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[Dean_the_Young]

A variety of character concepts I've had with different people via PMs. All gathered here for simplicity- no intended connection or link between them except when explicit.

 

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Concept: Spirit Monk

 

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So. Idea I've had for awhile.

Ever notice how in super-hero shows or what not that the strong characters, well, 'give off' energy? Like it radiates from them? The trope is called Battle Aura, or Power Glow.

Sometimes it's part of their power: take the Human Torch from Fantastic Four. Or Doctor Manhattan from the Watchmen. Other times, it's just an aura they give off: various shounen anime do this to show the strength of a person. And then there are the people who simply 'crackle' with barely-restrained people: like this lightning-powered guy from the game Infamous. Lightning is a pretty common occurance of this sort of trope.

http://www.thegamecr.../inFamous-7.jpg

But, point is, these people are just giving off energy, even before they start flinging around energy bombs or lasers. Naturally the more power they have the more aura they give off, and when they run out of energy they run out of aura.

I've always wondered: given how much power these people have to expel so much power, what would be the strength of someone who collected aura energy, rather than emit it?

I think of the idea as a Spirit Monk: a sort of monastic order that does ye old enlightenment by meditating and collecting the energy others give off, supplementing their own life force with what others carelessly give away. Taken to extremes, it could give these monks seemingly insane life force capabilities: seemingly eternal life, or the ability to survive in the desert simply by leeching off the scant life force that exists there. (Though I suppose they'd call it 'reaching enlightenment' rather than leeching.)

That's in peace, of course. In battle, these monks seem to kick ass despite not using flashy powers... because when their enemies are excluding manly intent and battle energy, the monks are just collecting what is freely given, using it to bolster than own strength and stamina, even to heal themselves. The nobler/gentler monks simply outlast their aggressors: they just out-attrit their opponents with the other person's own stamina. Super-efficient endurance machines.

Less obedient monks could then be characters of the plot. Someone who abandons the teachings but uses the skills for themselves, whether for good (and impatient virtuous person) or evil (another source for power).

But the thing about being a capacitor for so long would be that not only could a Spirit Monk 'drink' the excess energy of others, but they could also act as a capacitor: never letting their own energies out, and simply absorbing the energies of others for years and decades and even centuries at a time...

...when the time does come to unleash, they would have massive stores of power to draw from. Or if they died, that life force could likewise come out to massive effect.

There's no intro, body, or conclusion to this idea, but I have this vision for an ending that such an idea could have.

The Spirit Monk, an RPG hero of sorts, has fought the Great Reoccuring Evil but been badly wounded. Life energies, collected throughout the game and let loose for the battle, continue out unabated. Literally pouring from the wound, it's only a matter of time until the player dies.

The player's companion in these final moments outlines a choice: the player could use these life energies to heal themselves, expending them and taking them out of the world forever. Or the player could return these life energies to some sort of vessel, so that they might be stored and kept safe for if another time of crisis to this one comes again, fulfilling your duty as a Spirit Monk.

The first obviously heals you, leaving you free to live a normal life with your beloved and companions, albeit at the cost of being ostracized by the order you came into conflict with. You who have been a hero and given up so much, use the life others lost to live your own.

The second is the noble way: you die, but are remembered as a hero who's sacrifice allowed a great later evil to be ended with minimal harm. Life, so long being spent and gathered, is held in reserve for the time it is needed most.

A third option, however, is to let yourself bleed out.

In a lifeless desert, your companion guides you to the lone oasis and gently places you at the base of a tree, looking over the desert. Staying with you to the end, he bears witness to the moment you finally stop trying to hold in the life energies of centuries or even millenia that are let free of you.

Life energy, good and evil, pours out of you and across the desert. The dead sand begins to shift, and little pieces of green begin to emerge: leaves, grass, then roots of trees and bushes.

Wind rustles, and animals begin to appear: some being beasts you've slain and absorbed the energies of, others being shadows or ghosts of friends since passed. Creatures, young and new, begin to appear.

In this blossoming garden of beauty, the oasis is now a pond in a sea of life. Your companion, watching to the last, offers a smile and a prayer for the life you've returned to the world.

You are dead, but your body seems at peace, with the hint of a smile on your lips.

Would you consider that a happy ending?

[Dean_the_Young]

Slumber Brothers

 

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Slumber Brothers is a poorly-named idea for a pair of characters who are, of course, brothers. This is an idea that could work in the context of companions in an RPG, complete with Choices and Consequences, or put in a more linear story.

The genre intended is a 'coming of age' setting, meaning a predominately younger (teenage) cast. This leans more towards fantasy than sci-fi. The dynamic between these siblings is 'inseparably close': think orphans who stuck together, with older brother taking the role of Responsible One since they were little.

(Note: Sibling genders could be swapped around as needed, but I'll deal with this as brothers.)

Older Brother is, as I said, the Responsible Older One. A good few years older than the younger one, without being too old (range 4-7 years), Older Brother has basically been Guardian to Younger Brother. Very much of the self-sacrificing overworked archetype: since a young age Older Brother has looked out for Younger Brother, pushing harder than hard to get food, medicine, and provide a minimal standard of living for Younger Brother and the chance for a better life, even at the cost of his own.

If Older Brother was a parent, it would be the lower-class parent who balances two/three jobs in order to give the child a chance to go to college. As it is, Older Brother has a under-the-table job on top of whatever school exists. Words like 'hard-working,' 'mature', 'dutiful,' 'intelligent' apply: would me much more popular with peers if he took more time to hang out rather than work, but the sort of kid adults can respect. One of the best would be 'protective': not in the possessive, over-bearing sort, but the sort that, when the chips are down, will be on the siblings side no matter the personal cost.

Chances are, Older Brother works for the Sympathetic Boss, an adult who doesn't give charity but does give a sufficient pay in exchange for honest work, even employing Older Brother under the table if it might not quite be legal. Sympathetic Boss keeps an eye out for the Brothers, without taking responsibility for them, but is the reason Older Brother can provide for Younger Brother.

On the surface of things, Older Brother seems like an ideal person for his circumstances: overworked, yes, and a harder past, and not with the best hopes for an easy future, but someone who is making an honest living and has a young one who will have a better life because of it all.

In the context of a Dragon Age-esque setting, Older Brother might be a refuge from the Blight who, after a period of time as refugees, has come to work as a apprentice smith, carpenter, or some other menial task-man in a Chantry or monastary: a respectable, but low-paying, position that provides food, shelter, and support for two. People might recognize that he's capable of so much more, but dreams have been sacrificed for the Younger Brother's sake.

Younger Brother is... well, Younger Brother is a lot like the child that hard-pressed parents try and provide a better future for, one who lives in a lot more freedom than the guardian but doesn't quite understand the sacrifices that went into that. Whereas Older Brother might be stingy, not wanting to give up money, Younger Brother is more likely to be generous with what's his while not quite seeing that it still comes from the same place. 'Irresponsible' isn't a good word, relative to other peers of the same age group, but certainly more free-spirited than Older Brother.

Still, for the purposes of the story and the relationship Younger Brother is very much a Good Person. Brave, friendly, sincere, enjoys helping others, intelligent and without any major vices: the sort of person with a good outlook and demeanor, who lives the life you might hope your own child could have: free of fear, safe, nurturing. Still young, but developing: while Younger Brother might work part-time for the Sympathetic Boss, Older Brother keeps Younger Brother focused on studies/path to that better, brighter future, as well as enjoying the childhood that Older Brother gave up.

And, of course, Younger Brother loves Older Brother: parent/mentor/friend/confidant/guardian/safety/reliance, all those words that come with 'family' come to Older Brother. The sort of younger brother who might punch someone who talks smack about Older Brother. Depending on how hard their earlier hardships were, 'share the bed for heat' kind of closeness and trust.

In the Context of a Dragon Age-esque setting, Younger Brother might be the tag-along sibling who, after finding the Abbey, through a mixture of his own ability and Older Brother's maneuverings/efforts, has gained an position as a squire to the local lord, or a Templar recruit, or something similar: a path to advancement, respect, and stability that will surpass the elder.

The brothers have a strong relationship, as already been established. Even since the Hard Days of the past, they remain close with the Older looking out for the Younger: one of the themes/motifs of note is the idea of watching over your sleeping other. For as long as anyone can remember, no matter how long the hours or how extreme the circumstances, Younger Brother has always gone to sleep before Older Brother, and woken up after Older Brother: usually with Older Brother watching him to sleep, and already alert and on guard in the morning. This has been a hold-over from their days of youth, and the few times this order is distrubed for any reason, it usually ends with Older Brother waking up from nightmares, and going to check on Younger.

Everything seems all kind and good. Even when the Life Changing Events sweep through, picking up the player and moving the plot, the Brothers hang together: looking out for each other (though more of the Older for the Younger), with the Older Brother standing behind the Younger Brother as the Younger Brother gains in ability and reputation.

It's only when the player looks closer that things start to be less than ideal. And it's only collectively that a balance can be restored, albeit at cost.

As a companion, Younger Brother's story arc is that of his development. If the PC were a side-lined figure, with a NPC being the nominal hero of the story, Younger Brother would be that public hero. Maturation still needs to be done, but progress is being made in life, etc. etc....

Younger Brother's general good nature are reinforced by his growing appreciation for Older Brother's sacrifices. Younger Brother does want to be successful, yes... but for Older Brother's sake as much as his own. Gradually recognizing the costs that Older Brother has put up for him, Younger Brother's goal is to be successful enough for the both of them, so that eventually Older Brother can live a life at ease as well. Sort of a well-meaning 'pay back love earned, with interest.'

At the same time, two flaws of Younger Brother's are his dependence and possessiveness of Older Brother, one that goes a step beyond reasonable. Younger Brother can't imagine a life without Older Brother, and in various events will be near panic and otherwise break down if it seems Older Brother is doomed. Younger Brother depends on Older Brother, not just in the sense of pulling his bacon out of the fire when he messes up, but also as an emotional crutch. And in terms of possessiveness, Younger Brother desires to always be the center of Older Brother's life... and resists the attempts of anyone else who might interfere with that. In a DAO approval system, flirting or pursuing a romance with Older Brother would incur some disapproval points and a 'if-you-hurt-him-I-will-make-you-pay confrontation (though you can ultimately receive a 'blessing' if you have high enough approval with Younger and ask).

Towards the end of Younger Brother's exposition arc, Younger Brother gives a seemingly light-hearted memory of a point in the Dark Times: both he and Older were starving and weak, and he was so scarred that he was going to die that he made Older swear to watch over him untill he awoke, lest the night-demons get him. His sleep turned into a dream-fever that lasted three days, but Older Brother manned a vigil for three days until Younger made a miraculous recovery. That's the origin of the Sleeping Overwatch routine, and ever since then Older has always put Younger to sleep, and always been awake before him.

If you're starting to get an inkling of where things have gone wrong, they'll be corroborated by the Older Brother Arc.

Older Brother, while initially flourishing in having a chance to demonstrate his real ability, gradually and increasingly 'dulls' as a character: he is more and more a supporting character, voicing fewer and fewer un-solicited requests, always backing Younger Brother, but gradually looking more and more weathered. While he'll always deny anything is wrong if asked, and seems as capable as always, the more/most perceptive of the group (but not Younger Brother) will note that Older Brother seems more and more worn: initially by the gravity of the recent developments, later by the overall stress. Towards the late game, Older Brother is a virtual insomniac, last to sleep of anyone in the party and awake before anyone else, to the point that some might jest that he's not getting any sleep at all, for all that others have seen to prove it.

Truth is, he isn't. And hasn't for years, ever since that time Younger Brother nearly fell to fever.

As a character relationship with the PC, Older Brother will attempt to hide the signs until he trusts the PC. Showing moments of weakness and fatigue (but only when Younger Brother can't possibly see them), Older Brother is much weaker than he lets on, and is increasingly concerned that he might fall in battle... and increasingly concerned about what will happen to Younger Brother next. If the PC is pursuing a relationship with Younger Brother, expect either strong disapproval (if you are irresponsible/evil/bad influence), or approval (if you are responsible, steadfast, loyal, never ever break up). In a friendship route with Older Brother, OB will ask you as a friend to look out for YB on his behalf. In a romantic relationship (a less-than-starry-eyed relationship in which you have to accept that he will never put you before YB, but in which he appreciates your interest all the same), he'll even have you swear to it.

In a story he'll only tell after YB tells his story, and even then only if you swear not to tell Younger Brother, he'll tell you the truth about his insomnia.

Short version is, in the DA-setting he's a Wynn-sort of benign abomination-thing. When Younger Brother was sick, and much closer to death than he remembers, Older Brother was frantic. With the help of a hedge wizard/ritualist/whatever, Older Brother more or less struck a bargain for the life of YB, and the power to watch over him: if there's a Fade Spirit of 'Brotherhood', that's who it was struck with. It wasn't an Anders of zealotry and blind emotion, but as a consequence Older Brother has been strengthened and affected... and part of that fixation has been staying up to guardover Younger Brother in that sleep, part of the pact in which Younger Brother heals better/faster/more when asleep if Older Brother is guarding over him. At the same time, however, Older Brother has been worn out: while the spirit/whatever had bolstered his strength and stamina during the good years, so that he never needed the sleep, now on this Adventure the power is already over-extended and failing.

This changes everything, and nothing at all. Older Brother has no regrets about the deal, though how much of that is the influence of the spirit is up for debate: without that spirit's power, endurance, intelligence, and other effects, Older Brother might not have been able to protect Younger Brother and put him on a path to a better future.

Estimating his remaining time as being until near the end of the adventure, at which point he will start breaking down and soon die, Older Brother has/is coming to terms with his end. If he can help Younger Brother overcome this trial, then at the end YB will be a hero, respected, and not in want for long enough to put his feet under him. OB has faith that YB will be able to survive and move on that better path.

A resolution would be tricky, and depend more on OB's revelation than YB's arc (though OB's final might depend on YB's arc). But ultimately, whether you bring OB's condition to YB can set in motion different arcs.

If you don't tell the news, OB dies at the end, leaving YB a Hero but distraught. YB survives and prospers, but never quite moves on.

If you tell YB about OB's condition, YB will attempt to prevent it. How might depend on the 'trust' measure: YB might do something rash and selfish if he doesn't trust you, or listen to advice.

Rash!andSelfish!YB may simply abandon the quest altogether: leaving behind the Greater Good, becoming a Hero, and all else, YB leaves the party, forcing OB to follow. Two characters dropping out could hurt your endgame, and would be unavoidable after the choice if the conditions aren't there. Without the weight of the world on their shoulders, OB is able to regain strength and recover as YB takes the role of provider... but when YB sacrificed his honor/reputation/oaths to do so, he lost any chance of gaining that better life. The brothers survive, together, but there is acrimony: YB doesn't trust OB not to hide things from him anymore, OB harbors a resentment against YB for abandoning the better life that so many years were sacrificed for, and most of all OB curses the player for breaking faith and telling the story.

Third Way Compromise Better Option, conditions unknown besides requiring YB trust, is to convince YB to break OB's contract with the spirit/being/whatever: if the spirit stops taking OB's strength, then OB won't die. While YB is reluctant, and makes clear if this doesn't pan out he will leave, the sidequest comes up with a solution... of sorts. Investigation shows that it is possible, but will have a cost.

Annulling the contract between OB and the Spirit will require OB to 'pay back' what was 'given'... in this case, all those nights that were spent watching over YB. Every minute, every hour... and given how many years ago it was, for OB to pay that back may well be a decade's magical slumber. Besides the time, the big concern is if Younger Brother can bear to separate himself from OB for so long.

But, and here's where player cost comes in, for enough money OB could be kept safe and cared for by -insert monastary here-, even as YB finishes the adventure. For a hefty pocketbook hit (say 50% of money held at the time, and 50% of all future income), slumbering OB will be cared for by the -insert safest place on map-. Adventure continues, with OB now gone asleep and YB dedicating to becoming a Hero, to gain that wealth and stability to support OB until he awakens.

In the epilogue, that is what happens. YB becomes a successful person, paying for OB's care, and matching many obstacles. Ten years later OB wakes up, proud to see YB become what he always wanted. YB, more mature and wise, has paid back what OB sacrificed on his behalf, and the two brothers live happily ever after.

The End of That

[Dean_the_Young]

I've been thinking of characters recently. Not particularly plot-specific, but some dynamics in regards to plots, if that makes sense. Some stand alone, others in context to other characters (like slumber brothers).

 

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Wishing Strife Upon the Land

 

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Something I've taken from people who've been in the military, for example is the idea that strife builds character. You probably know how: when things get tough, it can bring out the best (or worst) of people, but it can also be used to strengthen someone and improve them. Overcoming adversity and all that. While in general that can be a wonderful thing, I can think of a way to subvert it as a character belief.

Take the context of a Wishing Device. You know the sort: the person who claims it can make their deepest, truest wish come true. An epic journey follows, as forces of good and evil struggle to claim it (or deny it to another). Questions of 'who is really safe to hold this power', what do people really wish for, and all that. As the end-game comes, things get desperate. As a last measure, one character forces another character, generally perceived as a virtuous, reasonable person (so much so that they had repeatedly declined the idea of touching the Wishing Device), to lay their hands on the device.

The world enters Armageddon, because the Virtuous Man's belief, from personal experience, was that virtue comes from strife... and that everyone else in the world would appreciate what they had more if they stood to lose it. A rough, dangerous, and unforgiving world emerges, because that's the sort of environment he rose from and it's a selfish but sincere belief that if everyone suffered through that sort of adversity, it would make everyone better people.

 

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Rogue Geniuses

 

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Another idea is that of the Rogue Geniuses. That guy who's the smartest of the team, but can never really connect: friends, but not understood. Tension and dissatisfaction boils over when the first person who he feels a connection of understanding with is a genius for the other side, who feels much the same... and what follows is a whirlwind game of trust, betrayal, and machinations as both Geniuses try and persuade the other to join them. The Evil Genius tries to corrupt the Good Genius: the Good Genius tries to turn the Evil Genius to the better path. Both have their own sides... but the loyalty to either is shakey at best.

Good Genius's strongest ties, and strongest repellant, is the perceived relationship with his/her friends. Friendship could keep them loyal... or be seen as a burden, or even turned to dislike and a repellant.

Evil Genius is selfish, and self-interested... but if Good Genius could convince him/her that it's in his/her own interest/enjoyment to join the forces of Good, Evil Genius really has no loyalty to the other cause.

The only thing that's really sure of in this game, however, is that Good and Evil Genius both feel that they are the only ones who understand and can appreciate eachother.

 

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Malefactor Corruptor

 

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A third idea, for a distinctly evil character, is actually one of the few pure-evil characters I've come up with: the manipulator who's entire motivation amounts to 'to prove to an idealist that people are capable of evil.'

It starts with an inconsequential argument, or a bet, or something no one remembers, but it ends with a machivilian long-term plan that brings low good people, corrupts nations, and turns a potential peaceful setting into an increasingly depraved hell. Not with lies, deceit, or shadowy manipulation... but by corruption, inconvenient truths, and using human virtues to lead to hell.

The sort of person who would encourage freedom of speach, so that extreme idealogues can raise their voices, who can then take advantage of economic woes and frightened crowds to create malevolent movements. Just so, as the world of good and good turns into a fight of bad against worse, he can go 'I told you people were ****s.'

Corruption on a massive scale with the sole purpose of petty, personal vindication.

[Dean_the_Young]

Notes: Copy-pasted from a PM exchange with someone else.

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Weird musing of the day: What if killing of the Human-Reaper were a choice, and it could have become a character in its own right? Not necessarily of a 'rewrite ME3 entirely' sort, but bear with me for a moment.

One of those awkward things in ME2 was that we kill the Baby Reaper for... pretty basic racism and biological determinism arguments that are never questioned, despite every other instance in the game being a Big Deal. The Human Reaper's never hurt anyone, isn't even necessarily sentient... and it's only crime is the nature of its existence, something it had no control over. But hey, it's a Reaper, and everyone knows it's the innate sin of being a Reaper that makes it okay to kill it.

In terms of analogy, Mass Effect 2 ends with the murder of a rape-baby for being a rape-baby. And that's not even considered a 'Renegade' action.

I was musing about how the Collector Base decision could have been swapped around. Rather than Destroy/Save the Base, you could have it one way regardless (and thus not have to deal with Cerberus getting the same stuff from different end-game choices). Say 'Keep' the base is the new canon, regardless of what you feel of Cerberus.

The real question is what to do with the Human Reaper: kill it, or let Cerberus take control of it, 'waking' it up as something independent of the Reapers' influence? A tabula rosa Reaper, not yet impressed with the Reaper views and desires.

In my head, Cerberus being a sinister baby sitter emerges. I can picture a story in which the Human Reaper wakes up, confused and alone except for the cacophony in its head... and given guidance, purpose, direction, but also humanity by a Cerberus Operative who is in charge of this project.

Baby Reaper is like the world's smartest eight-year-old, with millions of thoughts of creativity going at once but a pretty primitive understanding of the outside world. Above all, however, Operative Reaper-Nanny is on a mission to make the Human Reaper consider itself, well, Human: she/he treats the Human Reaper like it's a really big, really special, heavily-cybernetic Human who just happens to have the heart of a hyper-fission reactor.

Baby Reaper's story is about its development as a 'person', so to speak, even as Cerberus uses it for its own gains (giving it 'puzzles' of high-level calculations and such to keep it 'entertained', or science projects that radically boost Cerberus efficiency), but also shaping it for their own ends (a force for Human interests, a testbed of future control of the Reaper armada). Cerberus shapes the Baby Reaper's development on a path that prioritizes Humanity, upto and even including dousing it in Human culture (pro-nanny-tip: Baby Reaper likes comic books, because it sees itself as a Super Hero in development).

As Baby Reaper develops more and more awareness, however, it gradually realizes that Cerberus is, surprise, less than absolutely trusting. It gradually becomes aware of the Cerberus limiters that were installed before its awakening in order to limit its abilities: contact with the Reaper consensus in Dark Space, for example, and its Indoctrination systems. Biggest of all, of course, is the high powered nuclear weapons safety device meant to destroy it if it ever goes, well, Reaper. As Baby Reaper grows more and more aware of the safeguards and suspicions, the more 'hurt' it feels and the more tension that develops. The kicker really comes when it finds out that the Great Commander Shepard tried to, well, kill it. After learning that, after understanding that the single-minded Humans just can't understand it, the Reaper Consensus seems so appealing...

If this were a tragedy, the Human Reaper is a very Human creature who is driven to the Reapers because of the petty fears and jealousies of Cerberus and the organics despite its own efforts to demonstrate its non-malevolence.

If this were a Paragon story, the Human Reaper sees a triumph of idealism, breaks free of Cerberus, and goes on to the galaxy-side of the Omega 4 relay to do good things to help stop the Reapers without bad consequences following it.

If this were mine, however, I'd probably have the Human Reaper stay with Cerberus of its own volition: less as a child, and more as a semi-adult who makes its own decision that working with Cerberus (and having influence with it) would be better For Humanity than leaving Cerberus to meddle with technology that it can't comprehend. The Human Reaper helps Cerberus come into mastery of Reaper Technology, and in doing so helps Cerberus avoid the pitfalls (Indoctrination) that would otherwise have taken it.

[Dean_the_Young]

Had a series of 9 specific ME-related concepts of some merit. Will post them in order.

Formatting was bad at the time. Will try to fix, but bear with it.

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Cerberus Alien Commandoes: A drunken but scary-awesome idea of Cerberus raising aliens from childhood to be perfect pro-Human extremists. Part social-study to understand alien psychology, part infiltration/commandoe training program, part save-the-soul-kill-the-indian, all unethical horrifying prospect.

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With your attention drawn to the latest of this twisted mind...

It's beyond obvious that Mass Effect's borrowed from a lot of sci-fi. And
the concept of first-contact is about as old as the ideas of aliens
itself. But something we really haven't seen any sign of yet has been
the Human immediate reactions to first contact, after the war had died
down. We have our First Contact War, we have our peace treaty, we joined the Citadel, and bam we're decades into the future, a generation later.

But when you think about it, given how little Humanity knew about other
things (biotics, for example, or Thresher Maws), aliens must have been
pretty alien to them. And these aliens are possibly a threat. And the
Alliance has it's go-to people for investigating and studying potential
threats.

Cerberus. Duh.

Now, I'll freely admit I'm borrowing heavily from Harry Turtledove's Colonization series here: to sum up in short, super-slow alien race invades during WW2, makes peace with (nuclear) great powers, and eventually the US steals some alien eggs, hands them to their alien expert, and makes a sociology project out of studying how these two aliens grow and develop as good Americans.

And really, that's all you need to say to start: it's a long-term project
to study these new aliens as they develop to understand them, which is
pretty much a less glorious part of what Cerberus was made to do. To
watch and see how human, or unhuman, they can be, and how much of a threat they naturally are.

And, of course, since this is Cerberus we're talking about, how to raise these alien tikes into good human supremacists and agents. Because, really, what else would you expect Cerberus to do with them once they grew up? Let them go?

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This is how I think it happens, or should have happened:

Cerberus,being the evil child-harming monsters that they are, get in contact with also-evil Batarian slavers and place an order for babies. Or, more likely, pregnant alien mothers of a number of races about to give birth to babies. Pregnant aliens are studied, babies are born, mothers are desposed of (killed), and the babies are given to a long-term Cerberus cell.

Not to torture, mind you. Not to brutally crush underneath
racist human heels. Not to be mistreated, unloved, reviled, or anything
else. No xenophobes wanted. Torture, medical experiements, and whatever else, that's for other aliens.

Just given to a group of good loyal humans, and tell them to make good humans with funny skin-tones out of the aliens.

Kill the Indian, save the soul. There's even an actual human child thrown in as a control subject.

These aliens, for better and for worse, are raised like humans in a good
family, as if they were humans. The lion doth sleep with the lamb, and
the batarian child is tucked in by human-mama, and no-one thinks much of that they all look different.

Naturally, this isn't always possible, or work out well. The Krogan baby, who probably cost the most out of all of them, is biologically inclined towards being aggressive. The Salarians develop faster than most. The Asari child, well she'll still be a child by the time most of her 'siblings' die.

It's isn't always even, it isn't always smooth, and it's certainly ethically
contentious. And then, as they grow older, they get educated. And, as
with any likely Cerberus education, it's factually loaded, technically
proficient, and filled with propoganda. About the value of Humans, about
their special status of being both a 'bridge' in human understanding of
their species, and even as harbingers of future relations between
humans and aliens.

Indoctrination of beliefs may vary. But when they become adults, they're committed Cerberus agents in foreign skins, literally raised to support the organization that created them. Oh, sure, they wouldn't fit in with a 'real' Turian, but there are always margins of societies you can claim to be from, and as time goes by Humanity, and Cerberus, will better know their fellow species... and how to hide within them. As both the Cerberus-generations grow, and human exposure to aliens expands, each and each generation becomes a bit better raised, a bit better at fitting in.

And the scary thing? Besides the child-stealing, the cultural erasure, and indoctrination of developing minds?

They'd willingly perpetuate it. The first generation using the lessons and mistakes of their generation to encourage and better shape the development of the second, and third, and more generations afterwards. Even their own biological children would be offered to this project.

It's been almost 30 years by the end of ME2, after all. While the Krogan, while the Asari, while they might still be 'children' at varying levels of mental and physical development, the rest of the aliens are no longer young. The first Salarian generation could even be called old. The Batarian? He could have led his own Cerberus strike force by now. The Elcor could have his own kids, raising them to be better Cerberus agents than he could be.

All of these aliens. Twisted, shaped into something approaching human but not quite, incapable of being quite human (The Asari, a human girl who lives for a thousand years? The elcor-human who can't communicate by pheromes and smells like his race? The Krogan-boy?), but no longer 'alien.' Working, believing, idealizing the same group that made them.

And probably infatuated, thankful, grateful to TIM for giving them these lives. And he probably tells them he's proud of them, and that means everything to them.

Does this make anyone else want to scream in horror, and yet wish to see it?

===

More seriously, there's some pretty fertile dynamics you could take from this.

The Asari girl, for example: she's probably just entering Asari puberty
now. Not even Morinth's age back when, but then Asari develop
differently from humans, and this one in particular is different in extreme.

What would you want to bet, for example, that she has a tween crush/fascination with such heroic human figures as Commander
Shepard, or even The Illusive Man himself? Child-crushing, as it were.

The Elcor is a real tragedy waiting to be written: Elcore, after all,
primarily communicate by scent, and this one never has, and likely never will, instead completely dependant on on voice and oral communication. Would never be able to pass as an Elcor to another Elcor, and if/when he/she ever raised a child, the differences would be... staggering. Sociopathy wouldn't be too far off, either: children who are never touched, or never talked to, or never listened to... they don't grow up right. For the Elcor, that's something no human can naturally do.

There's certainly a waiting irony in a Turian being a willing, possibly eager, Cerberus agent. How much of it is cultural, and how much is biological? What sort of views does the Turian have towards a race it has been raised to love, but doesn't even share amino acids
with?

And we can still have the most human Batarian in the universe be a bad guy, like all Batarians.

===

How did pretty much any Cerberus project besides project Lazarus change the story?

It's plausibly human-beneficial (understanding aliens/raising humans in
alien skins), creepy (cultural transplant enforcement), and ethically murky at best (besides the matter of procuring the children, what exactly is wrong about raising them so?). IE, the perfect sort of Cerberus project to add flavor to the universe, and organization: nothing genocidal, not even a single necessitated murder.

It'd be both disquieting and interesting, and any interaction with Shepard
and his crew would be interesting. Say the player feels this project is an abomination, takes down the cell, and is faced with what to do with the kids, who don't want to go anywhere else.

Is, say, sending the Turian kid who's acclimated to humanity to the Turian Hegemony for 're-education' really better? How much of a right do these alien Cerberus agents have to maintain their own preferences if the
player disagrees: do you accept that, intended or not, these aliens have
loyalties outside their blood? Or do you deem everything they know and
believe as illegitimate brainwashing, and so not deserving consideration?

[Dean_the_Young]

Married Characters

 

===

 

Marriage Dynamic 1: The Married NPC (Who Can Still Be A Love Interest).

Now not many RPGs offer a 'cheating route', or even let NPC's stay married: too much attention diverted from the player, I suppose. But an RPG in which a companion character is having relationship troubles, and in which the player themselves can be 'the other woman', would strike me as offering some good, basic impetus for choice, consequence, and character development.

Just take a baseline scenario. Sympathetic male companion character is married, mostly happily, but going through some troubles due to distance/time apart. Saving the day is important and all, but it doesn't help keep things stable on the home front. Gradually, though, doubts start to rise... especially as a mysterious 'friend' sends photos showing the wife inviting other men home. Or things only go downhill further when the wife begins demanding to know the relationship between the Husband and one of the more flirtatious females in the group.

Now, the 'friend' route (or the 'interested but backed off due to ring') route would be to try and help investigate and clear up these allegations of an affair...and in the process either reconcile them or actually find that there's substance to the rumors of infidelity. Maybe Husband really did get drunk one night and woke up with The Flirt. Maybe Wife really is about to be seduced by the 'friend' who's been encouraging the doubt. The Friend Route can end however: reconciling the marriage, or encouraging a breakup.

The 'Romance' route, selfish as it is, encourages the breakup as a result of the player's own interest and pursuit. The good-hearted husband, faced with troubles at home and the forward interest of an attractive and persistent woman nearby, ultimately falters due to his own need for support and companionship which his wife is trouble, not the solution. One fall, the real evidence makes it way to the wife, and the marriage is shattered forever. The only hope for the Husband is that you, the new Paramore, will be more faithful than he was... and if you do drop him, for whatever reason, the guilt you've brought to him could tear him apart.

Choices and consequences, baby.




Marriage Dynamic 2: The Arranged Marriage

Rather than a tack-on at the end of a romance, it'd be interesting if matrimony were instigated early on, and then could develop from that to either a sincere relationship or in some other outcome as the story progressed. While this would almost certainly require a plot-development forcing it onto the player, and so some might call 'foul' for a lack of player choice... well, in an arranged marriage that strikes me as the point. That you don't have a choice in it, only in how you react to it.

Since I presumed female PC and male NPC last time, let's switch it up: presume the male PC is married to the female NPC (and just for completeness's sake, that the bride has a brother who would married if things were different).

Now the Bride would/should probably be a sympathetic individual in the long run, but to make it clear this is not a marriage of passion she should also be a bit cool and/or reserved even as she's willing to do her duty. Anora from DAO would probably be a good archetype to follow: strong, capable, willing to resign herself and think of Ferelden... and also resigned or willing to accept that the husband may have his other women regardless.

Not that you would have to, but how you act towards and spouse and how you progress along the quest that brought you two together would define your relationship. Hell, the first Big Decision could well be is if you consummate your wedding night or not: that could set a tone and impact future choices in its own right. Perhaps the siblings react differently (the Groom-brother would be more possessive/besotted if you consumated, the Bride be more warm if you didn't), and view any follow-on relationships differently as well.

Acting within the scopes of an arranged marriage, loveless and/or friendless as it may be, would put a new twist on other relationships and character development, both with the Spouse and other LI's.

For the other LI's, imagine them coming to terms (if they cared at all)... and their own perspectives on it. Maybe they are interested in you... but are they close to the spouse? Would they be willing to betray a friend, or would they relish the chance to spite them if (player-affected?) contexts put them at odds? How does the Spouse see it? Is it something hidden and never discovered, simply accepted and never talked about (if you're going to do it, be discrete and don't shame me), or might it be openly acknowledged and accepted if you're on good, non-romantic terms? The wife and paramore having dinner once a week, arranging schedules and chatting over tea?

For the Spouse, though, their own development even without the catalyst of other LI's would be interesting in its own right. There are certainly a lot of ways it could go: cool resignation, friendship, or even a gradually growing, sincere love. You could be Partners in every sense of the word, or barely restrained dislike, or something in between: a family by default by the end. If there was ever a chance for a divorce at the end, or just a frank coming to terms, I could see an end-game scene in which the Spouse, whether in bed (if you sleep together) or sitting together for breakfast, calmly gives their verdict: anything from married-friends ('if I was going to be given away in marriage, I'm glad it was at least to someone like you'), lovers ('I'm glad we married'), to married-in-name-only cordiality ('you've had your others, and now that we've saved the world I'm going to have my own as well.')


There are a lot of directions you could take within such a context.

[Dean_the_Young]

The Sword Breaker

 

(I never actually followed up this concept elsewhere.)

 

===

 

Brain blast I just had that I don't want to forget to follow up later.

You're familiar with the idea in fantasy of magic swords. Blades of potent power, sometimes divine and sometimes demonic, a far step above their mundane equivalents. Keys to greater powers, treasures proudly worn, a mark of distinction and power and importance. Just owning one is a mark of power... and selling one is almost unthinkable even if you have more.

Blades to be coveted, and never lost. The best swordsmen who spend their lives collecting them. Collections gathered by the wealthy and powerful.


Now imagine if someone went around, destroying these relics?


Maybe as an antagonist, or an ambiguous player, but someone who actually sought such swords to break them rather than keep them: not because they're 'good' or 'evil' in particular, but for some other cause? Such as taking the magic energy within these blades to empower him or herself, to the point that the blade-breaker themselves are 'living weapons'?

Even in terms of 'just' pursuit of power, that could be an interesting subplot/character for development... and even a significant plot if there are unintended (or intended) consequences with the destruction of magic artifiacts. If they were pieces of a demon, the Living Weapon could be possessed: if they were divine, a path to ascension by gathering divine powers. Seals would be broken, or long-lost power to stop some force regained.

Heck, besides the RPG aspect (good vs evil blades, to break blades or not in the first place), you could certainly have other blade-breakers in the supporting cast. Some well-intentioned destroyer of evil swords who hopes to purify the evil in himself, but struggles with corruption? The destroyer of sacred blades in a struggle against a flawed pantheon? Just For Power ideology of someone who wants to be the strongest force with the strongest weapon?

[Dean_the_Young]

So I had a sad but sweet thought this morning spurred by, of all things, China's One Child Policy. While China does have exceptions and exemptions, the idea of entire generations of children who grow up with only their parents...

Can you imagine a society with no concept of 'sibling'?

Even if you don't have one, the idea is common enough in our culture and media that we're all familiar with the idea of a family member who isn't our parent or our own child, and we're familiar with ideas that go with it. Sibling spats, rivalries, fights, forgiveness, compromises, aggravation...

Trust, mentor, favor, protection, reliance, safety-

Love.



Not having a sibling isn't the same as not having parents by any means, but when I think of people who grow up without experiencing, or even being aware, of the relationships I was lucky enough to have... it's such a limitation of the essence of family that I feel sad.

That, and I think it would make a nice character concept, especially when you don't have to be related to someone to find a bond of family.


So there he is: the Outsider of a land of no siblings. Loving parents, to be sure, and a solid and healthy mind, and even respectable friends... but coming to a land where a new concept is prevalent. It is odd, confusing, even frightening: the fights, the companionship, the rituals, the mix and mess of contradictions that 'friends' don't have.

The Outsider, confused and skeptical, none the less makes friends and becomes exposed. Maybe the Outsider helps us see how families are: maybe the Outsider offers that perspective to help a family recover from some dysfunction. But regardless, eventually, the Outsider makes that bond with a younger child...

...and finds a sibling by bond, if not blood, and enters an entirely new world of emotion and connection.



Doesn't that have the potential for a happy story?

[Dean_the_Young]

Badass Pacifist

 

(My FNV playthrough with a Courier who could not, and did not, fight.)

 

===

 

Courier 3 was my 'unconventional' Courier: with intelligence and charisma of 10 but a starting endurance of 2, he would die if a dog took him unawares from behind. To make things better, until the end game (where I kept being two-shotted), I also wore clothes for my travels: ultimately I had to wear power armor just to reliably walk around. He was about level 20, and had pretty much maxed out all those non-combat skills, before I started investing any points in combat skills for him... more from not having anything else to invest in than than actually fighting. I got lazy later on, but relied on companions to fight (who, with maxed charisma, were beasts). A total city-slicker, he sided with Mr. House.



Despite that, Courier 3 is definitely my favorite. He's got the closest thing to a backstory and a personality of my own, and a definite player mentality: he was a tribal who was a personal pacifist. Something like an Exemplar, or those Trait Avatars like Javik, for his tribe he was an Exemplar of Pacifism: someone who's goal was to live their lives demonstrating the viability of a certain trait. It's not that he disagreed with violence in general (there are things worth fighting for), but rather as an exemplar he himself would not fight... though he could keep a bodyguard or accompany those who would fight for him. Usually EDE and Rose, who could take on entire Legion troops and win. His mandate/goal was to show people that there were ways to get things done without resorting to violence.

Not that he often needed to, mind you: speech, barter, sneak, lockpick, hacking, science, medicine, stealing, engineering: if there was a non-combat way to solve a problem, he did it. If there wasn't one, he found one. When people didn't believe there was one, as an Exemplar he showed them there was always another way: this is the man, who couldn't even fight a dog, who made both armies fall back from the Dam with little more than his own words. This is the man who saved the NCR President from Legion Assassins, made Mr. House the undisputed master of Vegas, and who survived Legion assassination attempts despite having the consitution of a wet noodle and never fighting back. He broke into the Sierra Nevada without losing a man, appeased the peace of the Burned Man in Zion, mastered the Big Empty, and traveled to the end of the Lonesome Road and stopped a(nother) nuclear Armageddon.

He was, in other words, a Badass Pacifist

He was also the only character I ever played in the game who, had there been the option, would have tried to romance Sharon Rose. More for the character dynamic than anything else, but he's the sort I could see as being very sweet but gentlemanly for her, to her mixture of bemusement, tried patience (that he's a foolish pacifist), and gradual possible-interest (because he proves that 'pacifist' doesn't mean 'weak').

If I were to ever write a novelization of FNV and it's DLC, it would be of him. Mind you, Rose would probably accompany him on the DLC for the more action-elements, but he was a rare experience in a non-combat character.

[Dean_the_Young]

Carapace Pilots

 

 

A concept for a new Mass Effect race for the next game. Looks like

 

http://i1.ytimg.com/...xresdefault.jpg

 

===


Temp Name: Carapace-Pilots Symbiotic
(Names are not my strong point)

Concept: Two species that have evolved to work together: the 'body' is actually a non-sentient but biologically distinct Carapace, directed by a separate, fully sentient, organism that can train and direct its host in all manner of complex tasks. Pilots can interface and see through the senses of the Carapace, without sharing all the sensations (such as pain). The relationship between the physically strong, mentally weak Carapaces and the physically weak, mentally adept Pilots is a nuanced and varried one, varying between symbiosis and exploitation.



Carapaces

Carapaces, the bodies, are what most aliens would assume was the individual to interact with: they would be wrong, as a Carapace has a mind closer to that of an animal than a sentient species. Having evolved in a symbiosis of allowing the Pilots to direct and even control their functions in exchange for the benefits of intelligence, Carapaces can be thought of as analogous to a cross between a smart dog and an ape: trainable, capable of emotions, and low-level awareness, but not sentient.  Carapaces have fully evolved and capable bodies, capable of surviving in the wild on their own, but have evolved (and been bred) to seek partnerships with Pilots.

In terms of physical abilities, Carapaces are incredibly potent: the sort of 'no brains and all brawn' working in their favor, combined with the symbiosis and breeding by the Pilots, Carapaces have a unique blend of both endo- and exo-skeletons, the later of which give them their name. Between their strong exo-skeletons that grow stronger after being damaged and re-healing, millenia of selective breeding, and genetic engineering, despite being of a 'normal' bipedal size and shape, the dense bones and strength of military carapaces could easily headbuck back a Krogan.

I have no idea what the image is actually supposed to be of, but a general idea for a Military Carapace would be something like this.

I saw 'Military Carapace' because not all Carapaces are like that: like dogs they have been bred for countless generations by the pilots, and so just as there are different breeds of dogs there are different breeds of carapaces: those bred for labor, for dexterity, for sensory ability, for extreme environments... and yes, for prestige and luxury and class. A 'civilian' Pilot would have a 'cheap' Carapace: an elite might have a fancier, more attractive, and much higher cost Carapace as a status symbol. A 'good looking' Carapace might be considered similar to fine clothes: a status symbol, a signal of attractiveness and prosperity.

On their own, Carapaces have no real cultur: they were once pack beasts who began having symbiotic relations with the Pilots, gaining in intelligence and organization what they themselves could not do. Eventually both species evolved to facilitate the union. Over time and domestication, Carapaces have become natural subordinates, bonding with a Pilot from birth, while unbonded, excess Carapaces are used as labor and trainable servants.

The status of Carapaces is a subject for dispute across Pilot socieites: ranging from tool to pet to partner, Pilots can have extremely close emotional relationships with their own Carapace from the 'bonding' process, and yet use un-bonded Carapaces as slave labor without remorse. Carapaces themselves don't have a position: like dogs, those trained or raised well will be loving or obedient, while the abused or abandoned may become feral. Some Pilots believe Carapaces should be uplifted into full sentience: others believe that if the Carapaces had no need of the Pilots, the Pilots would soon be destroyed.





Pilots

Pilots are the brains of the outfit, without the bodies to match. Though they can uniquely interface with their Carapaces, including sensory sharing and directing movements, Pilots are called such because they are not actually permanently joined with their partner: instead they are placed into a small cavity, from which they interface. The first interface a Carapace has with a Pilot binds it to that Pilot, and from that point on will not accept another pilot. Pilots, however, can exit their host and bind with multiple Carapaces. The nature of this symbiosis results from the co-evolution of the Pilots as the natural pack-leaders of the Carapaces.

Physically, Pilots are virtually powerless: despite their intelligence they are small, physically weak, and ill-equipped to work outside of their Carapace in any physical capacity. The difference in physical capacity between a Pilot and its Carapace would be the difference in Fullmetal Alchemist between Envy's 'True Form' and it's actual Real Form. The Pilots, while intelligent by any sapient standard, rarely spend much time outside of their Carapace except in the privacy of their own kind or, for the lucky rare alien, their friends.

Pilots have no real solid mental image of a form, so Envy's Little Form is as good as any I suppose. Bigger, I suppose, but still small enough to be hidden away in a cavety that might be anywhere in a Carapace.

Culturally, Pilots are the real identity and force of the Symbiot culture, and it's one that has evolved from their original status as pack leaders over the greater number of non-sentient Carapaces. Culturally, Pilots have developed strong trends towards organization, management, and related ideas of domestication and leadership: every Pilot has at least their own Carapace to direct, and most adults have two or more (a 'business' Carapace and a 'casual wear' Carapace).

Pilot societies center around small numbers of pilots directing and organizing large numbers of Carapaces. There is an unfortunate but not entirely undeserved reputation of Pilots attempting to establish domiannce or their position as Alpha over other sentient species they meet, or initially treating them as if they were Carapaces as well. While experienced and aware Pilots avoid these mistakes, and are quite capable of seeing aliens as equal sentients, the difference in expectations between size and sentience is a common stumbling block to interaction. This can cause amusing mistakes on both sides: an Asari who confused the Carapace for the Pilot she was attempting to meld with, or the Pilot who once tried to have a philosophical discussion with the hamster in a sleeping man's room.

Pilot society, due to the nature of their pack evolution and the geography of their homeworld, have not unified. Instead there are a number of Pilot governments, each with their own politics and cultural focuses. The primary divider of Pilot culture is the view and treatment of Carapaces, and what sort of future they should have. With technological and biological engineering being more and more common in improving and upgrading Carapaces, the question of Carapace sentience has become a major question across Pilot society: those who see the Carapaces as little more than personal servents, those who believe they should be treated as equals, those who fear what would happen if the Carapaces gained sentience and no longer needed the Pilots.


===

How would they fit into the narrative?

A Pilot-Carapace combo would make a potential squadmate/companion for the player in whatever overarching scenario there is. A military Carapace with a less-seen, but always present intelligence beside it would be a different sort of viewpoint, and a different sort of relationship. A good high-point moment in the character arc would be when the player finally gets to see the Pilot in person: in their own room, watching the Carapace remove the Pilot and both spending time 'out of uniform', so to speak.


A Carapace would also make a narratively useful substitute for a character-death: a Carapace, which like a pet might have its own personality, could die an appropriately dramatic death, while the Pilot survives. The Pilot can have a new Carapace, and gain character development appropriate for the 'death' they endured and the loss of a friend/companion.

A Carapace/Pilot combo would probably not be a romance interest, entering a vague territory between threesome and beastiality, though the prospect of Asari confusion would certainly be amusing to raise as a joke. But as a companion, a Pilot could certainly be an intellectual friend, while a Carapace could be a ship mascot on its own.

[Dean_the_Young]

Mass Effect Alien: The Perceptors

Between a mental project to bring forth more fan-created species for a hypothetical ME4, or a re-make of the ME2 squad, the next species on the agenda is one I simply call the Perceptors: a species notorious for snobbery that puts the Asari to shame (not least because they can perceive the use of Asari pheromes, a fact that shames the Asari), their claim to distinction isn't their power or civilization size... it's their sensory abilities. Which are phenomenal: having grown up in a very dangerous environment in which sensory ability and precision were key to survival, they have evolved to fit their (placeholder) name.

Eyesight going from the Ultra-violet to the Infra-red: hearing and smelling rivaling the most varied of animals: even entire sensory systems that Humans have no analog to, such as electromagnetic field sensory systems. This species is a fine-tuned organic super-sensor, able to detect the smallest blemish or the greatest liar from changes in biological functions.

Culturally, they're reclusive, and have a reputation for snobbery: they're well suited for craftsmanship, excel in high-sensory dependent jobs, and can play and appreciate the most intricate of melodies and arts. But they also tend to stick to their own kind in a viewpoint that goes from dislike to outright disdain: their word for 'alien' is 'one who can not sense beauty', a viewpoint accented by the fact that few species can appreciate their culture or vision on a literal level. What appears to you or I as a simple black square could actually be a priceless painting or portrait... and what we consider fine art, they consider narrow-sighted children's paintings, akin to a child who only draws with three crayons.

It also doesn't help that while the Perceptors are fine-tuned instruments, they are poor blunt tools: the greatest weakness of Perceptors is the risk of over-stimulation of their senses. This isn't to say what we consider a bad smell or loud noise disturbs them, but rather that they are so perceptive of the unintended effects and outputs that never bother us that simply the background radiation of modern civilizations is a cacophony to them. To a species that can see radio waves or hear laser pointers, the bustle of civilization's unintended outputs can drive them mad in a way that their own, far more deliberate, civilization never is. In truth it isn't that the Perceptors hate company... it's just that we plebes are too loud without meaning to be.

An interesting output of this emphasis on senses, perfect control, and art is an interesting viewpoint on AI. The Perceptors don't fear AI: if anything, they feel a connection with the potential of AI. Machines are the only other life forms with the potential to share the Perceptors experience of the world, to take in all that the Perceptors do. AI, in other words, are the Perceptors first real hope of not feeling alone in the universe... and this leads to a vision of encouragement and hope, not fear, that AI can find common views and common appreciation.

A Perceptor civilization's greatest desire wouldn't be a commercial innovation or a military advantage: it would be a Synthetic that could appreciate Art.


As a companion character, a Perceptor Companion would be one of the relatively small Perceptor military. Perceptor special forces, well equiped to use their sensory ability to detect minor changes, make great scouts, and would be a good basis for an Infiltrator class companion. A particular character hook, though, would be that while the Perceptor is capable of the stresses of combat and all, his/her respite and recovery from combat and simply enduring the 'alien' crew would be some practice of sensory deprivation: a cloth over the eyes to block sight, headphones to block noise, a touching (but insufficient) gift to help the Perceptor unwind and relax.

[Dean_the_Young]

Player Character Concept: The Slave

So I was thinking about an RPG in which there were a lot of other companion arcs, but the question I had to confront was 'how would these exist if the PC was the one driving the plot?' Which, given some of them, seemed impossible... and then I had an idea.

What if the PC, rather than starting the game as The Decider, started the game under a severe handicap that, in RPG terms, forced the PC into a restricted, non-dominant role?

The idea I came up with was slavery: more specifically, the PC is introduced as a slave either conditioned or coerced into subordination. The player is 'freed' by the real plot-driving NPC, who is the 'dominant' member of the party, but the limitation of player choices is depicted as an actual consequence of the PC's situation, with the usage of choices reflecting the player's position and gradual growth. This would work especially well if increasing freedom was a theme of the game, just as more and more choices were opened up.

Think of it like this: the game opens with the PC in a pen. The Liberator NPC comes in to free the slaves from the Evil Slavers, but the PC's lot is under a spell/conditioning/whatever, and lacks free will... or so it would seem. The Liberator NPC looks into your eyes (the reflection you see is the cue for character creator), and sees that there really is a spark of defiance and will trapped within. The Liberator says that he can't free you in full now, but offers to take you with him as his slave, and that he'll try to free you in the future. The first choice in the game is to accept that offer, or not.

That sort of limitation becomes a theme: the Liberator tries to encourage the PC to express themselves, asks opinion, but the dialogue, rather than being restricted on the basis of limited resources, is limited as a result of the PC's conditioning and history. Defiance is impossible, only little variations at the start, but as the game goes on and on the player's ability to choose, both dialogue and Big Decisions, increases. By the end of the game, the final Choice would correspond with the PC gaining full freedom, and thus leaving the player's control as well.

During the game itself, though, that slavery-restriction would be a useful thing to use and abuse to justify why the player can't do this or choose to do that: at the end, the PC is a slave, and some people out there know how to yank the chains. At the same time, though, because this is recognized outright, and the game spends much of its development giving you more freedom (and the illusion of control), the player is more likely to see this as a liberation story rather than one in which their player agency is unfairly restricted.

By putting the PC in chains, in other words, and slowly loosening them, we can lead players to thanking us for restricting them.

[Dean_the_Young]

Heralds

 

My attempt at a fictional race that combines supernatural abilities with a musical theme. Not as good as it sounds, pun intended.

===

Heralds are a race of semi-divine humans that belong in a fantasy setting, particularly one in which gods exist. With strong connotations and ties to those gods, Heralds are known by another name as well: Death Singers.


Heralds have a singularly unique supernatural ability: they not only sense impending death, but emit a psychic 'song' that climaxes with the death of the person. When multiple Heralds are around a dying person, the extra Heralds join in as a chorus and instrumentals, providing a haunting symphony that is supernaturally timed to the moment of the person's death. It's involuntary, and it's absolute: when a Herald begins to sing, someone is about to die. No if's, and's, or but's, and only the sort of song sung can indicate who will die.



This is, for natural reasons, scary and can even be terrifying. Heralds aren't always welcomed: correlation is often confused for causation, and the supernatural and even paradoxical melody has caused many to attack the Herald in perceived self-defense... even though those attacks themselves were what triggered a death that was being sung. At the same time, though, some people appreciate or even enjoy the melody, and so aristocrats or the wealthy might seek to have a choir on hand to mark their passing with song.


On, the Heralds also sing to the birth of new life as well, singing a different sort of melody when welcoming life into the world. Heralds are thus agents of fortune: death and birth, and traveling Heralds are considered potent symbols for change.



In terms of lore, Heralds would likely be the descendents of Grigori, their Song and exceptional magical abilities the result of distant divine parentage. Though there is at least one city of Heralds, a beautiful city in a constant state of song as life is born and lost, Heralds are relatively rare outside of their own lands. Fear and discrimination drive most out, thou various courts of the land seek them out, while Heralds have also found a place in the healer huts and traverling clergy.

More exceptional, though, are the Heralds who come to the battlefield: fighting a foe who sings your death song while you are still alive is terrifying for any foe, while a Herald who begins to sing their own death song knows that they have nothing left to lose and will fight all the harder. Most famously of all, though, are the Herald armies of the past: formations hundreds of thousands strong, all lifting their 'voices' in a song that overpowered their enemies.

Heralds are a unique, if supernaturally predictive, race of man. They might lack a singular culture, but they all share a similar effect of living with the Songs.




In terms of gameplay/depiction, Heralds are human characters with dramatically timed background music to accompany anyone's death. It would be hard to do in an RPG, but in a video game 'Herald music' would be the background combat music, as well as playing at various points in the game. Rather than just one song there would be many, chosen to correspond for the dramatic moment of who was to die. In a battle in which you were doing well, the music would take a confident, strong tone to emphasize that it's the foe who is going down: when you are near death yourself, the music shifts into a more desperate, sharper tone to emphasize that it may well be your own life. Naturally, in story-driven deaths, the tone can range from appropriately sad to something else.

Also, as a concession to practicality, instrumental noise is a given.

Personally I'd conceptualize the Herald music as high on vocal choruses, with that vaguely oldish-European style I don't know how to describe. 'Epic vocals', I guess? Stuff like the below.








As a story presence, the idea of tying music to life and death makes the Heralds a good means to emphasize impending change, a form of non-visual suspense used for dramatic effect. Playing up character deaths is one, but also simply toying with the idea of how the in-narrative groups react to such foreshadowing is another. Some could be scared: some could find it beautiful, or some symbollic meaning. Others might seek to take advantage of it: a Herald as a sort of canary in a coal mine, if you will.

But above all, where Heralds work best for me is in two scenes: the idea of a Herald City, where life and death are constant and so is Song, and the idea of a Cataclysm.

The first strikes me as a unique sort of introduction into what may well be the first Big City the character comes to. When we see towns or cities, we often only see or think of the people going across their lives: it's easy to forget that life and death only grow more constant the larger a city becomes. After a game progression where a Herald might only rarely sing in a town or hamlet, the idea of a city where there is always a song of birth or death going on would be a tool to emphasize to a player just how many people live there.

The second, though, occurs to me as a way to make an epic cataclysm scene of mass destruction and death, well, more epic. An army in the field, about to be wiped out: an entire city that knows that it will die, and spends its last moments simply stopping, singing, and seeing the end come. Would the Heralds accept their own imminent end? Would those around them panic, try to flee and escape the inevitable? Would they even be able to tell how it will occur, and look around in confusion as their bodies sing a song they themselves can't understand why? As far as cutscenes go, that offers a lot of unique pieces.

It's like the high-class antithesis of those musicals where everyone bursts into song for the everyday occurences of your life, and instead break out in a routine to... celebrate? Mourn? Await? your death. Only in video games.







Yeah, sounds better in my head than on paper. Probably couldn't be done in an RPG, and would be more difficult in a regular game as well. Still, I find it interesting.

[Dean_the_Young]

The Agent of Entropy

 

Beyond Good and Evil: The Corrupter of Good, or the Diminisher of Evil?

---

Less of a character concept and more of a roll that’s bounced around my mind from time to time: a goal of a character who, without being central or aligned enough to be an antihero, antagonist, or protagonist, is an influence who acts on both sides of the conflict between good and evil. Someone who you would think is bad, and certainly has bad effects on the world, but who is also beneficial (if not benevolent) in some ways.

Corruption is something we tend to think of as evil: spiritual and moral impurity, deviation from an ideal. Angels rebel, paladins fall, and good falls into depravity as suffering and greed become more rampant. When corruption affects noble ideals, we all suffer from the loss.

But… what about malign ideals? Ideologies of hate, self-righteous cruelties, foolish beliefs and strongly held fallacies: what is corruption to them? Wouldn’t the corruption of evil be a good thing?

This is the role of the Corrupter: a natural devil’s advocate, or angel’s advocate, who questions everyone regardless of alignment. With no firm loyalties of his own, and few if any principles, the Corrupter questions, the Corrupter challenges, and the Corrupter delights in making others question their convictions. An advocate of greed and merciless ruthlessness in the benevolent and soft hearted… but a soft conscience, a clear mind to the lost and confused.

The Corrupter is a conversionist contrarian, someone who naturally differs from the views of others, and then tries to convince others to change their beliefs… not just by word, but by manipulation and action. If you’re moral, he will challenge your beliefs in love, in truth, in justice and order and in everything you stand for and everything you value. He’ll bring you low, just to see if you would fall further. Good men would fall under the pressure he would bring upon them…

…and evil men would crumble, their own vices used against them to make them value things other than themselves despite themselves. The greedy, pushed to fight to protect the people they consider theirs. The angry, motivated to hate their own flaws. The amoral, given a voice for their lost conscience.

Some people succumb to such things. Some people stand tall regardless, or even taller because of the challenge. A crucible of corruption can expose the weaknesses within and break something down… or it can make them all the stronger for the challenge, more committed than they were before.

Hence the other name for this figure: the Agent of Trials. Corruption can be seen as a test, and what you make of it is up to you. A trial, unlike corruption, has no connotations, despite the similarities they can hold.


If I were to do a story of angels and demons, the angel of trials would definitely be one such character: one widely misunderstood, thought by everyone to be fallen and vile and evil incarnate. But, ultimately, one true to its purpose to bring out the true nature of everyone.


Am I just a little out of it, or does it start to make sense?

[Dean_the_Young]

Character Concept: The Arbiter, and Breach of Contract

So, character/power concept that's been on my mind. Between the Fall from Heaven mod for Civilization, which had an interesting application of magic of Force and contracts, general super powers, and various anime with absurdly specific special powers with conditions, there came to my mind an idea...

A character who's special ability is a a general compulsion on people to keep their word when they give it freely... and to enact stiff penalties even if they have the strength to break it.

It's a weird mix of mental compulsion and preconditions that comes to mind from the Fall From Heaven lore of a mod-scenario. The short version is the magical sphere of 'Force' is also associated with keeping agreements: not Law, which is a separate sphere focusing on divine rules and obedience, but simply keeping agreements which you make. It's not outright compulsion, it's not mind control... but it's a more subtle, higher power that guides the person to keeping their promises. In the scenario, an Evil King needs an angel to sacrifice to obtain godhood: the only one available is the leader of the Grigori, the Angel of Force who leads the civiliation. In the scenario, the Evil King ultimately conquers the capital of the Grigori... but the Angel of Force tricks the Evil King, offering his peaceful surrender for this sacrifice in exchange for the Evil King letting his people live free. The Evil King accepts this offer, smugly thinking the angel as a fool and musing that he can always betray his word later... but later never comes, and ultimately the Grigori are never again bothered by the Evil King, who ultimately falls. Word of God is that, by unwittingly making a pact, the Angel of Force was able to use that divine sphere of magic which later influenced the Evil King, without his awareness, to not betray his word.

It's that idea of subtle, unrecognized, oath-keeping that intrigues me. It's not an absolute power, and if the Evil King had recognized it for what it was he could have broken it (or, once ascended, never been bound by it). People keeping their word, whether they recognize the influence or not...

...well, that's the power for this Arbiter. Let's call her a her, just to mix up pronouns from my usual default.

The Arbiter is a character-type that could easily be a Player Character (and thus explain why NPC's keep unreliable promises to the player), or an NPC. The natural role for such a person is as a mediator, a diplomat, a word-smith... whatever you wish to call her. Her reputation may be known, but her powers are not: even the people who go in intending to lie seem to rationalize why they should keep their word for just a little while longer.

Now, naturally, there are those who keep the letter of the agreements who skirt the spirit. And there are those who have the intelligence, perspective, or wit to realize the underlying compulsion at work. And there are those few who just outright overcome their rationalizations, through necessity or strength of will, and go against their agreement.

Too bad the Arbiter can pull out a Breach of Contract!

Breach of Contract would be a really, really powerful ability that can only, only be done when the person has willingly entered into the contract free of compulsion, and deliberatly breaks the agreement. That preconditioning and specificity, and thus difficulty to pull off, is what allows it to be powerful.

What does a Breach of Contract allow the Arbiter to do? Well, overpowered things. Outright compulsion/mind controlling the violator into restoring the agreement or fixing the violation, if that can be done. A super-duper stat bonus powerup for the Arbiter in order to take the violator into custody. The ability to Seal the Powers of the badguy, turning them from terror to mook so long as the violation remains uncontested.


So this Contract power not only helps keeps the unaware or weak-willed people to keep their agreements... it can punish the people strong enough to break their word. So the Arbiter not only helps make agreements, but also enforces them and applies the penalty when they're broken. Powerful stuff.



What's done with that? Well, anything the scenario wants. That sort of person could be a companion in helping broker an alliance or a treaty between nations. They could be hunting down a fugitive oath-breaker, in order to met out the punishment of a Breach of Contract.

But really, just the idea is cool (to me).

[Dean_the_Young]

The Unappreciated One and the Poaching American Foreigner

 

===

 

It's an idea with an American involved, and so it's more of a real-world idea than most others. While structurally it could work with a change-of-name fantasy equivalents, or a change of nations, to me and my connotations it works best with America and a foreign land.

The foreign land is actually the setting, and America not that big of a role. There is an American, yes, but he is just a member of the cast, the outsider in someone else's country. An Army brat over-seas, put in a foreign school, would be a good summation.

Because this idea, sketchy as it is, really revolves around the coming of age of young adults. That cross-cultural transition from grown children to young adults, leaving the structure and safety and comfort of the hometown school and coming to terms with your place in your world and what you want to do with it.

Though hardly planned out, I see something of a high-school story over the course of years: a group of friends coming to a new level of adulthood, making new ones, losing old ones as they drift away or face tensions amongst themselves, and facing the challenges of love and romance and goals and those other Big Deals when we were younger. It's a story with main characters but not necessarily a central one, in which a number of arcs exist concurrently.

One of the core cast would one who I think of as the Unappreciated One: that good friend, a loyal friend, who is so often taken for granted and relegated to 'support' that those most important to them never recognize it. The person you don't think of when he's around, but realize you miss when they're gone. Over the course of these highschool years, the Unappreciated One might also be called The Mature One: the one who thinks ahead, who spots the problems coming and goes to great lengths to save his or her friends from the troubles that would be prevented if the others would just LISTEN to him. A good person, without a doubt: not without flawed, but with virtues in excess and very dependable. A good, very good, candidate for the Mature Older Sibling archetype if the younger sibling is also part of the core cast, who loves their younger and more impulsive sibling but ends up shouldering the costs and gives up their own desires out of love/affection/obligation.

Obligation only goes so far, however, no matter how good a person, and a good part of the Unappreciated One's character is that he or she gives us more and more for friends and family and gets ever little in return. Giving up teenage love to avoid a love triangle between friends. Supporting a sibling you love and our proud of, but who's actions bring ever more weight and overshadow your own desires. Sometimes there is the recognition so desperately desired and needed: sitting at a hospital bed all night and getting a thank you and a smile that makes it all worthwhile. Working hard to set the stage and fix the problems for a play, and being toasted at the casting party afterwards. A surprise birthday party when you thought everyone had forgotten.

But these are little things, increasingly precious and increasingly rare, and increasingly insufficient for someone needing to live their own life.


Another of the cast would be The American. Possibly an exchange student, but more likely (in my head) a military brat who is enrolled in local-nation schools rather than the military base school. As a character concept, the Foreign Military Child actually brings a variety of things to the table: the use of the Local Military Base as a plot thread/location of interest, military ties to justify interesting or cool things (like using contacts to arrange a once-in-a-lifetime helicopter ride for the friends, justified as a training exercise for the military), and of course the Responsible-for-the-sins-of-the-nation-by-default angle, if the Foreign Military isn't exactly popular at the moment. Of course, as a national proxy the military child can also show some of the good sides: working to compose themselves in a manner worthy of their friends and family in the military, or taking time off of school to help the military conduct disaster-relief operations.

That latter one becomes even more interesting if it's allowed because of bi-ingualism. A language barrier is a character dynamic I find interesting. If there's a language barrier, surmounted with difficulty, then The American could seem dumber than he/she really is. Difficulty reading, speaking, or hearing the other language, all of which gives the impression of a dullard when they might be very intelligent. As the second language improves, however, the effects that could be pulled... think if you were able to hear and understand in another language, but not able to speak yourself well in it. You could know the right answers, know the idea, know what people are saying behind your back without even bothering to whisper... but have the hardest time expressing it. As far as teenage stress and angst go, I think that would be an amazing one: the sort of constant tension and stress that leads to an outburst of 'I hate this country! I just want to go Home! Where I can talk to people and be understood and-!' that I think is a big piece of teenage stress and identity. A language barrier is a great tool for group-identity, an automatic ostracizer, and a great redeemer for other characters when they take the effort to help out the Foreigner and stick up for him as a friend.

In terms of the character arch, the American overcomes the ostracized environment thanks to the Core Cast who gradually work with him/her and become True Friends. The isolation is eased: the language barrier recedes: the American comes to not only accept their love for their home, but also come to love this foreign country and its people and grow as a person because of it. At the beginning, they might be counting the days until they can leave: by the end, they leave with sorrow. And they would have to leave, because that's a dynamic of the foreign military brat: eventually the family will be stationed elsewhere, and they have to leave behind their old friends and make new ties. That impending countdown would be a good character drama point: fear of hurting friends, fear of the inevitable departure, and especially the impacts on young love in a foreign land. Do you deny it, knowing you will be separated? Do you embrace it while you can, without any assurance that there will be a future?

I'm not terribly into teenage romance plots, but that's a romantic stress I can get behind.



But I digress: the core characters move together, starting at the begging and the more childish and growing and maturing as the End of Childhood approaches. For some, that's more defined than others: The American will go back to the States, and possibly join the military. The Life Planner will go to college, or that dream internship, and go on their path. The Younger Ones of the group, a year behind, will still be in High School when everyone else goes on behind. As the end approaches tensions rise and there exists the fear the group will splinter, but ultimately there's an appropriate resolution.

But the more ambiguous futures... this is where I see a plot development. A key character relationship between the Unappreciated One and the American.

The short version is, the American appreciates the Unappreciated One, and that makes all the difference.

Maybe they have similar principles of responsibility and self-sacrifice: the American from the military environment and an always-distant father, the Unappreciated One just naturally. They can certainly have similar views of hard work, effort, and perseverance despite difficulty. I definitely could see the Unappreciated One being one of the most helpful in helping the American understand what is going on, and the most effective in trying to teach the language. They become good friends, definitely. Friends of a lifetime.

But above all else, the American not only appreciates the Unappreciated One, but sees that the others do not. Tensions may rise from this, or tensions may not. But the American, in one of those series-turning 'I thought you were a friend' seeming-betrayals, decides if that no one else is going to appreciate the Responsible One, then the Unappreciated should go somewhere where their talents could be appreciated. America.

The Unappreciated, initially reluctant, eventually feels it is the only way to escape the context of home, and one day vanishes from the setting before anyone realizes he was ever intending to leave. Using the American's contacts in the Military Base, the Unappreciated took a service-for-citizenship opportunity and enters basic training in America, soon to be deployed in whatever background conflict is going on (it could be peacekeeping). The absence, first unexpected, sparks fear, surprise, and anger amongst the group, especially when Younger Sibling finds out the how and turns their hurt on the American and blames them for leading The Unappreciated astray. The American fires back with a variation of 'you took them for granted, and never payed attention to what they wanted.' Tensions flare within the group, the cracks are shown, and the friends seem broken.

Character development allow reconciliation. The Younger Sibling, forced to take responsibility for their own actions now that the Unappreciated Older Sibling is no longer around to pick up the slack, begins to grow and realize how selfish/self-centered they had been, and how little they had paid attention to the ones they relied upon. The American, on the other hand, comes to realize the more selfish motivations for pushing the Unappreciated to take that path: there was the truth in wanting the Unappreciated to be in a position where his/her abilities and character would be recognized and rewarded, yes, but the American is also afraid of leaving behind the Foreign Country in the upcoming year, and getting the Unappreciated to come to the US was a way of taking some of it back with them. The idea of targeting someone of value, to take them away from their own home where they could do good and to bring them to yours... it's a bit selfish, and self-serving, and arguably a detriment to those left behind. The American realizes that in helping, even pushing, the Unappreciated to leave, they hurt the rest of the friends. The American might not regret helping the Unappreciated, but does recognize the impacts it had on others and stops feeling like it was just a Good Thing.

With the personal development, and help from the mutual friends, the Core Cast reconciles and comes back together. When the end comes, the American will be sent away with smiles and sorrow, not anger and resentment. When the end comes, the Unappreciated returns for the Graduation, a changed but much happier person, showing that the ties remain even if they go on different life paths. Family and friends remain close, despite the distance, and life await.


The End.

(And people claim I don't like happy endings.)


A progression could work like this: the core cast is divided into the Seniors (a year ahead, already experienced), the Middles (first-years at the start), and the Youngers (a year behind). The Unappreciated is a Senior of the group. The Younger Sibling would be a Middle, though act more like a Younger. The American, though perhaps a Senior in age and maturity, is more of a Middle due to the academic difficulties and placement in the school

Each year is an arc, more or less, with some summer action and what not.

Character introduction starts with the Middles entering the school, rejoining the Seniors who have some experience. Early dynamics and relationships established, and the Core friends are tight. Mentions of the youngers, still in Middle School.

A little ways into Year 1, the American is introduced as a recent arrival/transfer. Due to timing the American is put in the younger class despite his/her age, and combined with the language barrier the American gets the reputation of the Stupid American and gets ostracized. The Core Friends, being mostly good people, stand up for good conduct, invite the American into their group and try to help, and realize that behind the amusing language difficulties is an equally intelligent person.

Friends are made, and Year 1 is the more lighthearted one. The Unappreciated One is the most appreciated, thanks to relying on the experience.


Year 2 adds new characters, and new developments. The Youngers finally graduate into freshmen, joining the cast in full. Some of the middles begin to mature as seniors in their own right, while the Seniors begin to face the questions of what next after the next year. Things are still light-hearted, but with a touch of the serious: the Middles begin to dabble into feelings of romance, bits of responsibility, and dealing with the expectations of adults. The Younger Sibling, in the pursuit of innocent and good things, creates problems. The Unappreciated, while in a tenable state, begins to show the signs of over-burdened responsibility as he resolves the problems of the youngers.

Year 3 moves into drama. The Middles are having trouble moving into the role of seniors, with the distant future being a lot less distant, while the Seniors are facing it in the immediate. The Seniors begin making those concrete steps to adulthood, or trying to despite the frightening open field, and the Middles and Youngers can't quite appreciate the changes. The most affected, and most unappreciated, is the Unappreciated, for whom group ignoral for other priorities is almost abuse at points. The American, facing his/her own potential departure (a hanging question), takes notice and begins to approach the Unappreciated.


Climax of Year 3/Summer: after the Seniors graduate, they go in different ways. The Unappreciated leaves for a trip to America with no end date, and drops off the grid: the disappearance isn't noted immediately, but is gradually felt. When the cell number is dropped as not in service, when email is rejected because the box is already full, and when no once can get a hold, concern turns to worry or outright panic. The Parents, such as they are, are absent and the Friends face panic from the Younger Sibling despite the caution of the Authorities, Parents, and some of the group.

The mystery is solved in the worst way when, while answering the American's phone while he was absent, one of the group hears the Unappreciated on the other side. The Unappreciated, upon realizing that it isn't the American, immediately hangs up, and the group confronts the American about his/her contact and knowledge. The American defends him/herself by claiming it was the wish of the Unappreciated, who hasn't been responding to email because he is at an American Boot Camp. When Younger Sibling reacts emotionally, the American retaliates by accusing the Sibling and parts of the group for not caring about the Unappreciated when he was here, and accuses them of being bad friends for not seeing the troubles he was dealing with. Naturally this enflames the situation, and the Schism occurs.


The Schism continues for some time, with the group fractured. The less impassioned friends get back together thanks to the help of some of the other Seniors, back in town. By the start of Year 4, the American and the Younger Sibling reconcile, with the friends back together. The Unappreciated One, now out of training, is able to send regular emails and a telephone call which helps reconcile Younger Sibling to the new reality of the emmigration.

Year 4 sees the Middles really begin to step into adulthood. Younger Sibling, more self-aware about others, shows the fruit of maturity by being a better person, making new peace with former rivals, and maybe even getting the girl. The American, once again supported by friends, is laying out his/her own plans for returning to the states, and possibly the military. Characters mature, relationships climax, and character arcs resolve as futures become clear. Come graduation all the Seniors return, even the Unappreciated One, and despite challenges and tribulations they all are looking forward, and looking forward to having their friends join them.

Graduation occurs, the Middles leave the school, and the Youngers, still behind, are none the less optimistic about their own Fourth Year.




Fin
(Again)

[Dean_the_Young]

So one of the rather unusual things about DA2 is that it basically exists in the same environment throughout the game. That was a source of complaints, especially for the dungeons, but it has the advantage of a relatively stationary civilian populace... some of which Shepherd I mean the Warden I mean Hawke would certainly have reason to know, from the time in the slums to the rise in power.

So, my thought one two companion-ish NPCs was to take a more (socioeconomic) 'I'm not a badass' perspective to the context of the setting- basically, the lay man perspectives. And not the 'I'm a totally normal person who can fight with badasses' layman either.

There are two in my mind- the Well-intentioned Noble, and the jaded Gutter Tom Cat. Both take their own class perspective to the Mage/Templar conflict.

Because the civilian NPC's wouldn't have the tag-along exposure the companions do, I'd give them at least two missions to help supplement their arcs. They'd sit out combat, but be a tag along presence for whatever they need you to bodyguard them for. Outside of those missions, they'd have their own 'visiting' encounters.


---


The Well-intentioned Noblewoman is not only the Mage sympathizer, but also a bit of proxy for modern western liberalism... but, admittedly, a bit of a deconstruction in the context of the setting.

Nobless oblige without being royalty, the Noblewoman is a secure, well off woman who wants to help the poor and oppressed. She would be one of the early style philanthropists, a woman glad to help the chantry in organizing charitable efforts, and, as the Discworld put it, 'rich enough to be able to afford living poor and dedicate herself to a cause.'

She is a kind woman, and a good person- she's just also more than a tad sheltered and naive about the world. Very much a believer in the inherent goodness of people if given a chance, the fact that she was never particularly punished or treated harshly and has become a good person has given her a rather schewed view towards anyone else facing misery or oppression, justified or not. She's also painfully easy to take advantage of because, as a noblewoman, she has a lot more to lose without suffering for it.


When she meets Anders, her life changes as she finds a new cause to dedicate herself to... despite really not appreciating the other side's concerns.


In the prologue, her initial appearance would be in organizing charity and helping the Ferelden refugees, giving a little money for food to Hawke and companions. It establishes her good will, but raises the prospect of her being taken advantage of by people who claim to need the money for food but who would spend it on other things. Like bribes.


In Act 1, she would be a recommended money quest for Hawke, serving as a body guard while she organizes Chantry charity into the slums. Here she discovers Hawke or Bethany are mages... and reveals she doesn't mind at all, and expresses support for their efforts to become nobility. Cue gold in pocket.

Also in Act 1, as a reflection of the Qunari, she expresses interest in letting them be in peace and learning about them... but not from outside her own comfort bubble. Very much a 'they can stay in their corner' or 'not in my yard' tolerance.

Finally in Act 1, she would meet Anders and start to gain interest in the mage situation, clearly buying into his tales of abuse and horror and not understanding why it would ever be tolerated.


In Act 2, we see that she's become something of an activist, serving as the much nicer Sister Petrice. She's opposed to both the Qun and the Mages for their anti-family and oppressive aspects, and is trying to mobilize the nobles to pressure the viscount... in effect adding to the political problems, and not resolving them.

On the Qunari front, she is someone who can't see anything good or nice about the Qunari or their ideology, and wants them to leave peacefully. However, especially in the context of seeing some converted Qun followers establishing order and peace in the slums, this comes off as her fearing to leave her comfort zone. She assumes anything she doesn't like is bad for everyone.

On the mage front, she has entered into a cooperation with Anders, and is his other noble patron helping protect him and support him. There's a possible insinuation of one-sided affection, and while Anders appreciates her support and uses her as an argument (even some nobles support us!), there's an explicit undercurrent of difference and 'she's nice and all, but she has no clue about how we are.'

Finally, she and Elthina have a scene in which the Noblewoman pretty much serves as the western liberal-interventionist proxy, urging Elthina to take a stand and condemn the Qunari and the Circle and take a stand as a reformist. In a scene that would win her adoration from the pro-mage fans and Elthina more disrespect she would make a passionate, emotional appeal, only to be turned down... and after she leaves, Elthina confides to Hawke that taking any such stance would throw the city into chaos with no guarantee for success. While the Noble believes words have the power to change things for the better, Elthina recognizes words also have the power to change things for the worse and spark violence, no matter your intentions or desires. (Still, Elthina leaves off, she appreciates the kind-heartedness behind it, and wishes more people and nobles were like her.)




Come Act 3, the comfort zone is going to be reduced. When the Qunari rebelled she lost her parents, who kept her 'give it away' tendencies in check, and her beloved mage cause is now proving not so one-sided black and white and losing her support.

On the nobility side, her rapidly declining fortunes and open disagreement with Meredith are losing her friends and support. In a quest where she tries to rally help from three old friends to help the mages flee Meredith's persecution, she gets a series of gut punches. One is afraid to help, fearing Meredith's retaliation. One is outright opposed to the mages thanks to the rise in blood magic at night, and angrily laments that support her back then helped support these monsters now. But the last one... the last one admits that he only played along with her charity drives to the lesser classes because it looked good. Now that it doesn't look good, and now that she's poor enough to beg for money (he thinks she's trying to con him), he wants nothing to do with her. Ouch.

On the mage side, her relationship with Anders has rapidly devolved as his corruption with Justice continues. The fact that he's using her (possibly even romantically if unromanced?) is emphasized, as well as his single-minded purpose making clear he has no room for anyone else. This is a serious case of Broken Idol for her, and when she is attacked by (implicitly ungrateful) blood mages who want to control her and control what she has left, she's almost at the emotional despair horizon. Even the fact that Anders helps save her, and has a pet the dog moment in expressing gratitude and apology, doesn't really fix it.


Come the finale, she's pretty much at a despair tipping point- her efforts are unappreciated at best and have made things worse at worst, people are assholes, and she's pretty much about to drop out of the nobility and sell her house for something more affordable. Elthina is providing her support, and receiving the charity of others is galling to her. Painful as it is, she admits she was too idealistic and naive about the world and people in it, and immature herself- she wanted to save the world without having to live in it, and now it's not saved and she's here all the same.

Depending on Hawke's efforts and words, she'll either have a new, more mature idealism, deciding to dedicate herself to trying to help the good mages regardless of her diminished means, or she'll cut the ideological baggage and go back to what she can do- help the poor, who are no less deserving of attention for a lack of being oppressed. Regardless, she thanks Hawke for sticking with her, and gives a family heirloom as thanks.


Oh, and for good measure? Regardless of which, she'll be in the chantry when Anders blows it up.





(Unless romanced, in which case she's living in Hawke's house.)



As for a Romance-

Her arc is much the same, but her romance arc takes a perspective of Hawke vindicating her views that the underclasses can rise to be great people as well. Perhaps she'll admit she has a bit of a taste for tough, rugged, and powerful, but once she moves in with Hawke the associated dialogue would talk about how the Champion's lover is using his house (and his name) as a base for organizing her charity efforts.

Friendship-mance would be pro-mage and pro-generosity, with her supporting and encouraging all your good deeds and you urging her to not give up her efforts to do the right thing. Well-meaning power fantasy for both involved, really.

Rival-mance would be pro-Templar as the necessary security, and with Hawke chastising her for being willing to give the shirt off her back. Come the blood mage abduction attempt, she would admit that the Templars do have reason to fear, and Hawke's guidance would keep her from losing all her money. While this cynical tampering of her unlimited good will may seem mean, at the crux a Rival!Hawke is expressing 'I love that you do good... just do it more smartly.'






As for Rivalry in particular- since these are NPCs, the Rival/Friend bonus should be a passive boost for Hawke, rather than a combat bonus. Possibly tied with the heirloom she gives, the 'Generosity' friendship perk could give a tradeoff of an across-the-board stat boost in exchange for a permanent money penalty. 'Thrifty Charity' could give a person boost to, say, stamina/mana recovery.








Tom Cat (not his real name) is basically a poor soul who fits all the points of 'peasant'- he was poor even before he was a refugee who came to Kirkwall, he lives in the glorified sewer slums, he can't even read- he's kind of what Hawke would have been if they weren't amazing legendary combat badasses. Who couldn't read.

That said, there's more to him than meets the eye. He can't read, but he comes a oral tradition (read-bardic level) and is very well informed. He has no money, but he has the personal skills and mind to help him get what he needs. And he can't fight... but he can organize. Oh, can he organize.

He's not just underclass- he's a potential leader of the underclasses. And he can empathize with their concerns, because they are his own.


Whereas Hawke was a refugee from the blight, Tom Cat was a refugee from out of control magic. Riviana might make a good place, if only to give something against BSN's pro-mage favorite 'but nothing bad has ever been said about it!' Tom Cat wouldn't hold much of a grudge against mages in general, but when the equivalent of a socially accepted natural disaster destroys your village... perhaps the safest place from mages would be near where they're locked up.

It ends up not being the most informed choice he ever made, he'll admit, but from the start he makes a case of someone for whom Meredith's strict mage policies are a plus, not a minus, for living in Kirkwall.


Tom Cat is the opposite from Noble Belle's perspective. Noble was pro-mage sympathizer who never had to deal with the consequences of any of the issues she was interested or agitating for. Pretty much all of Tom's perspectives are on subjects he's had personal experience with- poverty, disorder, and being disenfranchised (and taxed) for not being a mage.

Being a concerned citizen of the underclass, sort of, Tom gradually works to organize against such issues, making him a mud-level reformer in his own right... thought not one the pro-mages will appreciate, since 'local victims organizing against rampant mages' comes uncomfortably close to 'witch hunts.' That, with his admitted 'can't read', is supposed to create a shade of contemptible underclass from those who wouldn't accept the positions.

He's a good guy, but where most players come from a Western assumed liberalism position, he comes from a very much towndrodden underclass perspective. His concerns are different, which brings clashes, especially since he's more concerned for the mundane underclass than the mages.



So, prologue- Tom is one of the older refugees we meet, who's turned his skills to helping manage the refugees and keep them orderly into an asset for the guards. He gets to help organize the distribution of food and basic supplies, and has turned that into a tool for influence. The benevolent kind- if you fight and especially if you steal from other refugees, you don't get them. So he's started organizing some informal guards for order, identifying people's skill sets to take care of tasks, etc. He's able to use this to help Hawke in some minor way, and so provides a good first impression.


In Act 1, Tom is treated (at least by Bethany/Carver, Lelliana, and Aveline) as a friendly relation who helped the Hawkes get settled in. Relationship with Hawke might be frosty depending on tone, but it's not unworkable. Tom isn't terribly enthused with the stated goal of (regaining) nobility status, but he understands the mage-aspect of the Hawkes situation and respects their desire to get out of the slums. When he asks why Bethany/Hawke don't simply go to the Tower, where they'd be living as well as the nobles (food, clothes, education, security within the rules, not having to work for an upper class living standard) he'll even express admiration when Bethany (if Hawke) says it's to not leave the sibling and mother behind. (On the other hand, he doesn't really buy into a freedom argument- the poor don't have rights either, people just don't care about them.)

Willing to help the Hawke's, Tom would be a source of a money quest or two, seeking Hawke's help in stopping Carta extortion of slum residents. (If we don't help Tom, after the time skip we hear rumors that Tom invited them to a surrender banquet and had them drugged and murdered- dark shadows.)

Tom, who lives in the sewers, has an encounter with Anders. While Tom tolerates Anders in exchange for the free medical care, he openly dislikes it, fearing that Anders will bring Templar trouble on their heads. While Hawke (or a companion) might give a 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' advice, Tom believes there's no such thing as free- Anders will want something in return eventually.

Finally, Tom reflects that for the poor, the best people in the city for the poor to try and work with are currently the Templars and the Qunari. The Qunari have never been known to not honor their deals and reliably pay for food. While they largely stay uninvolved, the Templars are notably less corrupt than the city guards (to Aveline's dismay and desire to change), and will investigate suspicious/supernatural crimes that the guards won't be bothered for. Plus, the Templars will guard the Chantry's charity efforts in the slums, making Elthina much more willing to provide it.



In Act 2, with the Qunari crisis looming, Tom is rising as an unofficial leader of the slums in tension and contrast with the established nobility, who suspect and fear/despise him... a fact made only worse by his open ambivalence (even approval) towards the Qunari. He is a minor player in his own right, and his influence in the slums means that everyone who could kill him easily generally doesn't want to.

With the mages, Tom expresses concern about the lyrium smugglers and rise of criminal infiltration- he recognizes that smuggling goes both ways, and that the networks that take lyrium in can take mages out... especially since mages have so much wealth and means to bribe the poor. Faced with the number of people who turn to crime to keep on living, Tom expresses despair at the impossible task. There aren't enough jobs, and those that there are are taxed to support the mages who can use them to bribe the poor- from a class perspective it's a system that favors the mages (who can be comfortable or bribe their way to freedom), and puts the economic and social costs on the poor.

With the Qunari, Tom's class perspective and complete lack of belief in inalienable rights makes him one of the few to outright approve of what the Qunari have to offer- an end to the corruption, the crime, the naked hypocrisy and injustice of class. A society where everyone, from the lowest to the highest, is bound by their laws- that's right, from a peasant's perspective the Qunari are the exemplars of progressive rule of law. Tom recognizes the inherent injustices of it- of losing family and the excessive cruelty towards the mages. That's why he doesn't outright support it, but defends lower class people who convert to it... but everyone knows, or at least expects, that if the Arishok rises up, Tom wouldn't exactly resist. (If asked on his views, the Arishok would probably point to Tom as proof that the people of the city yearn for the Qun's enlightenment even if they can't accept it on their own.) Tom's Qunari-related quest would directly address the matter of rights in Thedas- or rather, their lack of them. When challenged about the Qunari's lack of individual rights, Tom brings up his perspective (and lingering animosity) from the Rivianna witches- when they killed his family, where were his rights then? When he was taxed to support mage luxury and enable the bribes for runaways, where were his rights then? When people were not created equal, when some were given the power to flay people with their minds and others had deal with the imbalance lest the infringe upon the more powerful, where were rights then? Rights don't exist- they are privileges of those with power and money to defend their privileges. **** human rights, he'll stand up for actual human beings with less.

Come the uprising, Tom doesn't take part- he barricades the slums and makes it a no-man's land, preventing the violence from spreading in there and waiting for the ultimate victor. It's not really pro-anyone, and very much 'the losers accept the winners, whoever they may be', but it keeps the poor safer and doesn't obstruct the party.



In Act 3, Tom's star has risen even further. With the Qunari gone, and with them a lot of the now-dead nobility, Tom's anti-mage positions have made him a logical ally for Meredith. Immediately after the coup, Meridith raised Tom to the nobility and as responsible for the welfare of the underground sections of the city, which along with those who criticize his role in the coup has given him the more common title 'The Slum Lord.' With the rise of blood mage cabals prowling the streets at night, preying first and foremost on the poor mundanes, he and Meridith have become close political allies.

On the good side, Tom is showing his class credentials by genuinely trying to help improve their lot. He has opened a (Chantry) school to teach people to read. He takes their concerns to Meredith, who frequently finds them useful tools for removing nobles who oppose her (but who are now removed for being corrupt). He is implied to work with Hawke's mining business, and a number of others, to try and get merchants to hire his slum-dwellers for work. He's been convinced by a mage scholar about the nature of disease, and is spending a good deal of his new money trying to help clean up the underground slums, literally. He's even finally learning how to read and right himself. It's a mesh of good ideas and good efforts to improve the lot of the lowest class. However...


On the mage side, Tom still lives in the slums, and still lives modestly- he just happens to have a great deal of power now, and the wealth he doesn't use to show off himself is used to establish a militia that can generously be called a community watch, and unkindly a secret police. His network of informants is a major source of Templar intelligence for runaway mages in the slums, and his militia is intended to help keep the streets safe at night. What's actually happening, though, isn't calming the situation.

False accusations are rampant, with people seeking to settle grudges, and covert mages are even preemptively accusing those who could endanger them to cover their tracks. The Templar crackdowns are taking increasing numbers of innocents along with the guilty, and there's even word of a secret prison in the underground where non-mage prisoners are being kept until their fate is determined. Tom is very concerned at the suffering of innocents, but it's not clear what can be done. If they stop the informant network for fear of the innocent, the very real blood mage presence in their area will grow. If they continue one, innocents will suffer. It's a greater good argument, but to date he's never had the power to be in that sort of position.

For the militia, the nightly struggle with mages is bloody and deadly. Entire patrols are being wiped out by blood mage packs, and it increasingly seems that the only sizes large enough to win could well be called 'mobs.' Mobs of angry, hurt, and grieving people who are losing friends and family to the mage resistance hiding. Needless to say, when one of these mobs finds a mage, or someone they think is a mage...

The quest culminates in Hawke and Tom staring down an angry mob that s threatening to lynch innocent circle mages who was actually allowed to do some charity work in the slums. In a rare scene of their Templar guards standing between them and the crowd, a rare moment of 'Templars protecting mages as well as mundanes', Hawke and Tom confront the crowd and the uglier side of anti-mage fears of the common people. Tom's efforts to defuse the situation are... not as effective as he'd like, and ultimately it's Champion Hawke who dispels them, either by words (either supporting Tom's words or outright threatening the crowd), blade (fighting a few people), or killing the mages personally (removing the concern).


Regardless, Tom falls into his own depression about the merit and worth of the underclass, and the nature of nobility. Are the underclass (and he) really so depraved and unworthy as to mob an innocent and not care? Is the world order actually just, and should the fate of the many really just be left to the decisions of an enlightened elite who know best? Is the best way to change things for the better to forget about raising the masses, but change for a more enlightened elite?

(And yes, this is basically asking 'does the player know best?' in incredibly paternalistic overtones.)

The player can't really say 'yes, give me all the power!', but Hawke ultimately reaches back into some of those old 'nobles are abusive and corrupt' concerns and can bring back the idea of rights... kind of.

Hawke can urge Tom to continue with what he's been doing- to seek the greatest good for the underclass, knowing he's helping the most people- not because they are noble, or innocent, or pure, but because they are afraid because they weak and they will stay weak and prone to abuse if no one stands up for them. In a moment of insight, Tom realizes that to the mages, they must think of themselves as weak as well- no one person in the mob could match a mage, but a mob certainly could. Tom chuckles ruefully, notes that while he understands the mage perspective a bit better now he still stands for the poor, and goes back to work.


Alternatively, Hawke can suggest that the masses need limits for the same reasons that the nobility or elite should- because they have a power that can be abused against the innocent. The poor have more power than they realize, and they can inadvertently abuse it just as fatally as corrupt elites or mages. Hawke tries to frame it (in a fourth-wall leaning anacohristic) as 'regardless of class, everyone should have the right to do certain things', but regaining his humor Tom reminds him that he doesn't believe in rights. Instead, Tom frames it as 'regardless of class, everyone has things they should not do,' and goes back to work. Thus the Civil Restrictions Movement is born*. Tom leaves intending enforce a higher burden of proof on the spy networks, and change the nature of the patrols, leaving the fighting of cornered mages to the Templars.

*I laughed.


Come the finale, Tom organizes the militia to fight the abomination outbreaks... and, depending on if you finished his quests or not, even protect some innocent mages. If you didn't, Tom's militia outright join in the witch hunt in the name of protecting the slums. If you do, you'd have an encounter of some of Tom's men escorting a frightened mage into a house and then lying to the Templars about there being a mage in there.

Not sure if Tom should die regardless, though, to an Abomination on the streets.





So, friendship/rivalry in a nutshell- friendship is pro-Templar, but also pro-greater good and pro-masses arguments. Pro-poor helps as well, and he's about the one person truly sympathetic with pro-Qunari views- more on the 'they have valid points, and we should allow others to follow them if they want' spectrum than 'they are the best thing ever.'

Rivalry is pro-mage rights, pro-rights in general, and defending the aristocracy and abuses against the poor. Generally super-idealism, plus unconcern. He also tends not to like it if you suggest the poor should accept their lot in life and not do bad things even if crime would help them.




Romance? Probably the biggest point of the romance arc would be the wealth difference- come Act 2 you are nobility, and in Act 3 you are even higher than that. He not only deals with complications of potential hypocrisy for associating so closely with the upper class... he deals with a bit of guilt that you might see him as a gold-grubber trying to be elevated (something he's afraid your mother might think). He's very aware, and a bit uncomfortable, with the class difference. He's noted for never staying around or lounging at the Hawke estate if Hawke isn't there. Come Act 3, one of Tom's first efforts when learning how to write is to write a (horrible scrawl) love poem about how he learned to write to preserve his love forever, but then realized no words would do it justice.


In a friendship-mance, Hawke's pro-commoner, anti-mage threat stances leads him to value Hawke for not forgetting where he/she came from. Hawke is a bit of an inspiration to him, and Hawke's success while staying close to the commoner concerns convinces him that he can do the same.

In the rival-mance, Hawke's more eyes-in-the-sky idealism is charming in its own way. Tom finds it endearing, if not convincing, but Hawke's needling is implied to have an effect. Tom appreciates Hawke's idealism, and in a sincere note wishes that one day everyone can be so secure as to allow it to be real. The pro-mage idealism is something Tom sees as a long, long ways off, compared to the hear-and-now of the mundanes.



And that's it- I kind of like them both.

[Dean_the_Young]

The Son of the Man Who Killed Osama

 

===

 

I was reading a special edition Time magazine in the office, a full issue on the special forces. Mostly US, of course, but there was a shout-out to the SAS! But they talked a few times about how classified and secretive the modern day special forces elite are, to the point that when President Obama met the team that killed Osama after they got back, he talked to them not knowing who fired the killing shots. And it got me to thinking-

That guy? Unless it's leaked, he's probably not going to be released while he's still alive... and quite likely while his family is, either. Not just he, but his entire family would become revenge targets- enough so that his children (if any) may never know, just because it would endanger them. So you have a person who makes a historical impact, and has to hold it secret for who knows how long to protect those who they care about.

And, while the real world might not be quite that strict... it sparked an idea for me. Especially after reading the insane training regimens the elite keep, and the hardships it can bring to families.


Imagine how the child of that person might feel, especially if the family did break apart and the child never knew why?


Take, oh, the ME setting, since this might actually be a good piece for a companion.

You have your history- the conveniently distant war, in which the Galactic OBL raised cain across the galaxy. You have you elite mission by the N7s, a legendary accomplishment that struck deep into the Terminus systems and took GOBL out. The Hero of the Galaxy, known by reputation but not by name- never by name. Even now, decades later, the remnants still want to know who took the shot, to avenge their fallen leader.


Decades Later, the player is leading a group that includes the Aspiring Elite. A soldier, admittedly young, who is no doubt a prodigy in ability and drive. Already suitably skilled to be a companion, and on an upward trajectory that few can deny, even the PC's Heroic Adventure is just a stepping stone to him, a way to get where he really wants to be- the True Elite. Nothing else is good enough.

Why? Because only by becoming a member of the True Elite can he hope to find what happened to his father, who disappeared in the war. The records Do Not Exist, but he knew his father was among the Elite, and he's convinced that if he can just get in that most exclusive of communities-

He wants vengeance, if it's applicable. He wants closure. He wants to follow in his Father's footsteps and measure up to him like he never could as a child.


Encouraging, guiding, and mentoring him along this path is the PC's own mentor/commander Anderson-analog: himself a retired of the Super Elite, the Elite Commander has taken an interest in both of your careers and pushes you both towards excellence. For the PC, it's a recognition of talent and whatever plot-relevant abilities apply. For Aspiring Elite, it's certainly a bit out of talent, but as A.E. will also enlighten you that it was Elite Commander, who he stumbled across before his career, who hinted that he could find out more about his father if he made it to the True Elite.



Trope Awareness kicking in- Elite Commander is A.E.'s missing father, and the Hero of the Galaxy. His family life and marriage already starting to break apart due to the rigors of deployment, the mission that took out GOBL was the final nail in the coffin. To protect his family, including his son, he officially died, underwent an appearance change, and vanished from their lives. Except, well, when he found that his son was looking for him, he decided to mentor and push him unknowingly in the direction in which he could find out.


Now, here's the deconstruction/twist- A.E. making it to the True Elite and discovering who his father is the, not bad, but 'not good' end. The character end you would get if you flubbed his character arc, or simply didn't complete it.

Wait, what?


A.E. is a bit of a deconstruction of the Super Black Ops ideal, in that A.E.'s arc revolves around confronting the costs that are associated with becoming one of the True Elite. The costs, personal and upon others, that it takes to be and remain as part of 'the best of the best.' Ethics, hobbies, personal relationships...

If the player does A.E.'s arc, they'll quickly come to realize that A.E., while a 'normal' person in many respects, is having to give it up to pursue his goal. Starting small but getting significantly larger, the player is slowly imbued with the sort of sacrifice these people make.

It can start with hobbies- A.E. mentions what he used to do for fun, but we realize he hasn't been able to do it for some time due to a lack of time between training, sleeping, missions, and other things. So if he could have been a painter, he mentions that the last time he painted was by request for his girlfriend.

Then it gets with social isolation- A.E. ruminating on how he can't talk to his friends, even those he joined the military with, about what he does anymore. It can even be in the context of him preparing to delete his personal contact network after a near-breach of the base's networks in the plot, in order to protect his friends and associates from your current enemies.

But it gets serious with family- A.E., who should not be a normal romance interest, is in an established relationship. We hear about it from time to time, and see some evidence of it here and there- but, as the tension deepens, the troubles darken, and A.E. gets closer and closer to the level of the True Elite-


If the player encourages the professionalism/mission-first/goal oriented approach, or they avoid the chain A.E. comes to the conclusion on his own, A.E. cuts off his last real connection out of the military before taking The Test during a short time-skip towards the end-game. He succeeds, of course, and gets a significant stat boost... but, more importantly, we get a scene with him and Elite Commander. A.E. finally gets access to the Truth, and while initial angry that Elite Commander abandoned his old life and family in the name of duty and goals... Elite Commander points out that A.E. has done the same. They empathize with each other, understanding what each other had given up and why, and while bittersweet there is a reconciliation between them as they can finally reconnect in the shadowy world of the True Elite.

Not too bad or sad, right?

Well, by contrast, the A.E. companion arc really develops to show that A.E. isn't very happy with the life. That the costs of the True Elite are, well- not really what he wants. He likes being good at his job, yes, but he likes the other things in life. He likes his hobby, he likes being able to relate with his friends, and he very much likes his significant other. His companion arc, if you don't try and push him, is really more about him confronting his reasons for abandoning what he holds dear- a (minor) father complex which has overshadowed everything else in his life, including his own happiness. The life of the True Elite, it turns out, just isn't for him, and it entails giving up things he's capable of, but doesn't want to, sacrifice.

During the late-game time skip, he reconnects. He proposes- he reconnects with his past friends- he does something to help him find his center. And when he comes back, he announces to Elite Commander (who he still doesn't know as his father) that he won't be pursuing the True Elite any further, and is even prepared to resign his commission after the upcoming Final Battle. In an inadvertent armor-piercing rational, he describes how he can't chase after his father forever if he wants to be one himself. While musing on how quitting like this means he isn't as good as his father after all, how maybe he can't measure to the True Elite who never quit, he'd rather be the best father he could be and be there for them as a civilian, rather than the best soldier without a family.

He apologizes to Elite Commander, thanking him for all his mentorship and guidance, and regrets that he squandered the opportunity he is giving up. Elite Commander, smiling and shaking his head, tells him that he didn't give up, but rather surpassed his father by choosing what was more important.