Just thought I'd try and re-open discussions on WNW. Main characters seemed like a good place to start. On that note, I thought I'd begin with the Maztican prince, a prominent figure in the conflict and a joinable NPC, so far as current plans go.
Leo's opening thoughts on this character were that he be good-aligned and barbarian class. Also, that he be a potential romance option for the player character. Or for his opposite number in the other culture, the princess.
Here's my two bits, for the time being. Perhaps a more appropriate class for the prince might be fighter. Or possibly ranger, if he is more attuned to nature. Or possibly even paladin, depending upon his role in that society. I suppose it really depends. If his role has been solely a military one, then perhaps he is best suited to be a fighter. On the other hand, if he has been raised to be a religious leader as well, then paladin might be better. Or ranger if we decide to make the culture's priests druids.
In any case, determining the man's motivations and background are important as well. As a good-aligned character, it should not be too much to presume that the prince's concerns lie in the well-being of his people. But does he view peace as good for his people, or does he feel the best resolution would be the destruction of the other culture? After all, if he has been raised to believe that his enemy is thoroughly, iredeemably evil, then likely he would see the latter as the only course of action. Perhaps the good player taking his side would try to convince him otherwise.
Well, I suppose that was more than two bits, but I hope it generates a bit of discussion at least.
The Maztican Prince
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Guest_CHAw_*
, Dec 03 2002 10:02 AM
3 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_Soltas_*
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Posted 07 December 2002 - 08:03 PM
It all depends on what the culture around the Prince is, but unless it is a theocracy, I think that the Prince should not be a paladin. He can be religious, devout even, but in a large complex society, I would imagine that religious functions would be hived off to a different person, allowing him to concentrate on more temporal matters.
If he is a jungle-based guy, being a Ranger would make sense, but I also like the idea of a Barbarian being a joinable character. I'm not saying by any means that Maztican culture is 'backwards', but I think the barbarian is a very underused class. Given that this is 3D&D, why not make him multiclass?
Regarding him character, I think it would be better if he were, initially at least, more hostile towards the other culture. I got the impression from Leo's original ideas that the cultures WOULD go to war unless you stopped them, and having it this way also gives a little more leeway for characters to manipulate him towards being good (peaceful) or spurring him on to fight and be more evil.
One thing about barbarians, if I remember correctly, is that they cannot be lawful. That's fine - just have him as neutral good or CG, as is more befitting of a Ranger as well as a Barbarian.
That's my reply, in an attempt to get this project restarted.
Soltas
If he is a jungle-based guy, being a Ranger would make sense, but I also like the idea of a Barbarian being a joinable character. I'm not saying by any means that Maztican culture is 'backwards', but I think the barbarian is a very underused class. Given that this is 3D&D, why not make him multiclass?
Regarding him character, I think it would be better if he were, initially at least, more hostile towards the other culture. I got the impression from Leo's original ideas that the cultures WOULD go to war unless you stopped them, and having it this way also gives a little more leeway for characters to manipulate him towards being good (peaceful) or spurring him on to fight and be more evil.
One thing about barbarians, if I remember correctly, is that they cannot be lawful. That's fine - just have him as neutral good or CG, as is more befitting of a Ranger as well as a Barbarian.
That's my reply, in an attempt to get this project restarted.
Soltas
#3
Guest_CHAw_*
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Posted 07 December 2002 - 09:31 PM
It all depends on what the culture around the Prince is, but unless it is a theocracy, I think that the Prince should not be a paladin. He can be religious, devout even, but in a large complex society, I would imagine that religious functions would be hived off to a different person, allowing him to concentrate on more temporal matters.
I do agree that paladin would not be appropriate if the society divides the idea of rulership and religion, but the reason I suggested it was because we haven't yet established what this society will be like. Personally, I think he should be a fighter, but again, it all depends on what we decide this society will be like, as well as the character's own inclinations.
If he is a jungle-based guy, being a Ranger would make sense, but I also like the idea of a Barbarian being a joinable character. I'm not saying by any means that Maztican culture is 'backwards', but I think the barbarian is a very underused class. Given that this is 3D&D, why not make him multiclass?
Hmmm... well, underused though it might be, I feel we would have to explain WHY we gave him the barbarian class, if we chose to do so.
If you'd really like to see a barbarian though, Leo has said that the joinable NPCs need not be limited to the four characters he thought of initially. Indeed, CHuK'chSS'raGKH has already suggested an idea for a fifth one, and I believe ideas for two others were also suggested at some point. If you want to make a barbarian character, perhaps we could create one who is a mercenary and originates from some obscure nomadic tribe somewhere deeper into Maztica. Perhaps he has heard of the war and has come seeking fame and glory. Perhaps he has a darker agenda. Maybe one of the two cultures eradicated his tribe and seized his homeland, leaving him alone and destitute, and only able to seek vengeance. There are many ideas one could play around with for additional NPCs. Perhaps you want to work on this one?
Hmm... still, I suppose if you are REALLY insistent on the prince being a barbarian, however, perhaps we could explain it by giving the guy a nasty temper. Give him a berserker personality. Keep in mind though, that the man WAS intended to be a possible romance for female PCs.
Regarding him character, I think it would be better if he were, initially at least, more hostile towards the other culture. I got the impression from Leo's original ideas that the cultures WOULD go to war unless you stopped them, and having it this way also gives a little more leeway for characters to manipulate him towards being good (peaceful) or spurring him on to fight and be more evil.
I'd gotten the impression that they already were at war. Regardless, I agree that making him initially hostile to his people's enemy would only be natural, and would probably make for better PC/comrade interaction, but I figured we should all get our thoughts out on the subject.
One thing about barbarians, if I remember correctly, is that they cannot be lawful. That's fine - just have him as neutral good or CG, as is more befitting of a Ranger as well as a Barbarian.
Well... since he's an NPC, nobody ever said we HAD to follow the alignment restrictions, so long as we explain why we did what we did. Besides, to take a level in barbarian the character needs to be non-lawful - a lawful barbarian does not lose the barbarian abilities, he simply cannot advance in the barbarian class until becoming unlawful again. If we wanted to, we could start the guy as a barbarian 1 and end him as a barbarian 1/ranger 18, to use your class preferences.
*sigh* Perhaps I focused the topic too much. As I look at this discussion, I see that we should probably work this project from a story-telling perspective, and not so much a game mechanics one. Perhaps a better direction for this discussion should be deciding the characteristics of each culture and then the personalities of the cast. Classes, quests, etc. can flow from there. And after all, isn't story-telling the Attic's strength?
#4
Leo
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Posted 07 December 2002 - 11:38 PM
I'd gotten the impression that they already were at war.
Indeed.
*sigh* Perhaps I focused the topic too much. As I look at this discussion, I see that we should probably work this project from a story-telling perspective, and not so much a game mechanics one. Perhaps a better direction for this discussion should be deciding the characteristics of each culture and then the personalities of the cast. Classes, quests, etc. can flow from there. And after all, isn't story-telling the Attic's strength?
Absolutely! Excellent idea. Let the storytelling drive. After all, why decide on exact game implementation if it all might change once a good idea comes up in the storytelling department? Let's flesh out the characters first, and then it will be clear what class etc. they would be.
Leo
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