Seriously if you stumble onto this, PLEASE turn back.
Okay so I need someone to check my math on this because I can be blind to my own NPC's and my own limits of RP.
The PC's met a man last week who was a captive of some lizard folk. They freed him but were profoundly suspicious of him. He tried to get his flirt game on but for every "awww that's sweet" got a "oh.. hmm.. that's a little creepy" back. So, yeah, we're tossing the love triangle story arch.
But I want to salvage some of his debonair charm. The party just read "The Book of the Raven" from the adventure of the same name in Candlekeep so they're processing that Gerald (the NPC) might be a Vistani. I'm wondering if maybe he is but his particular clan is cursed. They can only exist outside of the Domain of Dread so long as they have a romantic tie to the world they are in. Otherwise when the moon changes from Wax to Wane or back, they fade back to the shadowfall.
Gerald is a little different too in that he won't use magic to create or coax any bonds and while he had an anchor in his last lover, her sudden demise while adventuring put him on a compressed time table (thus his "over trying" last session). Now the PC's are due to cross over into the Domain of Dread this week to close a portal between the worlds that's been opened. I'm thinking that Gerald will join them going through, fight at their side, and then tell them he's staying because it's better to stay there until he can find a new love and anchor to cross back over rather than risk, being alone at the next new moon (which is but days away).
Does this come of as relatable/ engaging/ empathetic or am I once again trying too hard?
Now I know that the Domain of Dread/ Shadowfall/ Lands of Ravenloft have piles and piles of preset lore that I'm kinda aware of but I tend to homebrew a lot of "the world at large" as fits my needs so I'm mostly looking at this plotline as just this plotline.
The players are willing to keep the NPC from fading away, plot progresses.
It looks like you are pushing romantic interests on the party, in which case people live or refuse because it can be a little creepy.
Forcing romance into the plot can work, but many times it doesn't. If the players aren't ok with it, either find another NPC or drop it. This is my advice, so do whatever you want.
Forcing romance into the plot can work, but many times it doesn't. If the players aren't ok with it, either find another NPC or drop it. This is my advice, so do whatever you want.
Yeah, total agreement and I'm quite happy to drop this. My thought is that I wanted to give Good ol' Gerald an out to not seem so creepy even if they ultimately have to wish him well and leave him behind. His plan is to do the noble thing and stay behind anyway. I don't foresee any of them going "oh... well.. if THAT"s the case, get over here you hunka bard".
For me the best outcome is the 4 PC's to come back into the material plane, look at each other and say "Yeah.. that Gerald wasn't too bad, I hope he ends up okay". If they try to bring him back, well, it's more than likely with the mission of "we gotta get Gerald a girlfriend" which.. well.. that'll make an interesting interlude next week.
Forcing romance into the plot can work, but many times it doesn't. If the players aren't ok with it, either find another NPC or drop it. This is my advice, so do whatever you want.
Yeah, total agreement and I'm quite happy to drop this. My thought is that I wanted to give Good ol' Gerald an out to not seem so creepy even if they ultimately have to wish him well and leave him behind. His plan is to do the noble thing and stay behind anyway. I don't foresee any of them going "oh... well.. if THAT"s the case, get over here you hunka bard".
For me the best outcome is the 4 PC's to come back into the material plane, look at each other and say "Yeah.. that Gerald wasn't too bad, I hope he ends up okay". If they try to bring him back, well, it's more than likely with the mission of "we gotta get Gerald a girlfriend" which.. well.. that'll make an interesting interlude next week.
Personally I never have a best outcome in mind for an NPC, they might have aims and goals to complete but I simply let them play off the party and see what develops. The players might take to someone and enjoy spending time with that character, or they might see them as simply passing through. They might be offended and kill him.
The moment you try and make the NPC the center of the story you take away from your players and make them ancillary, my advice, by all means come up with some bullet points as to why this npc acts they way they do, if the players tell the npc he is being creepy then let him deal with that in a way that is logical. Maybe he takes it on board, maybe he ignores it thinking the players rude or wrong, maybe he takes offense and decides to get his own back. The moment you inject an npc with a clear end goal in mind you are in many ways trying to railroad your players to react to that character a certain way and setting yourself up for confusion or disappointment when they instead do something different
The moment you try and make the NPC the center of the story you take away from your players and make them ancillary, my advice, by all means come up with some bullet points as to why this npc acts they way they do, if the players tell the npc he is being creepy then let him deal with that in a way that is logical. Maybe he takes it on board, maybe he ignores it thinking the players rude or wrong, maybe he takes offense and decides to get his own back. The moment you inject an npc with a clear end goal in mind you are in many ways trying to railroad your players to react to that character a certain way and setting yourself up for confusion or disappointment when they instead do something different
Oh full agreement. Thankfully Gerald is a side quest at best. They are truly obsessed with getting as much cash as they can out of this haunted house and if he wanders off, he wanders off. I would LIKE him to have a chance to say "here's my story, make of it what you will" but I'm not going to force it on the characters. In fact after the number of times last night someone said "Let's not kill Gerald, yet", I'm pretty sure he's getting out of there pretty fast anyway.
Speaking of:
Yeah.. they at least later remembered that they tried to kill him...
Seriously if you stumble onto this, PLEASE turn back.
Okay so I need someone to check my math on this because I can be blind to my own NPC's and my own limits of RP.
The PC's met a man last week who was a captive of some lizard folk. They freed him but were profoundly suspicious of him. He tried to get his flirt game on but for every "awww that's sweet" got a "oh.. hmm.. that's a little creepy" back. So, yeah, we're tossing the love triangle story arch.
But I want to salvage some of his debonair charm. The party just read "The Book of the Raven" from the adventure of the same name in Candlekeep so they're processing that Gerald (the NPC) might be a Vistani. I'm wondering if maybe he is but his particular clan is cursed. They can only exist outside of the Domain of Dread so long as they have a romantic tie to the world they are in. Otherwise when the moon changes from Wax to Wane or back, they fade back to the shadowfall.
Gerald is a little different too in that he won't use magic to create or coax any bonds and while he had an anchor in his last lover, her sudden demise while adventuring put him on a compressed time table (thus his "over trying" last session). Now the PC's are due to cross over into the Domain of Dread this week to close a portal between the worlds that's been opened. I'm thinking that Gerald will join them going through, fight at their side, and then tell them he's staying because it's better to stay there until he can find a new love and anchor to cross back over rather than risk, being alone at the next new moon (which is but days away).
Does this come of as relatable/ engaging/ empathetic or am I once again trying too hard?
Now I know that the Domain of Dread/ Shadowfall/ Lands of Ravenloft have piles and piles of preset lore that I'm kinda aware of but I tend to homebrew a lot of "the world at large" as fits my needs so I'm mostly looking at this plotline as just this plotline.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
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I personally think that this could go two ways:
Forcing romance into the plot can work, but many times it doesn't. If the players aren't ok with it, either find another NPC or drop it. This is my advice, so do whatever you want.
My only good homebrews: Races, Subclasses.
An aspiring DM and Homebrewer. Ask me if you need anything.
Yeah, total agreement and I'm quite happy to drop this. My thought is that I wanted to give Good ol' Gerald an out to not seem so creepy even if they ultimately have to wish him well and leave him behind. His plan is to do the noble thing and stay behind anyway. I don't foresee any of them going "oh... well.. if THAT"s the case, get over here you hunka bard".
For me the best outcome is the 4 PC's to come back into the material plane, look at each other and say "Yeah.. that Gerald wasn't too bad, I hope he ends up okay". If they try to bring him back, well, it's more than likely with the mission of "we gotta get Gerald a girlfriend" which.. well.. that'll make an interesting interlude next week.
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir
Personally I never have a best outcome in mind for an NPC, they might have aims and goals to complete but I simply let them play off the party and see what develops. The players might take to someone and enjoy spending time with that character, or they might see them as simply passing through. They might be offended and kill him.
The moment you try and make the NPC the center of the story you take away from your players and make them ancillary, my advice, by all means come up with some bullet points as to why this npc acts they way they do, if the players tell the npc he is being creepy then let him deal with that in a way that is logical. Maybe he takes it on board, maybe he ignores it thinking the players rude or wrong, maybe he takes offense and decides to get his own back. The moment you inject an npc with a clear end goal in mind you are in many ways trying to railroad your players to react to that character a certain way and setting yourself up for confusion or disappointment when they instead do something different
Oh full agreement. Thankfully Gerald is a side quest at best. They are truly obsessed with getting as much cash as they can out of this haunted house and if he wanders off, he wanders off. I would LIKE him to have a chance to say "here's my story, make of it what you will" but I'm not going to force it on the characters. In fact after the number of times last night someone said "Let's not kill Gerald, yet", I'm pretty sure he's getting out of there pretty fast anyway.
Speaking of:
Yeah.. they at least later remembered that they tried to kill him...
"Teller of tales, dreamer of dreams"
Tips, Tricks, Maps: Lantern Noir Presents
**Streams hosted at at twitch.tv/LaternNoir