Let's vote up another Burning Wheel Character!

[Sith_Happens]

Okay, now that that's cleared...

Option 1

2D is for Personal Legion (legion name TBD)

1D is for a Praetorian Guard (actual group/squad name TBD)

[Fenix_of_Doom]

3D My own frikkin warband
2D born great orcs
1D elite fighter

[Acanous]

Option 1.
3D: Da WAAAAGH!!!
2D: Da Boyz
1D: Nobz!

[Spamotron]

Option 1

2D Personal Warband
1D Elite Guard

[CarpeGuitarrem]

All right! I've, er, attempted to accurately assemble the votes. 5 resource points trickle down to Reputations! This is (hopefully) an amalgamation of all those votes. This should represent more or less the Hivemind. (Fair warning: we are officially in "more of an art than a science" mode at this point.)

Affiliations
3D Those Who Make War At the Great One's Behest (her Warband)
2D The Great and Black Who Spread Ashes of the Enemy (upgraded Great and Black)
1D Those Whose Mounts Savage the Enemy (Swizzle Guard)

Now, on to Reputations, for which we have 55 points! We already have a 1D infamous reputation amongst the Chattel for...something. Now, let's flesh out the rest of the reputations, and some of them should probably be big.

We can afford...

Option 1
One truly massive reputation on a national or major level, along with the Chattel reputation and a local, minor reputation.

Option 2
A regional, notable reputation, along with a few local/minor reputations.

(I just realized, in the book, you are limited to three reputations and three affiliations...oops. That led me to axe a voting option.)

As before, vote for your preferred loadout, and give ideas for reputations! The book says, if we want a gang/crew, we have to (beyond purchasing the affiliation) purchase a reputation within the group, and (later on) purchase a relationship with the group's senior member or second-in-command. So keep that in mind.

[Randomatic]

Option 1

For the Chattel reputation she is "The Devourer of the Weak", they tend to be a bit apprehensive around her for her tendency to eat those that displease her, as already established that she eats the runts of her own litters.

a Major Reputation as "The Greatest of the Great." establishing her as leader of her warband, so all that's left is the relationship to purchase.

A Local Reputation among her Elite Guard, but I'll let other people suggest what that reputation should be.

[Spamotron]

Option 1
We've gone all in on everything else no point in stopping here. One Mega reputation. Since we have an Orc Julius Caesar thing going on how about something like: She Who Shall Lead Us All to Glory.

[Zelphas]

Option 1 as well, but I think we should have her major reputation be One Who Stares Death in the Face, and Laughs. Thousand Yard Stare coupled with her truly ridiculous stamina score makes it seem like this character has never been fazed by anything. Ever. I think that would be noticed.

I like the Devourer of the Weak idea for the Chattel reputation.

[The Glyphstone]

Originally Posted by Zelphas

Option 1 as well, but I think we should have her major reputation be One Who Stares Death in the Face, and Laughs. Thousand Yard Stare coupled with her truly ridiculous stamina score makes it seem like this character has never been fazed by anything. Ever. I think that would be noticed.

I like the Devourer of the Weak idea for the Chattel reputation.

Go bandwagon go!

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Okay, then! We have your reputations!

First off...

1D Devourer of the Weak

Followed by (with minor tweaks to let her have that warband)

3D She Who Leads the War-Makers, Stares Death Down, and Laughs

Now, then, it's time to finish things off with relationships! We have 37 points to buy relationships with, and that gives us a lot of wiggle room. I'm not going to ask for formal votes here; instead, tell me what relationships you want our orc to have.

A relationship means that the NPC will have a significant part to play in the story, and will be a reliable ally or nemesis. At this point, we'll probably have enough points to get a majorly powerful character and some minor characters as our relationships, although we could also get a few moderately-important characters as relationships as well.

I'll take the relationships, and at the end aim to amalgamate them into something great. Remember: making forbidden, family, and romantic relationships actually decreases their cost!

[Analysis]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem

I'll take the relationships, and at the end aim to amalgamate them into something great. Remember: making forbidden, family, and romantic relationships actually decreases their cost!

So as a bonus, making it forbidden, family and romantic all at once? That one son (family) whom she birthed and who was alone in his litter, presumably because his father was a captive human rather than an orc. This one she has secretly kept alive, despite his half-blood status (forbidden), and as he has grown to adulthood, she has begun to lust for him like she did for his father (romantic). Too squick?

[Sodalite]

I like it. In fact, assuming 'captive' was both a temporary and nonlethal state of being, that gives me an idea for who could make when the Human thread rolls around...

I would also advocate for having a relationship with our mothers-in-law, as we generally discussed earlier, with them coming in with complaints, requests, demands, etcetera, and us being generally obligated to consider them, if only because they begin to approach our greatness.

[Sith_Happens]

Ooh, ooh, idea: She and her greatest rival have a fling going in between the "greatest rivals" thing. It's complicated.

[Randomatic]

I vote for the following

a 10 point relationship with no reductions will be needed to secure her warband.
I suggest another lesser Great One that she's recruited to her horde, and acts as her Second-in-Command.

an 11 point relationship (Major, Family, Rival) with her eldest mother-in-law, who has browbeaten her other mothers-in-law to support her, could be used to represent all 7 of her wicked mothers-in-law. As rivals, they won't always be hostile, but they're trying to take over her position as leader of the clans.

and a few other relationships that other posters suggest, but we can buy a Great Wolf mount as Gear, instead of a Relationship, for 15 points, so it might be necessary to trickle down a few points to gear to make sure she'll have all her bases covered.

[Zelphas]

Originally Posted by Analysis

So as a bonus, making it forbidden, family and romantic all at once? That one son (family) whom she birthed and who was alone in his litter, presumably because his father was a captive human rather than an orc. This one she has secretly kept alive, despite his half-blood status (forbidden), and as he has grown to adulthood, she has begun to lust for him like she did for his father (romantic). Too squick?

I like this, but without the romantic aspect. Too squick for me.

Buying the Warband would be awesome too, as well as the eldest Mother-in-Law.

Basically, I agree with Randomatic and (a slight modification of) Analysis's ideas.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by Zelphas

I like this, but without the romantic aspect. Too squick for me.

An easy de-squick (while keeping the cost reduction, making this an easy relationship to slot in anywhere) is to keep in mind that a "romantic" relationship doesn't necessarily mean intra-character romance. It just means that the tie between the characters is related to romance in some fashion.

For instance, I created a character who had a relationship with his rival in love. They were both after the same girl, which in my book makes it a relationship defined by romance, since that's pretty heftily entangling. Pretty sure that's how it's intended.

[Amphetryon]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem

An easy de-squick (while keeping the cost reduction, making this an easy relationship to slot in anywhere) is to keep in mind that a "romantic" relationship doesn't necessarily mean intra-character romance. It just means that the tie between the characters is related to romance in some fashion.

For instance, I created a character who had a relationship with his rival in love. They were both after the same girl, which in my book makes it a relationship defined by romance, since that's pretty heftily entangling. Pretty sure that's how it's intended.

What about if the "family" was in-law or extended/adopted? Unrequited love for our Orc Caesar's sister's new husband, for example? Does that bypass the squick?

[Siegel]

Hatefull relationship with the King of the Hill Dwarfs. You constantly raid each other.

[Zelphas]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem

An easy de-squick (while keeping the cost reduction, making this an easy relationship to slot in anywhere) is to keep in mind that a "romantic" relationship doesn't necessarily mean intra-character romance. It just means that the tie between the characters is related to romance in some fashion.

For instance, I created a character who had a relationship with his rival in love. They were both after the same girl, which in my book makes it a relationship defined by romance, since that's pretty heftily entangling. Pretty sure that's how it's intended.

Interesting... so could the half-orc son of hers be constantly trying to impress his mother, but he can't because he's not "Orc" enough for her, but he also doesn't act enough like his father to remind her of him enough? He's not sure why she's kept him alive this long, because she never seems the slightest bit happy about anything he does.

Too convoluted/odd/nonsensical?

EDIT: Oh, what would qualify this as "romantic" is that his relationship with Orc Caesar is defined by the fact that he can't live up to his father in her eyes.

[Urpriest]

If the Evil Mothers-In-Law are how she consolidated her Caesarship, then why don't we have one of them as the Second-in-Command for her warband? That would not only save points, it would make that character much more interesting.

[Spamotron]

Originally Posted by Urpriest

If the Evil Mothers-In-Law are how she consolidated her Caesarship, then why don't we have one of them as the Second-in-Command for her warband? That would not only save points, it would make that character much more interesting.

That's brilliant. She needs competent and formidable lieutenants for a warband the size of hers to function properly. Her Evil Mother's in Law need to be powerful enough to be an actual threat to her position otherwise it's missing much of the point of having them. By combining the two we save a ton of points and make the relationships that much more complex. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," Since Orcs don't have friends enemies is all she has to work with.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Sorry, folks, NaNoWriMo is taking up a good deal of my time. Still! I'll get back, see all the voting so far, and come up with some condensed relationships.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Folks, this thread is finally back! I've tallied things up, and gotten three solid relationships. Here they are, in order...

Graldagnog, First of the Seven Mothers-in-Law, a hateful family relationship. Graldagnog is the second-in-command of our orc's warband, and she keeps them all in line, just as she keeps the rest of the Seven under her thumb. They resent her for continuing to marry into power (after which time, the husbands tend to die violent and mysterious deaths), and they're plotting to usurp her someday. For now, though, Graldagnog serves our orc.

Lash, the Mannish child whom she bore. His father was a Mannish warrior whom she romanced some years ago, but he left. Our orc has always had a lingering regret in her heart, and she loathes Lash's father and longs for him at the same time. Lash, meanwhile, doesn't understand why our orc still aims to keep in touch with him (she'll send him what word she can, even though he no longer lives amongst the orcs). (This is a family and romantic relationship: not only is Lash her kin, but his very existence carries romantic weight with our orc, because he represents her fleeting romance from time ago...possibly her only true love.)

Throgson, King of the Hill Dwarves. I got this one from a composite, but I think it works. Throgson is a mighty dwarf, and a bitter rival of our orc. He's also her on-and-off lover, in secret. Our orc has viciously murdered any other orcs who found out, and she trusts that Throgson is witted enough to keep his own counsel.

That leaves us 15 points left, if people want to buy any other relationships, just mention that. We can go back and buy some with leftover points. At any rate, we have a whopping 45 points to spend. First, though, I'm gonna grab some of the essentials.

Run-of-the-mill orc weapons: literally the best quality that orcs can get, but not great compared to others. You can add spikes to it for 1 point.
Run-of-the-mill light mail: pretty good armor, the other stuff is a bit more expensive

We have 18 resource points left. Here's some things we could get (each one is an option which excludes the others)...

A Great Wolf mount, leaving us enough points to pick up traveling gear, nothing else.
A mundane mount or pack animal, which leaves us enough to pick up smaller mundane stuff (traveling gear, boots, rags...which is important, because we don't start play with any of that)
A set of Black Iron Helm and Shield, pretty cool stuff (roughly equal in cost, can be bought separately), with the same stipulations about mundane stuff as above.

We could grab any one of the above three options. Also, what sort of weaponry should our Orc Caesar favor?

[Sodalite]

It pains me that a Great Wolf has such a great cost, but I just can't imagine the character without more than just some riding gear, armor, and weapons. Thus, I will be voting for Mundane Mount, though if I can a have a runoff vote, should my first choice fail to win, I will vote for a Great Wolf.

Also, IIRC, Rome used the usual shield+spear, and gladius if the enemy got too close too the tortoise, so I imagine that would good for our stuff as well.

Edit: Also, the relationships seem perfectly good to me.

[Amphetryon]

Originally Posted by Sodalite

It pains me that a Great Wolf has such a great cost, but I just can't imagine the character without more than just some riding gear, armor, and weapons. Thus, I will be voting for Mundane Mount, though if I can a have a runoff vote, should my first choice fail to win, I will vote for a Great Wolf.

Also, IIRC, Rome used the usual shield+spear, and gladius if the enemy got too close too the tortoise, so I imagine that would good for our stuff as well.

Edit: Also, the relationships seem perfectly good to me.

Sodalite speaks for me as well.

[Sodalite]

Looking again, I noticed that, in the description of Lash, that you say "Her father...", but imply in the rest of the description that Lash is a man. I assume this is just a slip up, and just brought it up because bugged me just a little.

[Sith_Happens]

Anyone care to explain how we suddenly went from "Alexander the Great" to "Desperate Houseorcs?"

[Sodalite]

Alexander was not without his own relationships, and that just happens to be the part of the character creation process we're working with right now.

[Amphetryon]

Originally Posted by Sith_Happens

Anyone care to explain how we suddenly went from "Alexander the Great" to "Desperate Houseorcs?"

I was thinking we had mixed "Alexander (or Alexandra) the Great" with "Scott Pilgrim" myself.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by Sodalite

Looking again, I noticed that, in the description of Lash, that you say "Her father...", but imply in the rest of the description that Lash is a man. I assume this is just a slip up, and just brought it up because bugged me just a little.

Eagle eyes. I will fix that.