MLw Dr. Victor Frankenstein

[Mike Holmes]

Good point, Chris. All masters, no matter their make up, all have one thing in common. They are insecure egomaniacs. So much so that all of their relationships are dysfunctional. Meaning that all they do with other people is try to enforce their will on them, and this primarily by preying on these other's weaknesses. Why does the master surround himself with people who are in some ways Less Than Human? Because he can always feel superior to these people. How does this manifest? By the master degrading these individuals. Alternately, to make the minions reliant on him, he'll heap praises on them (they are, after all, also More Than Human).

This is why the minion is linked to the master by Self-Loathing. The master is the minion's only source of self-esteem as the game starts. But it's a self-esteem that can only be had at the price of the same source also providing the impetus for the self-loathing. Once the minion starts to get some self-esteem from another source, Love, then it's all over for the master. Because Love doesn't have the downside that the master does.

This is central to play. Even if the master is heinously intelligent, and not given to violence, he can't help but do evil to make himself look good. Because he's only concerned with looking good - not to the minions, he doesn't care about them except as tools. He wants to look good to the outsiders. So he perpetuates the dysfunctional cycle on the minions in order to maintain his own fragile self-image.

As such, the master is capable of any evil imaginable. He may even do them unthinkingly as long as they're part of his goal.

So, Frankenstien wants to create life? He's obsessed with it. So let nothing stand in his way. From a story POV, put things in his way, and have him knock them down. What would piss off egor's player? Marie in the arms of Frankenstien? Well why would he do that? Well, it turns out that Marie has inherited a large sum of money, and Frankenstien needs it to continue his work. So he gets a minion to bring her up to the castle, and then seduces her (coldly, he doesn't really care at all).

See how it works.

1. Determine what'll piss off a player. Not the character, neccessarily, the player.
2. Find a reason why the master would do that. This then becomes in-game reality.

Don't try to create a reality, and then play the master "as he should be played." Instead create reality as neccessary to showcase how much of a villain the master is. And I mean everything, too, not just part of play. All of play should be trying to find ways to either make the master bad, or to make a minion's life interesting.

Mike

[vhirvela]

What I was trying to say was: For me to roleplay master smootly. I need to know answer to "why" not just come up with a clever way to avoid the question all together. (I actually might avoid the question at our game session but I have to know a reason behind the order.) I just don't want it to be illogical because the minions can poison anyone with quicksilver if they like to. If there really  is no greater reason to poison a contact they probably would decide to poison someone else.

What if the reason is simply because the master has noted that one of the minions has a fondness for the baker and in his insecurity, he must be the center of their lives?  The master, even a brain, isn't supposed to be the height of reason and logic.  They are disgusting, tragic figures plagued by illogic.  That's what must drive the dysfunction.  At least that's my take.


Chris

Your idea is good. But mayby little too obvious and it feels like victor would be aiming to be to personal. I want to roleplay cool BRAIN master so I will use this explanation. (Though again I will not tell this to players if not absolutely necessary)

Im faintly remembering that marie had blue eyes from a description player gave me...SO...

"As you all know  the different stages of quicksilver poisoning can best be observed from subject who has blue eyes. The quicksilver gathers in a persons eyes and if he/she has for exsample brown eyes It's  so much harder to see the metal floating around at his/hers eye socket." :D

If need be I can even use this as scary/horror scene where  I describe that really  accurately.

What do you think?