Cave Troll
This is another one of my Vampire characters who is actually that 3rd casualty of my attempt at LARPing. He got simplified for the book and I ‘m not entirely sure how that came about. Then again, he was fairly ‘simple’ to begin with, which caused problems in the long run. Guess the best way to explain him is to show the original Lou and then the book version.
After I gave up on my second character after a terrible first appearance that left him with his goals destroyed, I just wanted to do something different. I teamed up with two other players to make a trio of non-clan vampires. One person was returning after losing a character and the other wanted to give LARPing a try. It was with the second player that I designed Lou with inspiration from ‘Of Mice and Men’. Lou was based on Lennie, the big, lovable, and child-like character while the other player was the George character. They were friends before getting turned and Lou used to be a boxer, but suffered brain damage that remained when he became a vampire. So, he was rather slow and simple with his one rule being that he didn’t want to cause any trouble. Keep in mind that I’m 5’5” and I was playing a character standing at 7’0”. This required a card noting this and me acting like I was that huge. Kind of fun pretending that doorways were too small, chairs were too fragile, and seeing people look way above my head. That last one was hilarious because players bigger than me had to do this and a few noted that it threw them off.
Sadly, Lou was seen as nothing more than a ‘dumb brute’ by some people. At least this is what I was told after he was offed, but I was already on the outs due to me not giving my second character a chance. Lou was my last attempt to have fun because he was so different than myself and my previous characters. He wasn’t a noble hero like Luke or an monster like Clyde or a good-meaning fool like Darwin, but a simple guy who wanted nothing more than to be with his friend and not get into trouble. If he lasted longer, he’d have reached a point where he’d grow more independent from his friend, but he got eaten after a few sessions. Honestly, the way it went down was what turned me off to LARPing in general, but I don’t think I was that big a fan in the first place. Guess this does put Lou in a rather memorable position for me.
That’s why it’s so strange that the big lug is probably at the bottom of the character list for War of Nytefall. I changed him into a vampiric ogre complete with horns, greasy body hair, and not much of a talker. In fact, I toyed with the idea of him never talking, but that became a problem and reduced him to an even smaller role. He’s position is Nadia Sylvan’s obedient bodyguard, so he’s typically hovering around her. The only times he talks is if she sends him on an errand that requires it. With group scenes, he grunts or stands in the back because he has no opinion to give. This can be a problem for him in the long run due to a limited development. Yet, I do hope to create a few openings for him to become more than a grunt. Then again, this series might benefit from having a character who isn’t cunning or talkative, but is a vampire that acts almost entirely like a living weapon. Lou is technically what mortals consider vampires: A savage monster that works entirely off instinct.
So, funny story time here, but this might be a little sad. The events that led to Lou’s death in the game were bizarre. Not the actual eating, but how he ended up in that position. The guy who played the George character was running late from work, so Lou had to operate without him. The plan was the hang back and stay out of trouble alongside his secondary friend. Luck wasn’t on our side when we were pulled into a meeting about assaulting one of the strongest characters in the game. That attack is where Lou died and people afterwards got confused. Some got on my case about having Lou go along instead of waiting for his other friend, especially since he was given a choice to stay behind. Except there was one little problem: The leader of the revolution was sitting next to Lou’s other friend and had his arms crossed in a way that the stake he was holding ended up getting aimed at her. No idea why I focused on that, but it clicked in my head that Lou would see that and think it was a subtle threat. He might not have been smart, but he was protective of his friends and couldn’t think straight without ‘George’. As far as Lou knew, he had to go or his other friend would be killed. Yeah, I got a few strange looks and laughs along with one apology from the player with the stake.
That was still my last time LARPing and I’d joint he non-LARPERs afterwards. Nothing says fun like playing an adorable gnome who is a barbarian cannibal with metal teeth. When I say adorable, I mean his charisma stat was so high that people still said ‘awww’ even when he was eating his enemies. Come to think of it, I really should find a place for old Berumbo.
Making choices self-publishing choices can feel like throwing darts blindfolded. With all the changes to publishing in the last decade or so it gets even more confusing. For instance, now there are opportunities with hybrid publishers which can open more doors for authors and leave them more perplexed than ever.
