|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 11:38:46 GMT -5
desertman ok well since some of us wouldnt know the char tell us abt (or show us with logs) ur fave pk with that char if u dont have good pks with that char tell us abt one of the scariest/skinofurteeth experiences with him I actually killed very few people. The ones I did kill I was never happy about having to kill them. They almost always forced my hand in some way or another.
I had a lot of interesting scenes with this character. It's hard to remember all of them honestly. (If anyone wants to jar my memory about something you recall I would be more than happy to explain myself/Locke or give more details you might want.)
I recall this one time I had this girl named Thorn who came in to be trained as an assassin, or a "Lurker" as Locke called them in the T'zai Byn. Training "Lurkers" took a lot of Locke's personal time. It was also a substantial personal coin investment for him to train them right. He personally provided them with poisons/cures etc and so forth to work on the poisoning etc. Anyhow, the deal was if you wanted to be trained as a Lurker, Locke got you for a minimum of three Trooper years after the fact, and if you broke that deal Locke killed you. Well, this girl Thorn agreed to this up front but after an IC year or so of training she decided to leave for reasons I can't recall now. She had a lesbian mate in the T'zai Byn, whom I liked but sadly can't recall her name either (I'm sorry, you know who you are, you were great). So anyhow, Thorn gets ready to leave and let's Locke know she has to go. Locke of course reminds her of their bargain. He doesn't want to kill her. He didn't want to harm any of his people, ever, if he could help it. He liked her personally on top of that. So he took Thorn, another Sergeant as a witness, and Thorn's mate to a backroom in the compound.
He then stripped her of any of her valuable gear to compensate him for his personal time and expenses he spent on her. He then gave her a choice, I believe it was that she could pay him back 2,000 coins for his time and expenses since her gear wasn't worth much, he would give her an IC day to come up with the money, OR, he would cut off her pinky finger as a reminder to anyone who looked on her to not break deals with him.
As far as breaking a deal basically signed in blood with Locke, it was a very light punishment. She didn't have the money and couldn't get it. So, she agreed with much fear and very well roleplayed trepidation to have Locke take one of her pinky fingers.
Locke then knocked her unconciouss with a blow to the back of the neck so she wouldn't have to suffer more than was necessary. He cut her pinky off while she was out and bandaged it for her.
The entire time her mate had to sit there and watch. Her mate was one of Locke's Troopers. She wasn't brought in out of cruelty to "make her watch". She was brought in out of kindness. Locke didn't want her to feel that he had mistreated or needlessly tortured Thorn. He wanted to make absolutely sure everyone important to the situation knew he wasn't mistreating one of his own, and never would. It was important to him.
Thorn's mate sat through the whole thing and was very understanding about it.
Locke gave the girl her finger and sent her on her way when she woke back up.
A few IC weeks later he realized one of the mount tickets he had taken off of her went to her pet escru. (No idea where she got it.)
He gave it back to her in the street since she was fond of it.
If I recall correctly I believe she went on to join the Guild but was killed in less than IC year after leaving.
I don't remember what exactly happened to her mate, I just recall I really liked her.
|
|
jkarr
GDB Superstar
Posts: 2,070
|
Post by jkarr on Oct 28, 2016 11:48:11 GMT -5
If I recall correctly I believe she went on to join the Guild but was killed in less than IC year after leaving. thems the breaks I don't remember what exactly happened to her mate, I just recall I really liked her. was she the byn version of one of those lone huntress types u talk abt wanting to see more of |
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 11:53:19 GMT -5
Another interesting tale of his I recall.
Shortly after he became a Sergeant he was taken to a backroom in the Oashi compound along with one of his Runners. I want to say the Runner was named Tal/Tak, something like that (sorry man, long time).
This very cruel but very well played Oashi Lord was under the impression Locke let his own Sergeant, Sefaj Blackbolt die in battle so that Locke could take over command. This wasn't the case but Locke didn't tell the Lord that. Locke would let the Lord believe whatever he wanted.
(Fun fact. Early on Locke was never meant to be a Sergeant. I liked Sefaj and my only goal was to be the best right-hand-man ever. It was even my coded objective when I typed score. "Be the best right hand man for Sefaj.", or something like that.)
This Lord apparently had it in his mind that he and Locke were "the same". Both cruel and self-centered and this meant he wanted to give work to Locke. (Such a well played psycho character this guy was. Kudos man.)
Locke was instructed to bring this specific Runner with him. Locke had no idead why and neither did the Runner.
They get to this backroom and the noble is there behind a desk with their guards if I remember correctly. In a corner of the room there is a barrel of water.
The noble told Locke he had to hold the Runner's head under water.
Locke knew that this was a cruel man who would absolutely enjoy more than anything watching Locke suffer if he thought he could make Locke suffer. Locke was in his Runner's mind and assured him that he wouldn't kill him, no matter what, but he couldn't show any weakness in the situation or they would both die in this compound today. (Locke would have fought and died there and then before killing this Runner for something like this. It was just who he was.)
The Runner was a champ and trusted Locke. If the Runner had struggled or put up a fight it would likely have ended bad for both of them.
Locke, without batting an eye, grabbed the Runner's hair and never breaking eye contact with the noble held the Runner's head under the water.
It took a while, but eventually the Runner lost consciousness and passed out. Locke never so much as flinched. He couldn't afford to for both of their sakes. If he did, he knew this cruel noble would have absolutely made Locke drown the Runner to death just to watch the emotional suffering thereafter.
When the Runner lost consciousness and it became apparent "Locke didn't care about Runners.", the noble let them both leave the compound. Locke went on to get work from the noble but I can't remember what the jobs were. I just know it was profitable.
Locke gave the Runner a bonus of five small if I remember correctly for "doing a good job". Locke felt very guilty about doing what he had to do.
A couple of IC months later this Runner came to Locke and quietly told him in private that he had manifested into a Whiran. He begged Locke not to report him, but he couldn't lie to Locke because he respected him.
Locke told him, "We never had this conversation. You left on good terms. Give me your gear. Never come back to Allanak. I don't even remember who you are.".
The Runner thanked Locke and went on his way. Locke never spoke to him again and never reported him.
|
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 11:53:50 GMT -5
If I recall correctly I believe she went on to join the Guild but was killed in less than IC year after leaving. thems the breaks I don't remember what exactly happened to her mate, I just recall I really liked her. was she the byn version of one of those lone huntress types u talk abt wanting to see more of No she was a warrior/"A heavy", in Locke's unit. |
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 11:55:45 GMT -5
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed him. 
He was in a lot of ways my play on being a Dungeon Master for the people below me through a PC who had an IC reason to fill that role. I loved taking people, especially new people, and showing them a good time with this PC.
So uh, how do you feel about DMing something online for some of us? I'm open to doing this sometime if enough people are interested. For now though I'm probably too busy to do it well honestly. I have a tabletop group I meet with on my Saturdays to DM for them and work has been chaos lately.
I do have a partially built world on Roll20 though that I want to get back to dabbling in. If I ever get back to finishing it and making it "player ready" I will post here.
|
|
seuly
Clueless newb
Posts: 103
|
Post by seuly on Oct 28, 2016 12:05:29 GMT -5
I maybe, but not like 100% sure, think, I remember Locke having run into him elsewheres outside Latrine-Lickers.
|
|
dcdc
Shartist
Posts: 539
|
Post by dcdc on Oct 28, 2016 12:33:19 GMT -5
Over the course of his life he was poisoned 9 times by staff animated/ran creatures or NPC's. Two of those were peraine.
I was there for one of thoses, Rose Shelled Mantis I think was the sdesc of that particular staff animation. Mantis Valley was fun times. |
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 14:06:11 GMT -5
Over the course of his life he was poisoned 9 times by staff animated/ran creatures or NPC's. Two of those were peraine.
I was there for one of thoses, Rose Shelled Mantis I think was the sdesc of that particular staff animation. Mantis Valley was fun times. Yeah, he tangled with mantis more than a few times, always staff animated.
(Fun fact, I note "staff animated" because anytime Locke battled something that was staff animated I counted it as "being in a battle", as opposed to just being in a fight or day-to-day "work". As anyone who has ever been involved in a staff animated battle knows, you never fight just one thing....you fight a dozen or more things. It's just how it is. I tried keeping track early on of how many "battles" Locke had been in and directed, because I like numbers and stats. I lost track somewhere around 50 - 60 and just started saying "about fifty" in game, if it came up. I lost track when Locke was still a Byn Sergeant. It was probably triple that by the end of his life.)
The final straw for fighting mantis though came when he was on a mission there in the early days of Darkmoon with his unit. The mission details aren't important, but the battle was really something else.
He was shot, per usual during this encounter.
Getting shot by staff animated "things" and being picked out of large groups had become such a common occurrence that it was an IC joke amongst him and his underlings. Heejo in particular who had been there for most of Locke's life and had seen him get singled out repeatedly often laughed with him about it.....after the wounds healed. Heejo would often joke in the end that, "The best thing Locke can do for us is just stay home, because when he goes anywhere with us, the entire Known comes alive to try and kill us."....He was right.
Locke retreated with his people (not losing a single man mind you) to an outpost outside of the mantis valley. The mantis didn't leave their valley, and seemingly didn't attack this outpost....until today.
Locke and his men were holed up licking their wounds after a hard fought battle when something popped up to the affect of:
You hear distant chittering which seems to be growing closer and louder.
I'm pretty sure someone said, "Oh shit.", it might have been Locke hehe.
In short order the mantis were literally crawling over the walls of the outpost to kill us. They came through the gates, climbed the walls, and rushed us.
They were attacking mounts, everything. We had no choice but to fall back on foot, and we did.
But where are we going to fall back to? There's nothing to fall back to in that area. We were already in the "fall back spot".
So, we did what we had to do. Locke led a slow dogged retreat on foot back to Allanak. We were attacked by mantis the entire way. They chased us and fought us halfway across the Known world, basically, trying to kill us.
Locke and his men made it back to Allanak's gates and we somehow managed to not lose anyone but more than one had reached "near death" that day.
It was after this battle that Locke swore that he would never again see the mantis valley, no matter how much money was offered, and he didn't.
(I sent kudos to the staff that directed this encounter because even though we almost all died and it was a heart-attack inducing adrenaline rush of worry, it was beautifully done. Just enough to really challenge us and make us all genuinely concerned about death, but not so much that it was just a "clan wipe".)
|
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 14:34:45 GMT -5
Oh that reminds me. Speaking of Heejo I recall previously a handful of people posted being upset about the fact Locke wouldn't take elves into his unit. They felt I did this for OOC reasons related to not liking elf players or elf PC's.
Not true. This was done specifically and entirely for IC reasons related to Heejo.
Heejo was Locke's most trusted friend. He had been with Locke since the very beginning. He was a Runner for Locke early on. He went on to be Locke's First Trooper. Finally he went on to be a co-Sergeant with Locke. He then went on later to help Locke form Darkmoon and help him create/lead it.
Heejo saw pretty much every major battle and encounter Locke was in. Heejo saved Locke's life more times than I can count. Without Heejo Locke's story would have been incredibly short actually. Locke saved Heejo in return more than a few times, but, Heejo was Locke's rock and in a lot of ways Heejo is what held everything together. Heejo was a fair bit younger than Locke and Locke considered him to be the son he never had.
Locke only ever had one child that he never knew (I won't say more than that, but it was IC with another PC), and never had a mate. Locke's family were the people who chose to follow him into hell on a daily basis, and Heejo was head and shoulders above the rest on this list. (The rest of you were great too though.)
Anyhow, back to why Locke wouldn't take elf PC's. It wasn't that I didn't like elf players or elf PC's, it was that Heejo couldn't tolerate elves, and to Locke, Heejo was worth more than every elf life in the entire Known combined ten times over.
In Heejo's backstory some elves really wronged him and his family in a terrible way. (I won't say more than that. Heejo's player can fill you in more if he chooses. All I will say is it was horrifically bad.)
When Heejo was still young in The Byn he came to Locke and told Locke that he had to leave the T'zai Byn because he had to go into the Rinth and settle a score. He wouldn't break Locke's rule about going into the Rinth, so he had to leave to take care of this business. Locke didn't want to see Heejo go get dead. Locke told him that there was no reason to leave The Byn. Heejo was "one of his" and that if there was a score to be settled Locke would personally hire his own entire unit to go kill every elf in the Rinth if that's what needed to happen.
This got Heejo to stay. Heejo had already shown his worth several times and Locke knew that this man was the sort that would break his back for you out of loyalty.
So in the end, it was "hire elves and create a hostile environment for/with/against his most trusted friend who he owed his life to countless times over", or, not hire elves.
That's why Locke didn't hire elves, but he never told anyone that IC, because it wasn't anyone's business.
Heejo was worth it too.
|
|
tekit
staff puppet account
Posts: 1 
|
Post by tekit on Oct 28, 2016 15:35:20 GMT -5
So if this is an ask/tell sort of thing -
I started playing Armageddon very recently, and I'm wondering what makes a convincing, entertaining character (one that people remember fondly like you mention), especially when it comes to the Byn?
|
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 16:04:11 GMT -5
So if this is an ask/tell sort of thing - I started playing Armageddon very recently, and I'm wondering what makes a convincing, entertaining character (one that people remember fondly like you mention), especially when it comes to the Byn? Since you are asking me specifically I will give you my opinion on it. This opinion won't be the same for everyone and there are people who will likely disagree with me, but, you asked me, so:
A) Make sure your character is a real person with real emotions related to actual things that have happened to them in the game. Early on this will not be so easy because really, nothing has "happened" to you yet. As time goes on this will get easier. Don't get discouraged. This is just the way things work. The only way to get those memories and shared stories and emotions with other characters is to be present and have experiences. Over time you will develop so many connections, shared stories, and shared emotions about events with other characters that your PC will go from being a "game character" to being their own real person.
B) Remember this is a video game. Few people play video games to lose. If you are a leader for example, create situations that allow your underlings to actually practice their skills on their skill lists beyond the basic training schedule. Why? Because that schedule really only helps warriors, but you are going to have more than warriors. Also, your warriors are going to branch skills they will ALSO want to practice that fall outside of the standard warrior skill list. ALSO, with new extended sub-guilds in place you never know what your people have that they want to train. It is important to be a "real person", but it also important to remember "this is a video game", and incorporate things into what you do with your people that make video games fun. For example, getting better at your character skills in a realistic way. Also, people like to achieve. You need to create levels of achievement for your people and give them set goals to reach in order to obtain those achievements. There are set achievements already in the T'zai Byn, but you can take this to whole new levels if you are crafty enough and create your own achievements and goals for your underlings to strive for. In my experience people really enjoy this. Just make sure the reward is worth the bar you set to ensure it isn't impossible or underwhelming for them when they go after that goal.
C) Be available. I have seen so many people who play who want to be online one or two nights a week but want everyone to care about them or involve them. Really, if you want to be a "truly great" character, it's almost a second job. I recommend putting in at least four to six nights a week. If you are a leader, five to six nights a week minimum in my opinion. If you get offered a leader position and you can't put in this kind of time, if you want to be truly great, I recommend passing up the promotion and letting someone else take it. You can be a pretty good right hand man on three to four nights a week. You can be a fair underling on a couple of nights a week. Less than that and in all honesty you might as well not even exist in my opinion, but that's my opinion. You are just going to be the random who shows up that people keep thinking died already.
D) If you are a leader and you are online then that is your chance to break up the schedule for your underlings. It doesn't matter what you do, but do something different with them. If you have free time and they are around when you are, go do things with them that aren't necessarily on the schedule. The schedule is their auto-pilot for when you aren't around to shake things up. You are a leader. It is your job in my opinion to create more interesting situations and entertainment for your underlings than the auto-pilot schedule affords.
E) BE AVAILABLE. I can't stress this enough. This is the single most important thing you can do. I would argue that if you are available, even if you aren't the greatest player, people with gravitate to you because you are a dependable source of interaction. This will create stories for you, and for them, and people remember being a part of your story. People don't enjoy you because, "They heard about you every now and then.". They enjoy your character because, "I shared so many good times with them.". You can't share a lot of good times with people if you are never around.
F) BE AVAILBLE.
G) Ask your underlings what it is they are hoping to accomplish then actually try to help them accomplish it if you can and if it is IC for your PC to do so. I would sit people down after they became Troopers and ask them, "What's your goal?", and if they would share it with me, I would see what I could do in order to help them on that path. If people think you care about their characters, they usually end up caring about your character.
H) Don't show your entire hand. What I mean by this is that I see many people who show up on day one and say, "This is my entire story.", and it really is their entire story. Don't do that. People enjoy characters who have a bit of mystery about them. It's fine to have a bit of mystery about your character and I recommend it. You don't need to show up and give your entire backstory. Keep some secrets for yourself and on occasion drop in new hints and tidbits with people your character trusts. It keeps you interesting and keeps you from becoming stale. At first you will do this with bits of your backstory. Eventually you will have actual things that have happened to you IC that are much more interesting to put in your box of "mysterious mysteries" for you to entertain people with/for people to find out about you.
(This turned into a "How to play a good leader.", dialogue. Sorry about that. But, most people who are remembered fondly in my experience were people who were leaders and not just your everyday "guy/gal".)
Not sure how deep you want me to go with this, but I can give examples if you like of how I did this with Locke.
|
|
|
|
Post by lyse on Oct 28, 2016 16:28:03 GMT -5
That was a really good time to be in the Byn. I appreciate everything that you did in your time with Koman. You kept things going and there was always something to do or a job to go on.
Kudos to you. Its special times like that, that make people want to play the game and when they're not like that, the game seems a little bit of a lesser version of itself.
|
|
argle
staff puppet account
Posts: 17
|
Post by argle on Oct 28, 2016 16:46:42 GMT -5
Not sure how deep you want me to go with this, but I can give examples if you like of how I did this with Locke.
As another new player, they'd be very appreciated. Effective leadership in a game like this (or even in real life) is hard to get right, and it sounds like you really had it together. More please! |
|
|
|
Post by desertman on Oct 28, 2016 16:57:17 GMT -5
That was a really good time to be in the Byn. I appreciate everything that you did in your time with Koman. You kept things going and there was always something to do or a job to go on. Kudos to you. Its special times like that, that make people want to play the game and when they're not like that, the game seems a little bit of a lesser version of itself. Thank you so much. |
|
|
|
Post by gloryhound on Oct 28, 2016 18:49:18 GMT -5
I remember Koman Locke from more than one character.
One was a Whiran determined to make his way as a merchant. Until he got outed by a gemmed Whiran in the Gaj and had to take the gem himself. I'd created the character with the intent of pursuing a "moonwheel", namely a caravan device that allowed a pilot to look up when and which moons would be up at night on a given month/date.
No such device actually existed in the game, it was just a McGuffin. I figured the chance the staff would look on and actually create one was about zero.
Nevertheless, even after being outed, he raised coin and hired the Byn (i.e. Koman and Armali) to try to help him find it. Sent them out into the Salt Flats to look for a ruined wagon surrounded by salt-encrusted skeletons (which had since abruptly disappeared). Was escorted by them down into the system of caverns north of Allanak on a rumor that one of the caravaneers had fled there with a piece of it. Armali made him pay through the nose for that contract (9000 coins) and it was clear the Byn strongly resented being in the employ of a gemmed.
I think the staff immediately changed the sinkhole to not allow ready surface access after that. The feeling that the staff was working against me in an impersonal way, the sorta-semi-unnaturalness of the Byn hiring out to a gemmer, and the isolation (never had intended to become a gemmed) convinced me to not continue the plot, so I stored.
Koman was great, though. Best time to be in the Byn since the days of Lt. Raul.
|
|
