Post by friartook on Aug 13, 2015 20:39:25 GMT
Should I retcon the envelope and lesson those ties? I can change things at this point because it was just a pilot.
How should I help him determine a backstory that will fit his character, and not breed distrust with the other players until he fills them in that he is working for the Prince? Keep in mind that subtlety will simply not work.
I guess what I'm really looking for are potential backstories for a monk/agent of the Prince that will be exciting and fun for him to roleplay, but not give him too much room to get into trouble. One that the PCs can have fun *helping* him uphold once they are brought in on his true identity (which I plan to happen on the very soon end, to avoid the trust issues).
I'd stonewall the "connection" he is trying to create due to logistical timing of his character's age and the "widow's", and out of respect for the other player's character concept (I think I'm reading it correct that said player was not there for any of this, and couldn't speak up on their own). Just tell him straight up, "No, the timing doesn't work for that connection to be true." If you have to, have that conversation privately. Let him know you're not trying to step on his character idea, just trying to keep narrative continuity. Stress that the timing wasn't created by you, but by the other player's concept, and that you want to respect that and keep things realistic. You could mention that it's kind of an "unspoken rule of RPG etiquette" that one should ask another player before inserting connections to their back story.
As for the the trust issues, I wouldn't force that one either. His character concept is untrustworthy. You say he's got a bad cover story. Fine. That will make it obvious he's lying about who he is and that will (hopefully) come out in RP. Maybe his character is a spy, but just not a very good spy. He's been trained and he's close to the royal family, but secretly all his teachers and superiors know he's bad at his job. They can't kick him out because of his royal friendship, but they want rid of him so he can't mess anything important up. Perhaps that's why he got sent on the "mercy mission" to a wild continent in the first place: to get him out of the way. He can maintain the "illusions of grandeur" that he's a trusted and important spy; he doesn't need to know. Maybe this all comes out when the real ambassador agent shows up, and tells him the hard truth.
I've seen characters change and evolve from initial concept over the course of a game. The player starts with one concept, but then plays another way, and that becomes the real concept. If he's bad at playing a spy then his character is going to be a bad spy, and that could be awesome! Without him being on board, you risk having one pissed off player, especially if he takes his concept really serious. But that can work too; his anger can then be transferred to very real anger in his character, and the RP can get real!
As a stop-gap, perhaps tell one of the former DMs about this issue, letting them in on the character's background so he can assist with RPing the potential reveal. A little player collusion can help a lot in a situation like this.
