IT'S TAGGING TIME TODAY DAMMIT help me rev up my brain

16, 18, 20

(For Z.)

16. What scenarios do you like playing out best with them? Oooh so much is fun with him. Getting to Dad at people with all the fraught history and tangled emotions there; pushing him out of his comfort zone into something that's actually, like, fun, and seeing how that either works or doesn't

playing out Paladin Shit is more fun than i ever through it would be tbh, on a purely nerdy level (translating ttrp mechanics in pure prose rp is Enrichment For My Brain) and being able to delve DEEP into what that magic looks like, how it shapes his perspective, how it changes when he damns himself

also love him getting to argue with people because it's either a really good dialogue - he genuinely wants to understand where people are coming from, he's pretty insightful, he's willing to concede if they make a good point -

OR it's hilariously bitchy

SOMETIMES IT'S BOTH

18. Ideally, what would you like to accomplish with them for their character development or experiences? What game would you like to play out with them? Look the moment I MADE a Zerxus journal I was like "if I actually play this man I've got to app him to TLV" like come on

it's been just as compelling and heartbreaking and lovely as i expected

but the thing with zerxus is - you can get him to change his approach, you can get him to heal in certain ways on an emotional level (and i love EVERY WAY that's happened both in-game and PSLs) and maybe curb some of his more self-destructive habits

(or alternatively make them worse THAT'S ALSO FUN)

but this man was betrayed by the Ultimate Betrayer, in a way that almost doomed the world and DID kill most of his friends and plunge exandria into centuries of war that only a third of the population survived.

and none of that changed his mind

...Z 10

i'm not gonna say it's UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE for any rp development to finally make him go "hmm. should probably take the l on this" BUT IT'LL TAKE A WHOLE LOT

Jedao is currently not arguing with him because he's pretty sure the stubbornness is downstream of emotional sunk cost fallacy and he has to get happier first

that is certainly part of it

did my phone want to autocorrect that to emotional suck cost fallacy? yes

sdkfdsl;fsd

JEDAO -

kahl meanwhile has simply resolved to rescue him against his will :}

elias: /secret fistbump

20. What do you really not want to happen when you play them? What scenarios would you like to avoid? What character development pitfalls do you not want to fall into? LMAO I guess I touched on some of that last one already - if he ever makes that decision I want to be sure it's earned. As for what I want to fully avoid...not anything specific really

if he still wants to save and redeem Asmodeus then he has to forgive and want to re-redeem kahl too even if kahl murders him. it's foolproof

i mean kahl's got him there, he would not for a second consider anything else

kahl, gone Babyface: I'm sowwy

Asmodeus: still dead

OH and I just want to always make sure that Above Mechanic Nonsense adds to the fun for everyone instead of detracting

Zerxus: You shouldn't apologise unless you mean it :|

(zerxus slipping into the admiral's DMs like)

Kahl: I'm sorry you're an idiot

kahl being willing to eat the devil's heart for zerxus and also just constantly trash talking him is /chefs kiss

I LOVE IT NGL

10. When fixing a problem, do they prioritize speed or efficiency? Do they worry about making sure the problem doesn't resurface after it's been fixed? Definitely efficiency unless things have got Really Desperate and acting quickly is objectively more important. And in that case he'd really prefer to examine the aftermath

this is a guy who thinks about unintended consequences and collateral damage. in a city of wizards. this is why he is stressed every minute of his life

and I feel like his very particular priorities clashed a LOT with fellow knights. which was more of a problem before he was literally in charge of all them but is still Fraught

ARGUE WITH B MORE

though lbr the peak bitchy potential is obi-wan once he settles slightly lol

Kahl and Elias someday just constantly meeting up to high five. kahl is like 'do you want to switch gods' and elias is like 'nope' kahl 'okay have a nice day'

Zerxus: do I get a choice -

both of them: NO