Advice maybe?

[Nightwoe]

Over the weekend I brainstormed some elements of interest for my NPC, Gwen. My inspiration? Dexter on Netflix

Anyway, somethings been bothering me lately. It's kind of like chewing the same old gum for several days...I'm sick of it, but I can't throw it away. I was thinking of going in a direction with Irenicus taking interest in Gwen's disposition...but the more I think about it, the more I think it might kind of steal the plot away from the PC, which is the last thing I want to do. Gwen should be a strong supporting character, not the center of attention. Yet, I can't help but think that Irenicus' character would take interest in such an oddity; a girl with two personalities, seemingly two entities in one conscious mind. At the same time, I think of his desire for revenge and his focus on stealing the PCs soul. From my perspective on the games flow, Irenicus feels pressed for time. Even if he were intrigued, I'm not sure if he would have time/let himself be distracted by an intriguing, but irrelevant subject.

 

I was hoping to get some feed back on these thoughts, as I am torn between the decision. I welcome any feedback at all. Please.

[cmorgan]

I'd save that energy and interest for other NPCs, rather than Irenicus. He is an elf on a mission, and shows no interest in the other NPCs (except for Imoen, who he uses as a test run for PC).

 

I think you would have more fun expanding that idea between NPCs, giving you more room.

[berelinde]

There are other evil mages who might find Gwen's dual nature interesting. Tolgeiras, Teos, Jarlaxle, Mekrath (especially him, since he's a research mage by nature). Any of those would work.

[Kulyok]

A mage who is taking interest in your NPC's dual nature? That's a perfect start for a (long or short) NPC quest. But I wouldn't use Irenicus or anyone from the vanilla game - stealing spotlight aside, compatibility problems may occur. If you create your own mage(Or a rogue from Sigil? A lost spirit from Arborea? Firkraag's cousin? A corrupted half-elven sorcerer from Evermeet?) who is hunting Gwen for whatever reason, not only it leaves you free to write whatever you want without accounting for death variables, moving globals, dialogue states and interjection points, it gives you more artistic freedom, too.

[Zireael07]

I'd create a new character and make him (or her) a member of Cowled Wizards...

 

@ Berelinde: You can kill Mekrath and Tolgerias during the game. Jarlaxle is not a wizard. I don't remember who Teos is...

[Senka]

I don't remember who Teos is...

He is Cowled Wizard from mage stronghold.

[phordicus]

would "they" have thought of her as having two personalities? i think that's some modern pseudo-psychology unique to our era.

 

do you have a story about how this split occurred, such as emotional trauma? i think if you can come up with the source, the aftereffects may present themselves naturally.

 

i also keep thinking of demon possession. maybe somewhere in her bloodline a mage cleverly broke a deal with a demon/devil and that demon/devil has been trying to corrupt the progeny ever since? i dunno.

[Zireael07]

would "they" have thought of her as having two personalities? i think that's some modern pseudo-psychology unique to our era.

 

do you have a story about how this split occurred, such as emotional trauma? i think if you can come up with the source, the aftereffects may present themselves naturally.

 

i also keep thinking of demon possession. maybe somewhere in her bloodline a mage cleverly broke a deal with a demon/devil and that demon/devil has been trying to corrupt the progeny ever since? i dunno.

 

Demon possession is a brilliant idea. And one easily explainable and understandable in the game world.

[Nightwoe]

Thank you all very much for the input, it really helps me sort the pieces together

I've re-written her back story about five times. Here's what I have so far on my most recent re-write. It's a bit thick at the moment...

 

Origin: Gwen was born into a rich, well off family. When she was still very young, her father was in a social war with another wealthy family, the Leurrels, and more directly, Markus Leurrel. Her father, Heremin,caught up in the escalating rivalry between the families, made a rash decision to arrange their downfall. His ploy was successful, and his rival’s influence crumbled along with his wealth. Markus Leurrel, consumed by hatred and desire for revenge, maliciously plotted against Gwen’s father. Leurrel knew Heremin had only a single daughter and no wife, but curiously, his daughter was hardly ever seen outside of the family mansion. After months of calling upon owed favors and sketchy contacts, Leurrel learned Heremin’s secret: His daughter had a disease of the mind. Leurrel began to research the disease, learning as much as he could in the shortest time span.

 

“An incredibly rare and bizarre disease of the mind that is marked by a subject seeming to have more than a single consciousness. In other words, the subject appears to have two distinctly different personas that think and act differently.â€

 

He further learned that there was only one case known in current records of a subject with two personas able to co-exist in the same consciousness. In other words, instead of one persona being conscious and the other being unconscious at any given time, BOTH personas are ALWAYS in a state of consciousness,resulting in the subject being able to COMMUNICATE with the other persona,simply by the passing of their thoughts through their shared mind. Because both personas think differently, this is very close to the equivalent of two like-minded people having conversation.

 

It was decided by the Church that this particular case was extremely dangerous, determined by documentation of the personas personalities. The first was that of a joyful youth, innocent and fond of games, what anyone would expect of a child. The other,however, was a startling surprise. The second personality was dark and seemed to poses wisdom beyond the subject’s years. It was poetic, quiet, and had problems controlling anger to the point of violence. The second persona was attributed to that of a sociopath, but lacked the blatant anti-sociality. Surprisingly,both personas seemed to get along very well.

 

This “specialâ€subject was Heremin’s daughter, Gwen. What began as intrigue became a twisted plot for revenge. If Heremin’s daughter was crazy AND sociopathic, how difficult would it be to manipulate the child to kill her father? For over a year, Leurrel entertained the idea, mulled it over in his mind, and weighed the realities and possibilities. It would be far simpler to just hire a thug to take care of Heremin, but what if they traced it back to him? Could he really turn Gwen against her father? And even if he could, how long would it take?

[phordicus]

being totally serious, have you considered writing this out as a novella? it's already so precise and detailed, i'm not sure she could be wedged into a world where she isn't the major influence on events. oh, wait. that's the dilemma you want help with.

 

try this. write as much of her plot and dialog as possible without referencing her background at all until you can go no further without it. right now i can't think of a way to implement it without it railroading the PC along.

 

[edit] could you get through the SoA part with only hints as to her dual nature? i think between SoA & ToB would be an ideal time to jump into a full-fledged investigation of her plot.

[Nightwoe]

being totally serious, have you considered writing this out as a novella? it's already so precise and detailed, i'm not sure she could be wedged into a world where she isn't the major influence on events. oh, wait. that's the dilemma you want help with.

 

try this. write as much of her plot and dialog as possible without referencing her background at all until you can go no further without it. right now i can't think of a way to implement it without it railroading the PC along.

 

[edit] could you get through the SoA part with only hints as to her dual nature? i think between SoA & ToB would be an ideal time to jump into a full-fledged investigation of her plot.

 

Thanx for the advice ^_^ After working through everything, I came up with a perfect, not over-the-top with detail, not story influencing plot for Gwen ^_^ BUT she will still be an interesting character. Thank you all!