Darn NPCs

[telerib]

I've been trying to get a handle on Tomasso Donati and he stubbornly refuses to be handled.

For the hell of it, I tried an "automatic writing" exercise - I interviewed him, typing both my questions and the answers that occurred to me. And it just kept hitting the same note, over and over again. He's hurt that his father preferred his bastard half-brother over him. He'll show them, SHOW THEM ALL that he's just as fit to take control of the family. This is about personal honor, and it's just consumed his life.

This does not make him terribly multi-faceted.

Now, I think maybe he is just as or almost as fit to take control of his family. From a position of relative weakness, he's leveraged what resources he had into pretty solid alliances with the local count. All he needs is a Barozzi bride for one of his brothers, or to marry his sister into their family, and it's as solid as solid can be. The Barozzi are the patrons in that relationship, but they're the landed nobility, so that makes sense. His half-brother is pursuing a similar policy, but another branch up the feudal hierarchy: he's trying to put his family in bed with the local prince. Tomasso's policy would make the Donati very, very powerful and influencial in their immediate area (big fish, smaller pond) while Antonio is looking for less influence, but at a higher level (medium fish, large pond). Who's more right? *shrug*

(Compare and contrast with Ellen Locke who suggested a very full and complicated backstory and personality to me during the commute home yesterday. Since she wasn't much more than a caricature drawn from saying, "Pip, pip!" this was much needed. Thank you, Ellen. Please ask Tomasso to cooperate, eh?)

Le sigh. Perhaps I should do a funny voice. When in doubt, a funny voice is a cheap way to add personality.

Unfortunately, I only have one "mafioso" voice and it's being used for Antonio. Hrm. Maybe Tomasso has a raspy voice, ever since the "fencing accident" twenty-five years ago... Well, it's something.

Comments

[cmccurry.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to know that I am not the only person to hold coversations with my NPCs.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

(Keep in mind that my only exposure to the game background is what I've picked up in conversations over at your house, and from the linked pages. If I'm missing something major, feel free to color this accordingly.)

What I get from this guy is a sense of massive betrayal, coupled with deep, deep insecurity. His own father chose someone else to take his rightful spot as muckety-muck in charge of the family. His own mother has gone along with this, favoring some by-blow over her own flesh and blood. His brother Cristoforo stabbed him too, and his other brothers have been ineffective.

He's Fredo Corleone, and Antonio is Michael Corleone.

It's got to rankle him that everyone has to realize that he's been eclipsed. He'll see pity and condescension everywhere, and he'll be deathly afraid of showing any sort of weakness, especially if it concerns Antonio. He'll be obsessed with at least preserving the appearance that he's a player. He's small-time, though, and Antonio is playing for bigger stakes on a bigger stage. Late at night, he'll wonder why those who have been closest to him have all ultimately turned against him... do they see something in him that is weak? Most important of all, could they all be right?

[telerib.livejournal.com]

He's Fredo Corleone, and Antonio is Michael Corleone.

I'm about 80% sure this is a Sopranos reference, and about 20% sure it's a Godfather reference. I haven't seen (or read) any of either. Yes, I'm hopeless. :) (Moe has been talking about renting The Godfather, as it is a classic and I should watch it, a) in general and b) as game research. Since I'm done with my Ren Italy books for the moment...)

So, thank you for the elaboration. I'm not sure that it makes Tomasso any more wide, character-wise, but it certainly makes him deeper.

Cristoforo's schtick so far has been the blustery machismo routine, which is also covering up for his perceived inadequacy, being the least bright of the bunch. I agree with you that Tomasso will have a similar obsession with the appearance of strength, but of a different sort... if Cris is a great big barking dog, I think Tomasso's a snake with a rattle in his tail. ... Or something like that. He's a more mature man at 38 and less inclined to chest-pounding and more inclined to some other, more subtle but equally scary expression of personal power. Got to think on it.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

It's a reference to The Godfather Part II, and I agree with Moe -- if you're going to run a game where intrigue enters into things, Godfather I & II are absolutely essential. As another example, it sounds like Cristoforo will map fairly well to Sonny Corleone -- that is, except for the toll booth (which you'll understand after you see the movie). :)

I wouldn't recommend The Sopranos -- while I lovelovelove the show, there's entirely too much of it that is deeply rooted in present-day American culture to translate over.

I would call Tomasso's obsession more one of respect -- he's been dissed by just about everyone in his family in at least some fashion, and you can't lead if you aren't respected. It's up to you to decide if he's figured out the difference between being respected and being feared, though.

[telerib.livejournal.com]

I should also possibly rent more spagetti Westerns. We saw one over the holidays, and it occurred to me that the Italian take on mythologized Old Western honor was just what I needed to better understand the whole "machismo" thing (which I don't understand the rules of at all).

It's up to you to decide if he's figured out the difference between being respected and being feared, though

"Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with...

Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from their women."

Since the game world's Machiavelli-analogue is supposed to be the guiding principle of this culture, I'm gonna have to go with "no." Fear sans hatred is the ideal; Tomasso has clearly had familial "love" let him down.

Respect requires that you act in such a way that others willingly give you their support; fear compels them. Machiavelli was pretty clear that the "good prince" should never depend on what others might or might not give to him, according to their wills; rather, he should build on what he could command by the action of his own will.

*wince* Which implies that Tomasso may be getting ready to try and get his younger brothers to fear him, which is exactly the way to get PCs to go nuclear on his butt.

...if the family tears itself apart in a frenzy of blood, is that a bad game? :)