contribute more to the cause as opposed to their own immediate self interest, as the cause will hopefully generate an environment that will protect long-term self interest.
Re-tooling characters has already been discussed. I think it is a fine idea. I got lucky in that I (for the first time ever) rolled up a character well. Purely accidental, I assure you!
Anyway, I am having fun...
Mark
It is okay to have party conflict. What the party really needs, I feel, is a collective vision. Olan will reveal his plan for the future in the next game, and perhaps this will convince some head-butters to contribute more to the cause as opposed to their own immediate self interest, as the cause will hopefully generate an environment that will protect long-term self interest.
Re-tooling characters has already been discussed. I think it is a fine idea. I got lucky in that I (for the first time ever) rolled up a character well. Purely accidental, I assure you!
Anyway, I am having fun...
Mark
thormagni
Explorer
I have had a hard time grabbing onto a role-playing handle for this character. But finally, early in the game on Sunday I really started thinking I might have a handle on who Thorm is. In short, I think he is a Republican.
As a noble and a knight, he was used to a life in the upper class. Servants and slaves, high dinners and an inflated sense of honor. As a member of the ruling elite he bought into the all-too-common mentality that he was there because of his superior breeding, talents and gods-given superiority. The lesser people live the way they do because they are, well, lesser.
He had the leisure to devote his life to the physical pursuits and he has the arrogance of a pampered athlete. But the kicker is that he really IS a hell of an athlete. Huge, muscular but still graceful. Built like a linebacker and focusing all of his energy into mastering the sword and shield. He has really had nothing to do his whole life but train and practice. It is what he did all day, all that was expected of him.
Then the war started and it became apparent that all the talk of honor and noblesse oblige was really a bunch of horse crap. The nobles sold out the people. But because he bought into the whole dog-and-pony show, he wasn't able to just surrender. No, he has decided that honor demands he fight. Or more accurately to lead a cadre of loyal troops into battle, earning the accolades he so richly deserves.
He is convinced that he is the smartest one in the room by sheer virtue of being born into the class he was born. He's none too bright but thinks that he is a genius. So he will make boneheaded decisions and fully commit to these "gut instinct" snap judgments, convinced that he can't be wrong. Telling him to sit, stay, stand here and shut up is useless because he is convinced that he knows best. He's no simpleton or good-natured buffoon. He is the overmuscled jock who never bothered to study because he was so good at his sport.
He is dismissive and disdainful of those with "book learning" who didn't grow up in the high courts he did. If they were so smart, why weren't they rich and powerful like him?
Perversely, the very wrongness of his actions makes him even more convinced of his rightness. His failures aren't really his, you see. They are the failures of those who didn't fully commit to his plan of action. If everyone just followed his lead everything would always work out perfectly.
And while he believes it is his duty to justly rule the little people, he also thinks that they are all sort of smelly, dirty and uncouth. They should do what he wants because he is a noble after all. And if the occasional commoner needs a good clout to the ear, that's fine too.
And of course having lived a life of constant dueling and contests of arms, at which he excelled, he is always quick to go into battle especially in single combat. He lives for that sort of thing. But in the larger scheme of things, if we go to war, why then he should be the leader of a large group of men. That is why he is here, after all. It is the natural way of things. He leads. Others follow.
His goals are to raise a force that he can lead into glorious battle. To retake his rightful place in the lap of luxury. All the bad happening in the world? It is just a prelude to the great and heroic saga of Thorm.
To his detractors he is probably a stubborn, stupid, stuck-up ass with a quick trigger finger and an inflated sense of entitlement.
Why would anybody put up with him? Well, have you seen him? He is a guy you want to have on your side in a scrap. The man is huge and he is really good with that sword. And if you can convince him to go the direction you want him to go, he is so bull-headed arrogant that he will never back down. Plus he is fairly easy to manipulate, being none too bright. And he is courteous to the ladies.
As a noble and a knight, he was used to a life in the upper class. Servants and slaves, high dinners and an inflated sense of honor. As a member of the ruling elite he bought into the all-too-common mentality that he was there because of his superior breeding, talents and gods-given superiority. The lesser people live the way they do because they are, well, lesser.
He had the leisure to devote his life to the physical pursuits and he has the arrogance of a pampered athlete. But the kicker is that he really IS a hell of an athlete. Huge, muscular but still graceful. Built like a linebacker and focusing all of his energy into mastering the sword and shield. He has really had nothing to do his whole life but train and practice. It is what he did all day, all that was expected of him.
Then the war started and it became apparent that all the talk of honor and noblesse oblige was really a bunch of horse crap. The nobles sold out the people. But because he bought into the whole dog-and-pony show, he wasn't able to just surrender. No, he has decided that honor demands he fight. Or more accurately to lead a cadre of loyal troops into battle, earning the accolades he so richly deserves.
He is convinced that he is the smartest one in the room by sheer virtue of being born into the class he was born. He's none too bright but thinks that he is a genius. So he will make boneheaded decisions and fully commit to these "gut instinct" snap judgments, convinced that he can't be wrong. Telling him to sit, stay, stand here and shut up is useless because he is convinced that he knows best. He's no simpleton or good-natured buffoon. He is the overmuscled jock who never bothered to study because he was so good at his sport.
He is dismissive and disdainful of those with "book learning" who didn't grow up in the high courts he did. If they were so smart, why weren't they rich and powerful like him?
Perversely, the very wrongness of his actions makes him even more convinced of his rightness. His failures aren't really his, you see. They are the failures of those who didn't fully commit to his plan of action. If everyone just followed his lead everything would always work out perfectly.
And while he believes it is his duty to justly rule the little people, he also thinks that they are all sort of smelly, dirty and uncouth. They should do what he wants because he is a noble after all. And if the occasional commoner needs a good clout to the ear, that's fine too.
And of course having lived a life of constant dueling and contests of arms, at which he excelled, he is always quick to go into battle especially in single combat. He lives for that sort of thing. But in the larger scheme of things, if we go to war, why then he should be the leader of a large group of men. That is why he is here, after all. It is the natural way of things. He leads. Others follow.
His goals are to raise a force that he can lead into glorious battle. To retake his rightful place in the lap of luxury. All the bad happening in the world? It is just a prelude to the great and heroic saga of Thorm.
To his detractors he is probably a stubborn, stupid, stuck-up ass with a quick trigger finger and an inflated sense of entitlement.
Why would anybody put up with him? Well, have you seen him? He is a guy you want to have on your side in a scrap. The man is huge and he is really good with that sword. And if you can convince him to go the direction you want him to go, he is so bull-headed arrogant that he will never back down. Plus he is fairly easy to manipulate, being none too bright. And he is courteous to the ladies.
Grimhelm
First Post
"We all agreed, no leaders!"
"Right. No leaders."
"Right. Now, shut up and do as I say!"
~paraphrased from Time Bandits
Thorm will get his battles and his armies soon enough, I think. Let's get to the Azraelites. Then, let's start recruiting. I intend to start my own sanctuary and use it as a base of operations. Hopefully with our increasing fame and accomplishments, we will begin to attract allies...
"Right. No leaders."
"Right. Now, shut up and do as I say!"
~paraphrased from Time Bandits
Thorm will get his battles and his armies soon enough, I think. Let's get to the Azraelites. Then, let's start recruiting. I intend to start my own sanctuary and use it as a base of operations. Hopefully with our increasing fame and accomplishments, we will begin to attract allies...
I like that take on Thormagni. That's kind of how my character has been viewing him all along. Maybe not quite that pompous, but it does fit. He'll never be buddies with the party, apart from some kind of battlefield camraderie that comes with shared combat. Same with The Owl, really. She doesn't trust anyone enough to let them get that close. And Olan is too darned messianic to be chummy. This party doesn't want to be led. We all have our own ideas about how to accomplish our shared goals. Thuma, it may be up to you to play Oprah sometimes to bring the party together!
I think that the party does have an overall vision. I think that everyone agrees that we need to get to the Azrealites and with them, bring the fight back to the slavers. Past that, the details keep getting in the way. I'm eager to hear your plan, and even more eager to see if Vince will let us actually make a plan and carry it out!
On our first adventure, I was thrilled with my character. I love her background and outlook. I feel like I built her well, I just didn't advance her appropriately. I took on too many new advanced skills and spread her improvement rolls around too thinly. I should have focused more on a couple of skills and gotten them decent, then moved on.
I think that the party does have an overall vision. I think that everyone agrees that we need to get to the Azrealites and with them, bring the fight back to the slavers. Past that, the details keep getting in the way. I'm eager to hear your plan, and even more eager to see if Vince will let us actually make a plan and carry it out!
On our first adventure, I was thrilled with my character. I love her background and outlook. I feel like I built her well, I just didn't advance her appropriately. I took on too many new advanced skills and spread her improvement rolls around too thinly. I should have focused more on a couple of skills and gotten them decent, then moved on.
Fyrestryke
Explorer
Thuma is just glad to not be alone anymore in this crazy, slaver overrun world. To her, The Company is her family for her true family and her homeland were taken from her by the slavers. She wants to be a healer like her grandmother was. However, she's been too hard pressed to pursue that "profession" and has had to rely on her martial training and hunting skills just to stay alive, but the day will come when she can help people in other ways. She wants to be able to heal the whole world, but anything she and her family can do to stop or slow down the slavers is a victory in her book.
Real world, now that I've got her martial abilities statted to stay alive better, I can work on her "saves" a bit and start dropping points into healing and potentially learn some healing spells. Mayhaps someday she can become the greatest healer in the land.
As for being Oprah, I think that falls under the healing area.
Real world, now that I've got her martial abilities statted to stay alive better, I can work on her "saves" a bit and start dropping points into healing and potentially learn some healing spells. Mayhaps someday she can become the greatest healer in the land.
As for being Oprah, I think that falls under the healing area.
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