Looking for characters and story writer(s) - Mercenaries

[Neuromancer]

This is old development thread for the Gloria Victis campaign. Current thread is here.

[TheGreatRings]

I might be interested, but I'm not entirely clear on the relationship between the various factions. Mainly, are the humans good guys or bad guys? What about this terrorist group? Are they fighting the humans or allied with them? And so on.

Sorry, I just found this part of your post confusing. Beyond that, it sounds interesting.

Edit: to clarify, since you say you like Elvish Dynasty: are you intending this to be a comedy campaign? I'm not too good at humor, so I probably wouldn't be much help then.

[Neuromancer]

I'm happy to see your response! To your questions:
Humans living in the big southern city (let's name it Imperial city) are rather bad guys ruling with firm hand. They are collecting excessively high taxes from surrounding villages. One day, dwellers from one village decided not to pay those taxes. Response was cruel: Imperials came and burned the village to the ashes. Some guys survived and founded this terroristic group. Soon, they started to grow in ranks, as courageous people from surrounding villages came to their help in fighting the imperium. They are operating in the forests adjacent to the city, assaulting small imperial patrols. But they are too small to make direct assault on the city and because of that, they are becoming desperate, attacking even caravans going to/from imperial city. This is disrupting entire organisation: some members are disgusted, because in their eyes, whole ideals of the group are becoming nothing more then ideological cover for primitive robbing. They are leaving the group and seeking refuge in the vast eastern forests. There they meet remnants of the elves and befriend them. Humans are providing workforce in rebuilding the destroyed civilization and additional protection to the forests; Elves are teaching the humans the art of surviving in the forests and providing safe haven unharassed by imperials. The majority of the organisation still remains in the imperial forests, assaulting caravans and imperial patrols.
So, to answer your question: Humans are both bad (imperials and, to some extent, "terrorists") and good (renegades from the "terroristic" group).

Do you think Elvish Dynasty was comedy campaign? I'm aiming for healthy mix of all genres. For example, Orval (poacher with dim trait) may be comical, even hilarious character; On the other hand, (censored) is somewhat mysterious character, always cogent and focused on the mission. Every character has it's own style, contributing to the whole style of the campaign.

PS: Logan may have some history with the terrorists: He was citizen of the burned village, joined ranks of the organisation, but after while, he realised (to him) they are just bunch of outlaws. Formerly idealistic, now dissapointed, he became mercenary.

[TheGreatRings]

Okay, I think that clears everything up.

Its an interesting story, with some real potential. As for Elvish Dynasty, I'll admit its been a while since I played it.

[Neuromancer]

Update: I will not update this list because basically every post here so far has been new idea
Edit: moved scenario overview into the first post.

Some ideas worth implementing (feel free to add yours and comments on these):
Achievements system - At the end of the last scenario, player will be awarded with some achievements, which wil summarize his advance through entire campaign, for example: Finished the game only with female characters, or Revealed the secret of the old dry tree, or Imperial vassal: Helped imperials against the terrorists. These will further enhance gameplay experience and also will motivate the player to replay campaign; there will be also listed achievements, which he didn't acquire.
This system can be implemented also at the scenario level: after each scenario, there will be one for normal and one for hard difficulty, f. ex. for first scenario: Slay 4 or more enemies in the water and Finish the scenario in under 6 turns.

[TheGreatRings]

Edit: moved scenario overview into the first post.

Some ideas worth implementing (feel free to add yours and comments on these):
Achievements system - At the end of the last scenario, player will be awarded with some achievements, which wil summarize his advance through entire campaign, for example: Finished the game only with female characters, or Revealed the secret of the old dry tree, or Imperial vassal: Helped imperials against the terrorists. These will further enhance gameplay experience and also will motivate the player to replay campaign; there will be also listed achievements, which he didn't acquire.
This system can be implemented also at the scenario level: after each scenario, there will be one for normal and one for hard difficulty, f. ex. for first scenario: Slay 4 or more enemies in the water and Finish the scenario in under 6 turns.

Interesting.

I can suggest a few more if you like.

-Finish without casualties.
-Kill all enemy leaders (if their are scenarios that don't require kills).

[Quman]

Have you and The Great Rings started working on this together, or are you still working alone on this? I'd be interested in helping if you still need it, but this topic hasn't been commented on in a few weeks, so I don't know if you're still looking for help.

[Neuromancer]

Still alone. Still haven't figured out the whole story. Without story there cannot be complete scenarios, character dialogues, etc. so the whole project is at dead point. But I thought about something like this:
Maybe (censored) is trying to escape through the portal to the another dimension because he knows there is nothing to prevent dark elves from overwhelming everything. Maybe (censored) is some kind of fallen vissionare, and nobody believes him at the start, but at the end everyone is begging him to take them with him. Maybe the lesson of the story can be something like "everybody is coward when faced with a REAL threat". Maybe it can be about gods who failed to inspire their people (or vice versa) so no one believes the evil can be fighted and won over (they just dont have the hope and motto can be "i'am trying to believe"). Maybe the good guys have the balls to fight the evil but they are hampered by the passivism of other people who lost they will to fight. Maybe the evil just bluntly prevails and innocents will causelessly die and although your party will make it to the portal, they will end up with something like "omg, whole world is crumbling because we couldnt manage to whatever and now we cannot bear it and will just rot there until the evil will come for us, we just feel so hopeless". But I doubt this will be interesting for the player.

Anyway, everyone can contribute without knowledge of the story: names for places and organizations, characters pasts, and so on.

[Pewskeepski]

I could probably help you with the story. I like the idea about the portal, it sounds like it could be interesting

[Neuromancer]

Yeah, like only place suitable for the portal is to the far north. In order to create it you need some ingredients, among others one or two innocent virgins, for example Hailey... But I really dont know if general player population will be satisfied with the outcome of the scenario; At the end, (censored) will turn into selfish [censored] (he will sacrifice innocent soul), the good guys will lose and evil will prevail.

[Quman]

Funny, I'd come up with a few ideas on the plot, and my favorite idea was going to end with the protagonist being a villain, possibly having Tess lead the mercenaries against him in the end.

Another idea I had involved the protagonist being the true emperor, having been body swapped by the villain. In this case he would be on a quest to return to his true form. There were also a few similar ideas, like the quest to set up the emperor's good son (rescued in mission 5, identity revealed at the end of the campaign) as a ruler in the north and uniting people who oppose the emperor under his banner.

Another idea involves the protagonist secretly being a necromancer, traveling to the north castle to raise the greatest army this land has ever known. This campaign could easily end with him being a villain (using the army to wipe out the alliance) or anti-hero (using unscrupulous methods to defeat the dark elves/empire with minimal casualties among the alliance.) His necromantic powers could be foreshadowed in mission 2 where he is able to use gold won by the other team to recruit undead. If he turns out to be a villain, the final mission would probably be a race to defeat him before his undead army becomes too powerful and wipes out the mercenaries.

Anyway, I'll write up some profiles for the mercenaries and post them later.

[Neuromancer]

Funny, I'd come up with a few ideas on the plot, and my favorite idea was going to end with the protagonist being a villain, possibly having Tess lead the mercenaries against him in the end.

Agreed. And at the end player can choose whether to turn against (censored) or let him create portal. Every character present will express his/her opinion (f. ex. Logan is willing to sacrifice Hailey; but elvish druid not, because Hailey is her sister).

Another idea I had involved the protagonist being the true emperor, having been body swapped by the villain. In this case he would be on a quest to return to his true form. There were also a few similar ideas, like the quest to set up the emperor's good son (rescued in mission 5, identity revealed at the end of the campaign) as a ruler in the north and uniting people who oppose the emperor under his banner.
Another idea involves the protagonist secretly being a necromancer, traveling to the north castle to raise the greatest army this land has ever known. This campaign could easily end with him being a villain (using the army to wipe out the alliance) or anti-hero (using unscrupulous methods to defeat the dark elves/empire with minimal casualties among the alliance.) His necromantic powers could be foreshadowed in mission 2 where he is able to use gold won by the other team to recruit undead. If he turns out to be a villain, the final mission would probably be a race to defeat him before his undead army becomes too powerful and wipes out the mercenaries.

I dont know about this. Personally I grew tired of stories where you end up saving the kingdom/world/universe. I like the portal idea more - your decisions still determine the course of the story, but not on global, only local level. And regarding my previous stated idea about eradicating the dark elves with your group: now I dont like it. On the other hand, the anti-hero necromancer sounds interesting - but why he needs mercenary band (necros are usually "recruiting" their forces right from the start and adding to them "on the run")?

Some more ideas:
(cendored) (or other pc) is member of some (secret) society - sign is tatoo
Hailey and Yveen are twins
Dark elves are channeling the ritual (requiring continuous supply of souls) which, in turn, is influencing creatures with soul in continuosly growing radius. Effects on victims (this effect is gradual): Ones dreams will turn into nightmares and one day, these nightmares will turn into reality. One will sleepwalk away from bed, and like zombie, will slowly march to the ritual site where his soul will be sacrificed (or his blood will be magically transfused to the container emmiting this dark energy - soul supply will be provided with souls of innocents /yeah, in this world, for every dark ritual, you just need innocent soul/).

[Quman]

I had intentionally looked for ideas that would have a large impact on the world because that's what I thought you were going for. I figured with all the secrecy surrounding the mission, it must be something major. Now that I have a better idea of what you're going for I'll focus on that.

As for the protagonist being a necromancer... which sounds easier to you? Traveling north for several weeks with a large gathering of dead guys and a huge sign that screams "I AM EVIL" or traveling north for several weeks with a small band of competent mercenaries. Also, I wasn't meaning for him to be a super-powerful necromancer, but rather one that relies on whatever he picks up in mission 5 (a book or some sort of artifact) to raise the army in the north castle. I don't imagine him being powerful enough that he could have used his own powers to accomplish mission 5 with a bunch of walking corpses that may not be very good with stealth. Also, when I talked about him using the army to wipe out one group or another, I was referring to his intentions, not necessarily his results.

Anyway, back to working on character profiles. I'm sure there will be plenty of ideas you don't like, but it's probably easier to learn from your rejection than it is to find out what you're going for and then write their profiles.

[TheGreatRings]

Still alone. Still haven't figured out the whole story. Without story there cannot be complete scenarios, character dialogues, etc. so the whole project is at dead point. But I thought about something like this:
Maybe (censored) is trying to escape through the portal to the another dimension because he knows there is nothing to prevent dark elves from overwhelming everything. Maybe (censored) is some kind of fallen vissionare, and nobody believes him at the start, but at the end everyone is begging him to take them with him. Maybe the lesson of the story can be something like "everybody is coward when faced with a REAL threat". Maybe it can be about gods who failed to inspire their people (or vice versa) so no one believes the evil can be fighted and won over (they just dont have the hope and motto can be "i'am trying to believe"). Maybe the good guys have the balls to fight the evil but they are hampered by the passivism of other people who lost they will to fight. Maybe the evil just bluntly prevails and innocents will causelessly die and although your party will make it to the portal, they will end up with something like "omg, whole world is crumbling because we couldnt manage to whatever and now we cannot bear it and will just rot there until the evil will come for us, we just feel so hopeless". But I doubt this will be interesting for the player.

Anyway, everyone can contribute without knowledge of the story: names for places and organizations, characters pasts, and so on.

Most of that's too cynical for my tastes. Though if victory really is impossible, helping people flee to a new world isn't a terrible idea (its basically what Haldric did in Rise of Wesnoth).

I suggest you avoid heroic necromancers. Besides philosophical/religious issues with raising the dead, necromancy is almost by definition slavery and grave robbing. Not exactly noble traits.

Personally, I might suggest giving the player some choice in the actions and character of the protagonist. Let the player choose weather to follow a heroic or villainous path.

I wish I could help more with the story, but until I finish exams (about a week from now), I'm busy. I'll try to post some character suggestions later in the week if you like.

[Quman]

There's a reason I described the two choices for the necromancer protagonist as villain and anti-hero. There's also a reason I prefer to make him the villain and pit all of the mercenaries against him, though in my mind I think of the mercenaries as the heroes of the story, with the protagonist being more of an Ishmael.

EDIT: Gah, what was I talking about? Ishmael is for protagonists who are basically just observers and don't have any real impact on the plot, which is almost the exact opposite of what I meant.

Anyway, I've almost finished writing quick blurbs about each of the characters' backgrounds and personalities. As I said, a lot of this will likely get rejected, but it's probably better to present stuff that might spark other ideas than to prod you with questions until I understand what you're going for. For the record, not everything I wrote into a character's background is something I would expect to work into the dialogue. I just like to have some idea of where a character comes from because it can lead to interesting ideas for their personalities.

Tess:

Background: Tess was once an idealist who dedicated her life to helping others, however as the world became a darker place, Tess had to take on a more cynical attitude to survive. Her old monastic order is gone, as is the village where she grew up. She now works as a mercenary.

Personality: The generous, caring girl she used to be still exists, but on the surface she tends to act more professional. Tess always tries to make herself look good (or make others look bad so she looks good in comparison) to protect her career. At the end of the day she still wants to do what's right, but her own survival usually comes first.

Garret:

Background: Formerly a member of the imperial army before joining with the terrorists. His primary reason for joining with the terrorists was idealogical, but he would not have joined with them if he didn't also see that he could earn enough money to support his family. Garret agreed with the renegades who left for the forest, but for the time being remained with the organization for financial reasons. Eventually he got sick of the organization and chose to earn his wages in a (relatively) more honest way, even if mercenary work isn't quite as lucrative.

Personality: He usually just wants to get the job done and get paid. He tends to give people the impression that he's greedy, and since he really doesn't care what people think about him he doesn't bother to correct anybody. Sometimes he acts more protective of his female and young male companions than others would expect him to, but for the most part he does very little to give people the impression that he's any more than a greedy mercenary.

Kara:

Background: Kara never could stand being told what to do. She was determined to make her own decisions and live her own life. Her father owned a store in the capital, but he knew that Kara would be unfit to manage the store after he passed away. As such he pressured her to marry somebody who could take care of her, but Kara insisted that she was able to take care of herself. Kara left home and tried her hand at running a business without help from her father, but her business soon failed and she was left with debts she couldn't repay. However, even when her life was threatened by her creditor, she refused to run to her father for help. Instead, she chose to get herself out of her own mess in the only way she could think of. She murdered the man she owed money to. After that she began to market her skills as a thief and assassin, and eventually ended up where she is today.

Personality: Kara makes her own destiny, and refuses to bow to another person's will. She doesn't get along well with people who consider her to be their "inferior," as she refuses to show them the respect they feel they deserve. She enjoys teasing people, but "superior" people are the most fun to irritate. She is friendly, however, and she usually gets along very well with the more quiet companions.

Aramis:

Background: Aramis' parents died when he was a child, and so he was raised by a wealthy friend of his father. Aramis, at the age of 8, became smitten with the man's daughter and asked for her hand in marriage. The man didn't expect the boy's feelings to last into adult-hood (they didn't) so rather than simply denying the boy's request outright, he challenged the boy to become worthy of his daughter. Aramis began training himself to become a great swordsman, and continued to train after his immature crush faded. When the time came to earn his own keep, he became a sword for hire; one of the best in the empire by his own estimation.

Personality: Aramis can be arrogant, brash, and a bit vain at times. He enjoys the thrill of risk-taking, though he does have sense enough not to get himself killed in his risks. He also flirts a lot with all of his female companions except for Kara; she gets on his nerves.

Hailey:

Background: Hailey is now what Tess used to be, albeit without healing magic. When the humans came to live among the elves in the forest, Hailey heard about the empire's oppression. Helping the humans living under the emperor's iron rule became her passion, and she convinced her sister, Yveen, to come along with her. Hailey uses her skill with the bow to earn a living in the human empire, though much of her time and money is spent helping those in need.

Personality: Always positive, always happy. Hailey's passion is to make the world a better place, one person at a time. She's always trying to encourage her allies, and she's very reluctant to say anything hurtful. That being said, she can be a bit shallow at times. She tends to judge people very quickly based on the way they act on the surface, and often misjudges people whose emotions aren't completely transparent.

Wellen:

Background: Wellen lived most of his life in a cabin just a few hours away from a small town to the east of the Imperial capital (near mission 4). The hunting used to be good in those parts, but not lately. New predators have moved in and scared off all the game. Pretty soon Wellen was having real trouble getting by. He thought about getting a job in town, but he's never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, or wherever it is they kept knives in those days. Anyway, he moved to the big city to earn a living doing the only thing he's really good at.

Personality: Friendly, honest, and a bit on the dim side. He's not normally one to be rude, but when he feels insulted he feels a need to return the favor. Sometimes he can get in a pretty good barb, other times he just makes a fool of himself.

Logan:

Background: Logan was a survivor of the original attack on Specere (my tentative name for point B on the map,) and played a role in calling people to fight back. He was one of the first to call people to join the cause, and also one of the first to call for change when it was becoming clear that the majority of the organization's members were nothing more than crooks who used the cause to justify their thieving. Very few seemed to listen or care, so Logan left in disgust. Eventually others would reach the same conclusion Logan had reached and leave the organization as well, forming an alliance with the elves. Logan himself had nothing to do with the terrorists or renegades after his departure, though many of the current leaders of both groups are former friends of his.

Personality: Bitter and jaded, Logan hates the empire, and isn't terribly fond of the terrorists or renegades either. He doesn't like the elves much either, for that matter. Everybody seems to either be part of the problem, or too scared or apathetic to do anything about it. He may get along okay with some of the mercenaries that have absolutely nothing to do with the empire and rebellion, but he can be very unfriendly towards those that are in some way associated with the conflict. Logan has a particular dislike for Garret.

Luciana:

Background: Luciana's life has been rather uninteresting for the most part. Her father, a general in the imperial army, sent her to live at a mage academy when her mother died. After several unremarkable years of studying, Luciana returned to the imperial capital upon receiving news of her father's death. With her father dead, and all of his possessions taken by the empire, Luciana began to sell her skills and knowledge to get by.

Personality: Quiet and cautious, Luciana isn't one to make rash decisions. Luciana has learned to keep her emotions in check and look at the situation from all perspectives. She gets along best with people that are either willing to listen to her advice, or have a great deal of knowledge they are willing to share with her.

Yveen:

Background: See Hailey's background. Yveen doesn't quite share her sister's passion for humans, and she certainly didn't relish the thought of leaving her home, Yveen agreed to go into human civilization with her sister so that she could look out for her. That being said, Hailey has had to look out for Yveen from time to time, especially when men are involved.

Personality: Yveen is the wiser, more patient twin, though she is also less worldly, and can be a bit naive at times. Yveen is something of a romantic, and can sometimes get carried away with her emotions.

Wendala:

"What do you do if you don't like the world? You change it. But the world is big, and there are many powerful people who like things the way they are. To change the world I need power. Magic is power, and dark magic especially. Power for evil? In the wrong hands, yes. But magic is a tool, not a force of its own. A tool is neither good nor evil, it simply does its master's bidding. In the right hands, 'dark' magic can be a force for good. Sure, I may have to kill a few animals to gain this power, but in the end it will be worth it. Just wait and you'll see, father. The 'darkness' that blights our land will be vanquished, and 'light' will once again reign supreme. But between darkness and light, there is twilight. I'll see you again at 'sunrise,' father. Until then, goodbye." -- Wendala, age 16

Pelduras:

Background: Some dwarves have a passion for booze. Pelduras has a passion for food. Years ago Pelduras left his home land to sample the dishes of other cultures, with dreams of one day using the knowledge he has gained to open a restaurant back home. While some non-dwarven quisine tastes horrible to his dwarven pallate, Pelduras has discovered enough useable recipes and cooking techniques to make staying in human society for a little bit longer worth it.

Personality: Aside from the standard dwarven traits (love of gold, jewels, battle, and strong drink, etc.) Pelduras is something of a history buff. He's usually very interested in hearing whatever story is being told, and if he finds a good listener he'll be more than happy to talk their ear off. While he doesn't especially like elves, he has no difficulty putting aside racial prejudices.

It's past midnight, so I decided to stop here, despite having only one more character to go. I'll get some more work done after you've responded to these and I have a clearer idea of what you want.