The Round Table (A collaborative fiction thread)

[lantzblades]

I don't want him to die, there is no way around him dying

[Cherry Lover]

Well, yes, OK, but the point remains the same. I'm not really sure what sort of character development we can give the guy that won't result in him winning the war trivially.

[lantzblades]

You've completely lost me

[Cherry Lover]

Well, you said we should discuss Gil, but I'm not sure what there is to discuss....

[lantzblades]

Well they is how we'd like him portrayed

[Cherry Lover]

Well, what do you mean?

[lantzblades]

as an idiot or unstoppable force, effectively how competent he is.

[Cherry Lover]

as an idiot or unstoppable force, effectively how competent he is.

Well, most likely both, at different times. If you make him an "unstoppable force" from a beginning then he just wins, and there's no way to avoid that because he would just force an immediate confrontation before the good guys are ready. Conversely, if you make him an idiot throughout then it is too easy for the heroes once they're all allied. So, he has to start out like in canon, but he has to awaken to the threat everyone else poses in time for the final battle, which he needs to fight at least mostly seriously.

[lantzblades]

Why are you thinking in absolutes?

[Cherry Lover]

Why are you thinking in absolutes?

What?

[lantzblades]

just what I said, you seem to think competent means unstoppable and idiot means useless.

[Cherry Lover]

just what I said, you seem to think competent means unstoppable and idiot means useless.

When you're Gil, competent does mean unstoppable, at least if you're competent from the beginning. He's just too overpowered not to win if he starts off fighting fully seriously.

And, idiot doesn't mean useless, but it does mean you aren't going to beat an alliance of at least four different master/servant pairs all of whom have the capability to kill you if you underestimate them.

[lantzblades]

It's a matter of perspective  I just want to be sure it doesn't look bad when the fight happens

[Cherry Lover]

Yeah, of course, but that's kind-of what I was saying, really. If Gil starts out as an "unstoppable force" then he would kill everyone on day 1. So, he has to start off pissing around and not really fighting, and only get serious later on.

[lantzblades]

Alternatively he could be absent from the story until a sudden appearance meaning he doesn't have to faff about