I think (from the perspective of Nilis) it could be like joining an existing group with "that guy" - he comes as part of the package and you don't have to like him

but then I think there's only one of us she does like, and then only because she already likes his god...

Honestly, to me it seems like a flimsy excuse on your part so that you'll have an excuse to bully the new PC as much as you possibly can without consequences. An excuse that Morlan holds on to as hard as he can in spite of contradicting evidence from both Gelon and herself.

Where did you even get the idea that she must be a spy for Szass Tam? If he was so afraid that someone would rescue Gelon, don't you think he would either have added lots of undead guards, or moved Gelon? Why would anyone use a tiefling as a spy instead of a human or more innocuous race? Why wouldn't Tam have better uses for a spy, like in the field? Wouldn't he use a tiefling spy against a conjuror like Nevron?

Another factor is a 'meta' one. I don't make characters who behave as Morlan has for the same reason I don't put an evil infiltrator into a primarily good-aligned campaign, or create a character who kills off all the other PCs and steals their stuff. I don't do that because it destroys party cohesion and harms the game.

Why do you feel that it's OK to abuse other party members? Or is it Morlan and only Morlan who gets to decide who's a party member and who isn't?

I feel I ought to respond to that list of allegations too, so bear with me...

So far, he has:

threatened to put her back in Tam's cells,
Yes, as part of the initial interrogation. He didn't mean it, but of course she had no way of knowing that. Entirely deliberate.

attempted to interrogate her,
Yes, but that's what he does when he finds new people in suspicious circumstances. It's just that he prefers to check them out rather than just blindly accept them.

repeatedly insulted Mellonion for disagreeing with Morlan,
Not about you.

repeatedly insulted her...
I'm having trouble finding evidence of this one.

jumped across planes of existence and tried hard to get his friends to come too because she came up with some idea about a library,
Again, not about you.

failed to leave notice of which plane he was actually on as he claimed he would do,
What are you, his mother?

deliberately separated her from someone from whom she shares a common enemy (Gelon) -- and doesn't even care about Gelon's opinion on the matter,
True on both counts.

and is now lying to her (though Nilis is currently unaware of the last).
Also true, but I've explained why.

............

Okay, that's my side. Now, how about you explain why you get so worked up about Morlan and what he does or says. It seems you don't like it when you don't get your way. That's going to present some problems unless we can find a way to get around it.

I'm sensing that this is an OOC issue for you, not an IC one. Am I wrong?

Off to muay thai but...

The two of you are too similar. You both assume everything revolves around you. Will someone recognise me? Are they spying on me?

"Demonspawn" all over the narrative.



My read on that scene is along the lines of 'Nilis got an idea, and some of the others like it too, so Morlan feels compelled to do everything he can to sabotage it.'



Your response speaks for itself.

Despite your claims of how well Morlan treats his 'friends,' he doesn't care about Gelon's opinion, and was quick to turn on Mellonion once the priest disagreed with him. Not making any effort to inform them, after saying he would do so, shows what he really felt about Mellonion and Box, not just Nilis.




Being completely IC, Nilis would have left the party by this point. There is absolutely no reason for her to put up with Morlan's treatment of her. Mellonion claimed that it was just a case of an initial meeting not going well, and Morlan is actually all right people, so Nilis decided to give this group a try. Nilis has come to disagree with Mel's assessment.

I think you know what you're doing. Your most recent questions imply that you're attempting to claim I'm being overly emotional by reacting at all to Morlan's continuously belittling, abusive behavior, or that my IC/OOC separation is somehow lacking, or that I desire dominance, when in fact it's Morlan who's going to absurd extremes to try to be dominant.

If you say 'it's IC,' it gives you an excuse to behave as abusively toward a new person as you want. Sure. You have the complete IC right to play a jackass. I have the right to walk away from the game, and to warn others "Careful if you join this game; the party leader likes to abuse the new PCs until they get disgusted and drop the game, and the others put up with his behavior."

North Wind, you are extrapolating hugely from a few interactions at the very start of your time in the game. Yes, I accepted that Morlan was in the wrong for being so domineering to Nilis upon first contact. Then we moved on.

Since that time I have played Morlan with no deliberate abuse of your character. Some of the things you have interpreted as abuse are just his banter (ask Gordon about the "demonspawn" thing). Calling Mel "Smell" was an attempt to depict Morlan talking while drunk. The comment about Mel not liking girls is because Mel is openly gay.

The library stuff was because Morlan hates magical study. He finds it boring. It's a fundamental part of his character. Of course he wanted to get away from the library. As I said, it was not about you. Not in any way.

The thing about Gelon is a valid IC choice to keep his location secret. Morlan said he'd extend the same courtesy to Nilis, and he meant it.

Don't read too much into the phrase "earn his trust". I don't mean she has to jump through hoops and pass examinations and stuff. I just mean that he won't be able to treat her as a trusted friend until they have got to know each other better and he has had the chance to learn that Nilis isn't a threat. Is that really going to be so hard?

You paint a picture of a lot of abuse, where I see none following the early blow-up and re-start. I'd like this to work, and I'm trying to make it work. It doesn't seem like you are prepared to try.

What do you want from Morlan?

Demonspawn is practically a term of endearment. Though with Nilis being so strongly anti-lower planar I can see how that would not occur to her.

What I was trying to say, while rushing down the street, is that both characters seem built with assumed formative experience where their face and their family name meant something.

(Something positive that is. Joshua's family name meant trouble.)

So both are, to an extent, used to the "world" revolving around them.

In this case Morlan feels entitled to suspect the motives of anyone trying to enter "his" inner circle, while Nilis feels entitled to think "how dare you treat me in such a manner?"

To me that's why Morlan sees spies under rocks. He thinks he is important (so does Joshua) and he thinks everyone else sees him the same way (unlike Joshua)

Ironically Joshua's ground level suspicion that "everyone will betray you" leaves him more open to newcomers. He doesn't feel the betrayal as a personal insult. He knows the betrayal will be about the person, not about him...

I feel like IC justifications are missing the point.

I'm not one for histrionics, and I don't mean to throw a fit - but this isn't fun and I don't want to do it anymore. I don't have any hard feelings, and I would play any time with any of you. It's been a hugely successful run.

As per the 1.0 version of the game, I'm happy to answer any lingering questions about the campaign, though this one was decidedly more sandboxy and I didn't really have an over-arching plot that I can reveal here.

I'm not interested in being talked into continuing. This isn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just can't keep it up. I was having some trouble keeping it up when it was running smoothly.

Frick on a Stick...

well, thanks for (another) fun game Stan....

Let me know when you feel like running another...

edit - I guess big lingering questions - what happened to Akin? What happened to Ark? also what was Szass up to? Who sent the bomb? What were the Cranium Rats planning? What did Shar want with the silver disc?