The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - The Fellowship of the Fourth Age (Part 1): A New Beginning Discussion Thread

Durelin · 06-26-2006, 06:38 PM

I considered the NPCs option (it's something I've been working on for a RPG elsewhere, lately, so I immediately considered it for this game when Child and I were discussing the issue with keeping the number of players down but the numbers of characters up), and I tend to always use at least one or two NPCs in a game, though I am terrible and tend to make things up as I go along, giving a name and face to characters as I go along.

If this is something everyone wants to pursue, I'd be happy to come up with a few. Or, heck, I'll come up with the whole rest of the ex-slave gang if you want me to.

But, flexibility is very good. A few NPCs might not be bad, either, but I'm not sure how necessary they are, especially ahead of time. In my experience, at least, roleplaying has been more about glimpses than anything else. It's not about the whole picture itself, rather about individual parts of that whole picture, that reflect that whole picture on a smaller scale. (I do hope that made sense.) So, we don't really need to know who everyone (or close to everyone) is in the story.

I think that a set 'leader' for the slave escapees at this point isn't really all that necessary, except that it is probable that someone emerged as a kind of leader on their way to the mountains. But a leader can always still be emerging from the group (I really want a better way to put that, but can't come up with one right now) - and that leader could be anyone's character. If you'd prefer to have a determined leader right now, though, I'm sure that can be worked out.

As Child said, it really would be better if the leader type was actually played by someone.

Oh, and Khamir isn't too much of the leader type, so I'm sure everyone will have plenty of chances to take charge when he cannot, will not, or messes up...and they'll have chances to trip him up and take charge if they wish, too.

Edit: Oh, almost forgot: your list is almost all correct, except that there are 50 slaves (I said 56 escaped, but only 50 survived to the mountains...that's a dangerous trek, I doubt all of them would have survived), and there are 15 ex-slaves including Khamir. Sorry about the confusion with all the numbers (mostly that's my fault).

06-26-2006, 06:38 PM	#86
Durelin Estelo dagnir, Melo ring Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,121	I considered the NPCs option (it's something I've been working on for a RPG elsewhere, lately, so I immediately considered it for this game when Child and I were discussing the issue with keeping the number of players down but the numbers of characters up), and I tend to always use at least one or two NPCs in a game, though I am terrible and tend to make things up as I go along, giving a name and face to characters as I go along. If this is something everyone wants to pursue, I'd be happy to come up with a few. Or, heck, I'll come up with the whole rest of the ex-slave gang if you want me to. But, flexibility is very good. A few NPCs might not be bad, either, but I'm not sure how necessary they are, especially ahead of time. In my experience, at least, roleplaying has been more about glimpses than anything else. It's not about the whole picture itself, rather about individual parts of that whole picture, that reflect that whole picture on a smaller scale. (I do hope that made sense.) So, we don't really need to know who everyone (or close to everyone) is in the story. I think that a set 'leader' for the slave escapees at this point isn't really all that necessary, except that it is probable that someone emerged as a kind of leader on their way to the mountains. But a leader can always still be emerging from the group (I really want a better way to put that, but can't come up with one right now) - and that leader could be anyone's character. If you'd prefer to have a determined leader right now, though, I'm sure that can be worked out. As Child said, it really would be better if the leader type was actually played by someone. Oh, and Khamir isn't too much of the leader type, so I'm sure everyone will have plenty of chances to take charge when he cannot, will not, or messes up...and they'll have chances to trip him up and take charge if they wish, too. Edit: Oh, almost forgot: your list is almost all correct, except that there are 50 slaves (I said 56 escaped, but only 50 survived to the mountains...that's a dangerous trek, I doubt all of them would have survived), and there are 15 ex-slaves including Khamir. Sorry about the confusion with all the numbers (mostly that's my fault). Last edited by Durelin; 06-26-2006 at 06:41 PM.