Post by Father on Nov 28, 2017 19:27:45 GMT 1
Over in the setting section, you may find a thread for each of the PC houses, in those are listed up a few characters affiliated with them. Those descriptions attempts to capture what is publicly known about these characters, much of it possibly hearsay and speculation. They also omit a lot, for the simple reason that I do not wish to confine the creativity of any player tempted to pick up one of them more than I have to. In general, anything not contradicting that public description is fair game. I do, however have narrator notes which is meant to guide the behavior of those characters if left as NPC's, as well as stats, which may be shared with parties interested in picking one up. What follows is mostly some thoughts and ideas of mine as to how these characters can be played, and sometimes what I would expect from them as PC's. As some of these are married to each other, additional considerations may apply of course.
Note that the reasons for their inclusion is not necessarily PC-play-ability, I have tried to make them all interesting for players to pick up, but their main purpose is to define the most important characters affiliated with the home houses, all of them will have PC-level statistics, which allows them to step up to the plate if there is no PC in a given house that is strong at a particular field such as combat or intrigue. Narrator attention being more divided than player attention, this is more insurance for when it's really needed rather than an asset that will be active all the time, unless the narrator puts in an unhealthy level of activity.
There are also a number of characters mentioned in passing at the end of each thread, those are also open for taking, some of them may feature in the designs of other NPC's, but none will have any active agenda's of their own as NPC's. They are also typically secondary characters (and commonly just assigned one of the standard NPC templates). Players are free to replace such a character with one of their own making, feel free to change anything you like if taking one of them, or removing them entirely in favor of a new concept edging them out.
House Blackbriar:
Lord Jon:
This guy would be a challenge, I think, obviously not very capable on the martial side of things, obviously no leader, failing to contain Septon Abelar and Lady Shiera. Obviously, there's possibilities for interesting stories around him, but it'll probably be more fun to play as someone else in those stories.
Septon Abelar:
One of the most challenging characters to play, I think. This is not the "I want to play a septon" character, there's room for one of those everywhere else. This is the "I want to play a septon that will preach about fire and brimstone in front of thousands and wants to purge the lands of all impurity and sin" character. It would be incredibly awesome to see that happening as a PC, if not, well of all the characters I've cooked up, the scope of his agenda dwarfs everyone else's, combined.
Lady Erena:
The one unambiguously nice and cheerful person out of the cast, but there isn't really that much to be cheerful about given the place she's been thrown into, welcome to Westeros.
Ser Donnel:
A capable warrior and tactician, has until now been outwardly honorable and loyal to his brother. It is possible to go many ways with him, most in line with my vision would be someone trying to do as best he can to make up for his brother's shortfalls (which for NPC Jon will be quite a handful), but very different paths are also possible.
Lady Shiera:
Her role is that of delivering tension. Descriptions says she throws barbs at Lord Jon and getting away with it, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine that she doesn't like him, or his son, or his wife. Plus she has strapping sons, most likely she had thought the eldest would inherit the lordship as it seemed that Jon had the good manners to die without heirs, but nu-uh. Whether she's just a bitter old woman foul mouthing everyone because she is stranded in a lesser branch at some backwater or there's more to it, who knows?
House Levalle:
Lord Alliser:
Possibly one of the more restricted, but at the same time most open-ended. He cannot afford to not be engaged politically, and he is good at it, but everyone hates his house, so that in itself is a challenge. As an NPC, he's designed to be encouraging for anyone among the Levalle's who feel like plotting and scheming, since it would be wise of him to keep a relatively low profile and retain deniability. His backstory implies lack of moral backbone, but exactly how he gained the favor of Aegon IV is mostly subject to speculation, so he may actually be a nice guy, too.
Ser Imry:
Ah, yes. This one is to a good degree defined in his description already, beyond that, his marriage with Lyanna places additional hooks in him, their relationship is intended to be a major plot point of the story. That plot have one version for both being NPC's and one version for Imry PC. This is perhaps the only one of these characters which I have specific plans for that won't get cancelled if a player picks him, so one should be prepared for that.
Ser Robyn:
I am not adding much here, his background and general competences are broadly defined, as is how the world views him. Under that shell, anything from a true knight like Barristan to a monster like Armory Lorch can reside.
Ser Parmen:
A different take, high birth than Ser Robyn, low pecking order, a bit of a throwback to the commentary in Storm (from Littlefinger I believe) that Lord Mace had a bit of trouble with three sons needing to inherit stuff, and offloading Loras to the Kingsguard (and Garlan getting Brightwater Keep) solved that problem, similar situation here, plus two very noteworthy brothers adding to the motivational package. Should offer plenty to build something around I think. Probably the clearer candidate to serve as the Levalle conscience.
Ser Thaddeus:
Mostly added so that there's a defined heir. How his father have sought to mold him is defined, to me, this is a good candidate if you want to play an ambitious schemer, whether up to no good or planning to renovate the reputation of House Levalle.
House Starkwood:
Lord Ulbert:
This guy has plenty of work cut out for him, I don't really have much in the way of thoughts aside from what's already there. I think more of a rock for other people to build their stories around, just like Jon Blackbriar, but Ulbert probably has more going for him.
Ser Symon:
In my head, the defining theme with Symon is the aspirations of a young and talented knight in a world where most of the other knights view him as a half-breed demon that pretends to be one of them. Sounds like potential to me.
Lady Ashara:
I can see one version where she's just a young apprentice array lady being as ladylike and virtuous as any lord would like his daughters to be. I can also see another version where one grabs the journeyman or even master template to additionally give her the stats to go disguising up as a mystery knight, have some fun at the list for a round or three and then mysteriously disappear before the going gets too tough, or at least plan to do that so as to not get unmasked. The latter is what everyone dreads her to be, the former will just have to deal with everyone dreading her to be that way.
Ser Aerion:
Well, we needed a great bastard, didn't we? That alone makes him interesting in my book. Why Starkwood? Because it fits into the tales of Lord Brandon's follies, plus it's a good complicating element to go along with Ulbert's half-Rhoynar brats, so his design is with that in mind. He could be kitted out as a regular young knight without any particular ambitions for himself, or he may have such ambitions, they may be problematic for the other Starkwoods or they may further their cause. Either way, the world will treat him as if he has such ambitions, great bastards doesn't get to run and hide.
Maester Ronnel:
A different spin on the maesters, while most maesters we get to know seems to have become so out of their own desires, not so with Ronnel, he has the brains to do the job, but doesn't like the job very much. There's plenty of ways to go from there. In my head, he isn't disloyal or anything, but probably having "I want to be puppetmaster" tendencies or other vices.
House Starling:
Lord Willem:
For those familiar with dragonsdance, half of the inspiration for creating this guy came from Dunstan. That is at least where I see the appeal, or one playstyle that can make this guy interesting. A bit of a has-been tourney knight, in my head his primary motivation is glory and adventure to his name, only now he's old and sort of have had all of that and doesn't have that much prospects for more. For those unfamiliar with Dunstan, that character was ably played, impulsively jumping at the sign of fighting the good fight, more comfortable having a jolly good drinking time with his comrades than at formal functions. This would be the grown up version of that. I'm sure there's other takes on him as well.
Lady Lysette:
She has her marriage prospects looming ahead of her, and each of the Starlings have NPC notes concerning how they view that matter. While Imry is the only one with a specific plotline to get thrown at him, Lysette comes close in terms of specific challenges, though how the characters view the husband issue may well depend upon who is NPC and who is PC. I plan to make Starling PC's (and others wanting to get involved) work for whatever outcome they desire. Beyond that, I think Lysette has enough to work with. Just be prepared to meet a few NPC's who's scripted to come courting her.
Septa Marei:
Old wise crone. Maybe not overly interesting as a PC, but opens up for a different take on politics, may require a bit more effort to go outside the Starlings to interact with other PC's maybe. One could go creative and make her a spymaster or something.
Maester Marlon:
Included with the Starlings because more than anything, it's a house where a maester would have additional responsibilities. Bracken heritage added to make him more interesting, a player might choose to not make that connection matter to him, but it will matter to other people.
Ser Roland:
Insert young knight, context of being the brother of a lord that is ruled by his wife (and she's a bitch), which may or may not matter. Roland is intended to play up the romantic notions of chivalry for their own sake rather than simply paying lip-service to them as most other knights do, but there's nothing to say he simply does a more convincing lip-service, and have other agenda's. Also an option which doesn't come with as many strings attached as most of the other characters featured here. However, my plans for House Cordwayner could make things very interesting for him as a PC.
Note that the reasons for their inclusion is not necessarily PC-play-ability, I have tried to make them all interesting for players to pick up, but their main purpose is to define the most important characters affiliated with the home houses, all of them will have PC-level statistics, which allows them to step up to the plate if there is no PC in a given house that is strong at a particular field such as combat or intrigue. Narrator attention being more divided than player attention, this is more insurance for when it's really needed rather than an asset that will be active all the time, unless the narrator puts in an unhealthy level of activity.
There are also a number of characters mentioned in passing at the end of each thread, those are also open for taking, some of them may feature in the designs of other NPC's, but none will have any active agenda's of their own as NPC's. They are also typically secondary characters (and commonly just assigned one of the standard NPC templates). Players are free to replace such a character with one of their own making, feel free to change anything you like if taking one of them, or removing them entirely in favor of a new concept edging them out.
House Blackbriar:
Lord Jon:
This guy would be a challenge, I think, obviously not very capable on the martial side of things, obviously no leader, failing to contain Septon Abelar and Lady Shiera. Obviously, there's possibilities for interesting stories around him, but it'll probably be more fun to play as someone else in those stories.
Septon Abelar:
One of the most challenging characters to play, I think. This is not the "I want to play a septon" character, there's room for one of those everywhere else. This is the "I want to play a septon that will preach about fire and brimstone in front of thousands and wants to purge the lands of all impurity and sin" character. It would be incredibly awesome to see that happening as a PC, if not, well of all the characters I've cooked up, the scope of his agenda dwarfs everyone else's, combined.
Lady Erena:
The one unambiguously nice and cheerful person out of the cast, but there isn't really that much to be cheerful about given the place she's been thrown into, welcome to Westeros.
Ser Donnel:
A capable warrior and tactician, has until now been outwardly honorable and loyal to his brother. It is possible to go many ways with him, most in line with my vision would be someone trying to do as best he can to make up for his brother's shortfalls (which for NPC Jon will be quite a handful), but very different paths are also possible.
Lady Shiera:
Her role is that of delivering tension. Descriptions says she throws barbs at Lord Jon and getting away with it, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine that she doesn't like him, or his son, or his wife. Plus she has strapping sons, most likely she had thought the eldest would inherit the lordship as it seemed that Jon had the good manners to die without heirs, but nu-uh. Whether she's just a bitter old woman foul mouthing everyone because she is stranded in a lesser branch at some backwater or there's more to it, who knows?
House Levalle:
Lord Alliser:
Possibly one of the more restricted, but at the same time most open-ended. He cannot afford to not be engaged politically, and he is good at it, but everyone hates his house, so that in itself is a challenge. As an NPC, he's designed to be encouraging for anyone among the Levalle's who feel like plotting and scheming, since it would be wise of him to keep a relatively low profile and retain deniability. His backstory implies lack of moral backbone, but exactly how he gained the favor of Aegon IV is mostly subject to speculation, so he may actually be a nice guy, too.
Ser Imry:
Ah, yes. This one is to a good degree defined in his description already, beyond that, his marriage with Lyanna places additional hooks in him, their relationship is intended to be a major plot point of the story. That plot have one version for both being NPC's and one version for Imry PC. This is perhaps the only one of these characters which I have specific plans for that won't get cancelled if a player picks him, so one should be prepared for that.
Ser Robyn:
I am not adding much here, his background and general competences are broadly defined, as is how the world views him. Under that shell, anything from a true knight like Barristan to a monster like Armory Lorch can reside.
Ser Parmen:
A different take, high birth than Ser Robyn, low pecking order, a bit of a throwback to the commentary in Storm (from Littlefinger I believe) that Lord Mace had a bit of trouble with three sons needing to inherit stuff, and offloading Loras to the Kingsguard (and Garlan getting Brightwater Keep) solved that problem, similar situation here, plus two very noteworthy brothers adding to the motivational package. Should offer plenty to build something around I think. Probably the clearer candidate to serve as the Levalle conscience.
Ser Thaddeus:
Mostly added so that there's a defined heir. How his father have sought to mold him is defined, to me, this is a good candidate if you want to play an ambitious schemer, whether up to no good or planning to renovate the reputation of House Levalle.
House Starkwood:
Lord Ulbert:
This guy has plenty of work cut out for him, I don't really have much in the way of thoughts aside from what's already there. I think more of a rock for other people to build their stories around, just like Jon Blackbriar, but Ulbert probably has more going for him.
Ser Symon:
In my head, the defining theme with Symon is the aspirations of a young and talented knight in a world where most of the other knights view him as a half-breed demon that pretends to be one of them. Sounds like potential to me.
Lady Ashara:
I can see one version where she's just a young apprentice array lady being as ladylike and virtuous as any lord would like his daughters to be. I can also see another version where one grabs the journeyman or even master template to additionally give her the stats to go disguising up as a mystery knight, have some fun at the list for a round or three and then mysteriously disappear before the going gets too tough, or at least plan to do that so as to not get unmasked. The latter is what everyone dreads her to be, the former will just have to deal with everyone dreading her to be that way.
Ser Aerion:
Well, we needed a great bastard, didn't we? That alone makes him interesting in my book. Why Starkwood? Because it fits into the tales of Lord Brandon's follies, plus it's a good complicating element to go along with Ulbert's half-Rhoynar brats, so his design is with that in mind. He could be kitted out as a regular young knight without any particular ambitions for himself, or he may have such ambitions, they may be problematic for the other Starkwoods or they may further their cause. Either way, the world will treat him as if he has such ambitions, great bastards doesn't get to run and hide.
Maester Ronnel:
A different spin on the maesters, while most maesters we get to know seems to have become so out of their own desires, not so with Ronnel, he has the brains to do the job, but doesn't like the job very much. There's plenty of ways to go from there. In my head, he isn't disloyal or anything, but probably having "I want to be puppetmaster" tendencies or other vices.
House Starling:
Lord Willem:
For those familiar with dragonsdance, half of the inspiration for creating this guy came from Dunstan. That is at least where I see the appeal, or one playstyle that can make this guy interesting. A bit of a has-been tourney knight, in my head his primary motivation is glory and adventure to his name, only now he's old and sort of have had all of that and doesn't have that much prospects for more. For those unfamiliar with Dunstan, that character was ably played, impulsively jumping at the sign of fighting the good fight, more comfortable having a jolly good drinking time with his comrades than at formal functions. This would be the grown up version of that. I'm sure there's other takes on him as well.
Lady Lysette:
She has her marriage prospects looming ahead of her, and each of the Starlings have NPC notes concerning how they view that matter. While Imry is the only one with a specific plotline to get thrown at him, Lysette comes close in terms of specific challenges, though how the characters view the husband issue may well depend upon who is NPC and who is PC. I plan to make Starling PC's (and others wanting to get involved) work for whatever outcome they desire. Beyond that, I think Lysette has enough to work with. Just be prepared to meet a few NPC's who's scripted to come courting her.
Septa Marei:
Old wise crone. Maybe not overly interesting as a PC, but opens up for a different take on politics, may require a bit more effort to go outside the Starlings to interact with other PC's maybe. One could go creative and make her a spymaster or something.
Maester Marlon:
Included with the Starlings because more than anything, it's a house where a maester would have additional responsibilities. Bracken heritage added to make him more interesting, a player might choose to not make that connection matter to him, but it will matter to other people.
Ser Roland:
Insert young knight, context of being the brother of a lord that is ruled by his wife (and she's a bitch), which may or may not matter. Roland is intended to play up the romantic notions of chivalry for their own sake rather than simply paying lip-service to them as most other knights do, but there's nothing to say he simply does a more convincing lip-service, and have other agenda's. Also an option which doesn't come with as many strings attached as most of the other characters featured here. However, my plans for House Cordwayner could make things very interesting for him as a PC.