Sun Sep 11 15:49:51 2005

At 3 o'clock AM, Day of the Moon, 7th of the Month of Winter
on the Theran calendar Jrekgrim perished, never to return.

Race:	storm
Class:	paladin
Level:	51
Alignment:	Good
Ethos:	Neutral
Cabal:	FORTRESS, the Fortress of Light
Age:	285
Hours:	209

I really really liked Jrekgrim. I feel partially responsible for his con death cause you died while grouped with me oh so many times. I can't say I had any complaints about the char other than that you were a little reckless with your con.. but ive been told much the same sometimes hehe.
Sad to see you go bud, look forward to seeing another of your chars in the game. Good luck

Forsk

Forsk! A good travel partner, and don't worry a moment about having been in groups where I had died. One of the things about Jrekgrim's philosphy of paladinhood was that he could not leave a comrade behind to die. Consequently he'd do silly things like rescuing better defenders than he so they could get away, then he'd try (often unsuccessfully) to get out after. When it came to combat, Jrekgrim was sort of a Villager wannabe, but with neither their skills nor skillz. And like many a villager, he died a lot.

I absolutely HATE playing with people who are reckless with their characters. Here's why.

1. They tend to care even less about those around them. You said you'd never leave a commrade behind, and that's fine, but it really puts a damper on ranking when some knucklehead get's killed when a simple retreat and run off to rest would do.

2. It frustrates many plans. Maybe I've had a bad Run, but there is a Tribunal now that just will not or cannot understand the concept of self preservation, even after being ordered by the Provost not to rush into deathfull odds, he does, not once, note trwivce, but rtpeatedly.

3. I can't stand being around them, simply because they remind me of the crack heads on the street that keep indulging in self destructive behavior, then lament their situation.

4. The more they do this at lower levels, the less helpfull they are at upper levels. They lack gear, they lack restraint, and they lack Con and thus HP.

Anyway, I know this is my personal bias, but I'll find every excuse to avoid this type of character.

As to your referense to Battleragers. I've never figured out why so many of them just rush out to die against hopeless odds when their is nothing in the village philosphy that requires it. They have the odds stacked against them as it is, but they just strap on some + Damage gear and wind up their characters and rush into stupid situations. If I were a leader and I saw some guy doing that repetedly, I'd uninduct him for shaming the village with his inability to fight and his inability to support his fellow rager.

>I absolutely HATE playing with people who are reckless with their characters. Here's why.

>They tend to care even less about those around them.
Doesn't apply in this case. Jrekgrim believed in defending those who were (in theory) weaker than he, even if it meant risking his own neck in the process. He saw it as part of his duty as a paladin.

> It frustrates many plans.
That is a frustration. I can think of a few times I wanted to tell other characters, "Oh sure, you just had to go and die there. That sure messes up what _I_ wanted to do. How inconsiderate that they should now waste who knows how long requipping."

>I can't stand being around them, simply because ...
Crack heads, religious fanatics, yeah. It goes back to what being a crusading knight means to me--it isn't about acting selfishly, which is how I perceive anti-paladins--but thinking beyond the self. People who are that self-sacrificing are meant for the nuthouse, and certainly have no place in a capitalist society like the post-modern United States. They should all be...con dead.

>The more they do this at lower levels, the less helpfull they are at upper levels.
Jrekgrim had managed to keep full con (admittedly he had to purchase a few on the way) until he started playing with the other heroes. He was part of a decent share of cabal raids and retrievals, and he even managed to kill an enemy or two. I think he did ok for a newb player whose character's motto was "Others first." "God, Country, Corps," and all that.


Good luck with your philosophy of play. I don't know if all your characters share your stated philosophy, and this really isn't the place to hash it out, but good luck to you on and offline.

sdgsev

It want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the characters who made playing Jrekgrim fun.

Dorn: An inspiration to me. How the hell he could take on half
an army and get out in one piece shall ever remain a mystery to
me. His rp was pretty good, and his guidance made it possible
for this character to reach hero, even if the only time Jrekgrim
joined up with him was to raid.

Sensiblat: I think Jrekgrim fought alongside you in more battles
than any other. In conjunction with that, you probably saw more
of Jrekgrim as a ghost than anyone else *grins*. Good fun, and
I was sorry to see you delete.

Jemr: Hell of a nice character. Helped Jrekgrim out lots of times
whether it was ranking, advice or words of encouragement.

Meagara: Keep up the good fight! Not much to say, other than you
were a helluva lot more effective than Jrekgrim was. Nice job.

Caitlyn: A few nice rp sessions we had, but we didn't get to
travel nearly as much as I'd hoped we'd get to. Get yourself
inducted while you still can, for the Fortress needs your kind.

Dukreg: I had lots of fun fighting you, even though I only got
lucky a few times. Your repeated offers for Jrekgrim to take
the Oath were a nice bit of roleplay, and I found myself looking
forward to crossing swords with you regardless of what the outcome
was going to be. In any future duels, I'll allow you to come to
me in an attempt to throw off your commune spams ;-)

Aurilinius: Hail to the true Emperor! Yours was the character I
never wanted to face, for it generally would mean ten minutes of
twiddling my thumbs waiting to be attacked, followed by an hour
of regearing. We fought a few times, but most of the time we
were in the same room your lullabies had me fast asleep.

The various immortals who rp'd the Divine Storm for me:
Thank you sincerely for letting me fumble my way through this
character. The challenge was that each of you who stepped in
had a slightly different take on what Jrekgrim's mission would
look like--the first who empowered this paladin talked of the
dual role of the storm, destruction and the rains of rebirth.
Other staff took on more of the approach of a raging storm. I
should have added to my role each time we rp'd so there might
have been more continuity, but chalk that up as a noob mistake.
I had rp'd it with the belief that the weather is a fickle
think, and that Jrekgrim must simply embrace his Fate for he
had no control over it whatsoever.

Aarn: You were a bastard, and I loved you for it. I will never
forget how I was rping with the Divine Storm and Dorn started
trouble with the Scions. Jrekgrim had told Dorn prior to the raid
that he was conferring with his deity, and Dorn told Jrek to
stay put. All well and good, but then you, Aarn, chew Jrek out
for abandoning his mates, and you temporarily disempower him
for being caught between a rock and a hard place--which god
should Jrekgrim piss off? Yes, I wanted to strangle you, for
I was pretty sure it was you who had been rping as the Storm.
God but I enjoyed that rp session.

Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish.

Really good work on heroing a storm giant paladin. We saw you die a lot, but that all comes with working out the kinks of being a newbie. Glad I could find a loophole to let you in, despite Caek's demands on you. We need more newbies with your stamina, so good luck on your next, "an get yer big blue arse back in dere fer some whompin!".

I really, really enjoyed your char. OOCly, I felt really bad for taking your last con (and those times you rot died). Your final words were very well said. Whenever we RPed together, I really felt like I was speaking with a storm giant paladin. Well played. Not sure why you didnt have last name/title or anything, but again...I really enjoyed Jrekgrim.

Leave your email or something and I'll hit you up sometime.

Best of luck with your next.

I really liked you, Jrekgrim. I know you had a lot of trouble when you were alone, but as a groupmate you could lay down some serious smack. We did a lot of raiding/counter-raiding/etc. together. Sorry I got you killed for one of your final deaths. I have one idea of how I could have avoided that trap, but it still would have probably gotten one of us killed.

Like Dorn and others said, good job if you truly are a "newbie". You may not have been the best pker (tough to be a great pker as a pally) but you were a good roleplayer.

I the end, I'm glad you got your wish of "dyin' in battle, not asleep in yer bed."

Good luck on the next!

I don't check these boards too often. Well played, I enjoyed playing across from you. Good luck with the next, all that jazz.

Sorry about the timing there. Although I think if you stop and consider it, there really shouldn't have been a question in Jrekgrim's mind as to what he would do. One of your cabal mates died, and the other barely got away and the Orb wasn't retrieved, while you were praying (no, the storms thing was never me). I can say with the utmost certainty, that if you had been there from the start of the fight then no one would have died and the orb would have been recovered. The nightwalker had like, 100hps left when Dorn was forced to retreat.

Anyway, I wanted to give you a chance to get on the right track obviously, and it worked out. Good luck with your next!

Aarn

You weren't playing both deities? Damn! I liked the thought of you being wicked enough to put my character in a double bind caused by the psychological conflict of dual responsibilities.

Jrekgrim felt bad for his cabal mates, but I guess my take on empowerment is "Mein Gott ueber alles." Jrekgrim knew that he faced sanctions for not being available to help the cabal, but those could not trump proper devotion to his god. A wonderfully tough ic situation to be in, which could have caused all manner of psychoses if Aarn hadn't awakened the rage in him, as he aimed to do.

Anyhow, thanks for the rp, and I look forward to next time.