OOC: New venue?

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Graybeard
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OOC: New venue?

Post by Graybeard »

An issue is about to arise on which I would like to seek the input/opinions/guidance of all the other players (and any other interested parties).

Grope, it will be noted, has finally made contact with the other trolls in the Mountains of Madness -- not in the "troll homelands" (which are in Veracia and the far north, these trolls are "settlers" as he himself is), but still, trolls. By far the most natural order of events from here is that he hang out with those trolls for a while, then continue on to the troll homelands in search of a new mate -- which, after all, is the "quest" that he's on. If that happens, he will more or less break contact with the humans now engaged with the Malletarian heretics. That's not unnatural by any means; on the contrary, the somewhat contrived nature of the things that have brought him into contact with Jamie, Marcus, etc., is the "unnatural" thing.

So I appear to have some options:
  • "Retire" Grope and let him live happily ever after offstage, treating Layla as my main PC in the MoM venue -- this is undesirable because Layla too is seeing her life move in directions incompatible with where most characters are going;
  • Let a deus ex machina keep Grope around to interact with the main group;
  • Continue to tell Grope's story in the MoM venue even though he's going to be leaving it relatively soon;
  • Prepare another venue that in essence becomes the chronicle of the trolls, with other characters to be introduced as players wish, but no expectation that the current set will be active in that venue.
All else equal, I think I maybe incline to the last of those; the down side (I'm going to be talking to myself quite a bit...) is, IMO, more than balanced by the advantage of streamlining both stories, not to mention the opportunity to introduce some new people. Meanwhile, Layla will still be around in Farrel (if also limited in her interactions with the main group) and I'll still be throwing stuff out there connected with the BBEG. But what do other people think?

This doesn't have to get answered instantly, but I'd appreciate feedback sooner than later, as Grope's trajectory through the MoM is obviously going to be affected by this decision.
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Sareth
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Sareth »

Well, to start with, I think the question needs to be asked... Which would be the most fun for you? Ultimately, that is the entire point of this... having fun. That which maximizes the fun for you keeps you more interested, more engaged, and that ultimately is also best for the rest of us.

That said, if you break Grope off into a separate game, then I'll probably join in in a couple months here, but at the moment I'm over committed as it is owing to a massive senior thesis I'm working on. So you would *eventually* have at least one other person to play off of if that's the direction you decide to take things.

Hrm... If you wanted, I'd let you "take over" Jasmine, since I've been running her more as an NPC anyway. I don't know how much interaction you'd get out of her, though, as, well, if she catches up... then what? Given her goal (get Jamie home, barefoot, and on her back making Jamie-lings with some guy) I don't see her continuing to fight the BBEG! Heh.
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Viking-Sensei »

This would all be a lot easlier if someone else wanted to play a Troll. I'm not criticizing you in the least for your choice of Grope - he's been a great character, but we can't really drag him into the cities with us, he can't *really* join the main party, and while us heading straight into troll-infested lands would give him some continued use, I'm not entirely sure that's fair or right for Grope. Another Troll would at least allow Grope someone to meaningfully discuss things with.

Maybe... maybe it's time for us to pull inspiration from Poe's art and introduce a younger half-human half-troll (or half-elf/half-troll) like that one drawing Poe did and have Grope send them off with us as some sort of troll spirit journey experience quest. That'd give Grope a link back into the story, and would also just generally be cool. Anyone want to try one of these?
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Graybeard
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Graybeard »

Viking-Sensei wrote:Maybe... maybe it's time for us to pull inspiration from Poe's art and introduce a younger half-human half-troll (or half-elf/half-troll) like that one drawing Poe did and have Grope send them off with us as some sort of troll spirit journey experience quest. That'd give Grope a link back into the story, and would also just generally be cool. Anyone want to try one of these?
That's a VERY interesting idea. Any chance that you could work out with Poe and Impy (as you did with the venue, BBEG, etc.) how half-troll-ness works in the Poe-verse, and post a straw man (straw troll?)? As usual, we don't want to get crosswise of canon, but compared to other canonical matters, we don't really understand how a half-troll might work. Suggest you post that here if you can do it, and I'll create a hook somewhere in the writing for Grope.

I'll decline, with thanks, the offer of Jasmine, S; you understand her better than I do, Layla will still be around, and the possibly-pregnant Elke will be introducing some wrinkles to the story en route to the BBEG, so I'll still be able to do stuff in the MoM setting. The question with Grope is mainly one of keeping whatever I do with him from becoming a snore for other people.
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Drannin
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Drannin »

I'm a little divided, having never had a chance to have Argus interact with Grope. Though, honestly, said interaction would mainly be limited to 'Oh, a troll. Must kill.' As has been said, it's whatever works best for you. However, I would like to say that I really enjoy Grope's perspective. The lone troll in a game mostly featuring humans (and the odd elf/half-elf) would be a shame to lose.
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Sareth
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Sareth »

Grope *has* been rather interesting to see, yes. Sort of like the Ents in LotR. Very different perspective, don't really interact with most of the main characters much, yet very enriching.

No problem on Jasmine. Didn't figure you'd be interested, but thought I'd toss that out there.

A half-troll would be FASCINATING. But I've already got characters in both major groups, so...
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Imp-Chan »

Mikota is pretty much a special case. Usually half-trolls would not have been what you might call, "welcomed," and kinda the whole point of Mikota is that she's unique and thus alone. Also, her story begins after Errant Story ends, so at the point in time you're discussing there are no half-trolls at all.

It's not to say that another half-troll would be completely impossible... it's just highly unlikely to ever exist, let alone look as close to human as Mikota does (that part being kinda a plot point). There'd have to be some pretty severe extenuating circumstances for another half-troll of any kind to survive, or even to be conceived. Humans and trolls getting together is pretty much unheard of at this point in the Errant Story world... neither species finds the other at all attractive, and there's not situations for peaceful contact between the two groups at all.

-_-'
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Sareth
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Sareth »

I am REALLY looking forward to her story, when it comes...

Thanks for letting us know about this, Impy!
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Viking-Sensei »

Well, that's why it was important we check.

Right... so no half-trolls. Anybody got any other ideas?
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Graybeard
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Re: OOC: New venue?

Post by Graybeard »

Thanks indeed, Impy. Your explanation confirms the suspicion that I'd had that half-trolls are exceedingly rare birds arising only from very unusual circumstances. I actually did (and still do) have something in mind connected with the underlying "plot line" of Errant Road that might have led to a half-troll, being one of those "unusual" situations, but never anything that was going to be a viable player character. With this explanation, the action won't be heading that way.

On reflection, I think it may be best just to let Grope's various encounters continue to appear in the main topic, at least for the time being. A complication that I hadn't thought of, but that Impy's explanation raises, is that the more troll-specific stuff appears in Errant Road, the more risk there is of wandering into territory that conflicts with canon. When I started Grope up, I didn't see that as a concern, but that was before the little throwaway between Ian and Paul that suggests we may be hearing more of the trolls in Errant Story itself. We really don't want to get crosswise of that.

I'm with Sareth: it will be REALLY interesting to hear more about Mikota. Not so interesting as to drive an early termination of Errant Story itself, however....
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