Oriana (Spoilers)

[_Cobalt_]

So, it looks like my players will be set up fairly well to get allied with Oriana (they are going to see how little non-evil blood they can spill during the campaign).

How have you run her? I kinda picture her, based off her backstory, being spunky. Very straightforward in fights, charging and slashing, using the helm to give a tactical advantage, so on and so forth. Would all this be accurate?

[Tarondor]

It's your game. Run her as you like!

I plan to run her as a volatile, brittle and dangerous personality who is on the verge of a breakdown. The PC's could have her as a solid and lasting ally if they show compassion and patience.

I'm reasonably certain my players can do compassion, but not the patience.

If they were to ally with Oriana, I'd play her as a careful and methodical fighter, taking few chances with her life until she met Ashamintallu. Then all that loss and grief and anger is going to flood out of her in a torrent of rage that might get her killed if the PC's don't react quickly.

[RoninUsagi]

I plan on running her similar to the personality Jack from Mass Effect II - a strong warrior hiding a broken child inside. After the battle w/ashimintalu, some of her demons are exorcised, and she'll begin to open up more if the PCs keep her as an ally.

[_Cobalt_]

That's brilliant. I do quite like that.

[RoninUsagi]

Also, I might base her overall attitude on how many of the Maidens the PCs manage to save. If Ori is the only one saved, she's a drunk w/PTSD, basically living to die because of survivors guilt.

But if the players save others from her command, she is able to forgive herself and return to the path of heroism fully; maybe even becoming a love interest.

[Balgin]

Sorry guys. My Oriana's going to be pretty dark. She might even start training one or two female pc's (and by training I mean bullying, beating & brainwashing). I'd stop before it got too bad but it would be done to demonstrate that she's gone through rather a lot of brainwashing and other abuse (both psychological & physical). She might (remember, rules are an out of character concept) imagine that, in her own twisted way, she's trying to train them up as her loyal followers.

She has a delicate and damaged psyche and will need to be handled carefuly both by the players and the gm. I don't want to just goof it up and represent her trauma badly as something that just gets glossed over and ignored two or three sessions down the line. She'll need help if she's going to recover. I'm trying to present her as a deep three dimensional character here instead of some cardboard cutout.

Also...... if someone fell victim to "That Trap" then Oriana's long term reactions to that (given her history and recent events) are going to be very ..... difficult and awkward indeed. Definately going to be complicated.

Spoiler:

Oriana, Ashamintallu & "That Trap".

Going to be complicated.

[Major_Blackhart]

The way I my GM played her was rather interesting I felt. She was despondent when she left the tower, much of her friends slaughtered by our hands. She was also incredibly angry, angry that she had been tricked and fooled so easily, angry that she had led her people down a path that destoryed many of them and left survivors like her shattered, angry that she had to rely on others to aid her.

This was a woman that was not going to go quietly into that goodnight, but at the same time, prone to fits of both rage and extreme depression. Kind of like a bi-polar individual but at times more extreme. My half-orc Paladin Redeemer got the Leadership feat and took her as his follower in an effort to help what was basically a good person get back onto that good path, and veer away from the dark self-loathing she had entered into. Made for some damn fun games actually.
Once a day, she had to take a will save essentially, at the beginning of each day. From there, if she passed she'd be fine for the day. If she failed, she would have to roll further for the following effects: if she was depressed, she could suffer reflex penalties, will penalties, fatigue, or initiative penalties, etc. If she was angry, she would suffer rage, a penalty to her attack rolls but bonus to damage, penalty to will, and would have the chance of basically becoming what psychologists would desribe as an anger killer, prone to fits of extreme violence towards people for simlpy losing her cool (think Richard Kuklinski).

As Paladin and her guardian/mentor/friend, my job was to basically say 'Hey, be cool! Chill!' in my heavy orc accent. It required me passing various checks as well, depending on her condition that day.

One thing the GM had was definitive penalties for my failing to mentor her and help her properly. My failure was failure on skill checks needed to calm her or uplift her.
If I passed, she would progress normally and gradually, she would make less and less of those tests, from daily, to every few days, to weeks, monthly, etc. And those tests would become easier to pass as she progressed.
If I failed, she would become worse and worse, either more despondent or anger prone, until she was either suicidal or a rage induced psychopath. This also had permanent effects on her saves and combat. If she became a psychopath, she would become a combination of fighter with the rage abilities and penalties of Wild Rager (just no rage powers) and a real short temper. If she became suicidal, she would certainly become much more resistant to outside effects and certain spells because of her gloomy mood (like an Unbreakable Fighter) but she would also at times cause damage to herself at inopportune times, be slower on the draw (initiative and reflex penalties), etc.
Overall, made for some insane gaming experiences.

[Balgin]

Thanks for the post Major. I might refer back to that in a few sessions' time when my party run into her. It compliments with the way I was intending to run her as an npc. I like it.

[Major_Blackhart]

Well, that took only five months for a response but I'm more than glad to have been a help.