Drow Elf

I don´t take the Silmarillion seriously.

image credit: Tyler Jacobson

First of all, try not to. A lot of RPGs are meant to be a team effort and being a loner, while great for media with only one or two protagonists, is cancer to a group. Especially if everyone thinks they are the coolest person in the room.

DM: You are all gathered around the campfire when you hear a twig snap nearby! You think you hear the tell-tale yipping of bloodthirsty gnolls!

Man with No Name: I casually light up my pipe and brood on my log.

Edgelord: I continue to sharpen one of my many blades and brood.

Tough Goth: I brood near a tree, away from the campfire.

DM: Okay but is anyone gonna do anything other than brood? Like have normal human reactions to things or conversations about the possible ambush?

Druid Cast Out By Modern Society: I brood in a tree, two miles away.

Loners kill the mood of a campaign because everyone needs to be cool and unimpressed by the world around them. There’s a reason loners work alone. But what if you really want to play one or it fits your character’s story and personality? There are ways to play it successfully.

Character Arc

All characters need an arc; a way for their personality, flaws, traits, and ideals to change over time. This is especially true for loners. If you go into a campaign as an antisocial black sheep and go on a hundred dangerous quests risking lives for one another even the hardest loners will open up at some point. Maybe the party members fill a hole they never realized needed to be filled. Maybe caring about others or having others care about you will make you realize something you never knew about yourself.

Think about it: even the most stoic and antisocial characters in movies, stories, and video games are the most memorable when they break character; when their true self shines through. When the hardened war veteran is found crying in their room, or when the ice queen smiles for the first time, or when you find out the ill-tempered cop has a soft spot for kittens. These are the moments you remember and they will make you a more enjoyable loner to play with.

Stay Involved

Many people play loners as an excuse to zone out during the game. They use their brooding time to not get involved in combat, check their phones, chat with neighbors… this is all destructive to the game. “But my character doesn’t talk, like, ever!” That’s okay. You can still communicate and participate. Just because no one is telling you what to do and you aren’t telling anyone else what to do doesn’t mean you are a pile of wet towels. Communicate through nonverbal means to maintain your edginess but still participate. Make sure the other players know why you are doing it and what your are trying to communicate.

“Reaper McDeathman nods his head in agreement.” (They didn’t just nod their head, they also agree. The more info conveyed to the team, the better)

“Clint Scruffscar whistles to get your attention and points at the cave entrance he found.” (He conveys important plot info to the party while still being chill)

“Raven Roseskull motions for the rest of the group to follow her.” (She takes leadership of the group even though she’s presumably a brooding loner)

“Pale Vampireface pushes aside the city guard and strides toward the throne room. I roll to intimidate.” (She is interacting with an NPC she wishes to get past while maintaining a grimdark attitude)

Think about how your character carries themselves. What sorts of mannerisms do they have? Think about what you as a person want to convey to the party or to NPCs, then determine how your character would communicate that. Remember that in movies and video games, these visual cues from the loner characters are obvious. The camera zooms in on them or the composition focuses on them when they so much as twitch their eyes and trigger finger. The people at the table are not in your head. They can’t see any of that. It’s up to you to get the camera’s attention.

Be an Asset

The group needs to have a reason for you to be there. If they have none, they won’t have any reason to save you when you die or follow you through the pits of Hell. Your story isn’t the only one that matters. Be helpful when another person is trying to do something important to them. Don’t just be a stick in the mud and say “well why should I help you? What’s in it for me?” Try to find those reasons on your own. You can verbalize it to the table if it will help maintain your loner-ness. “Well, my character wouldn’t normally help you, but they feel like you might owe them something in the future.” This keeps you engaged and clues the party in on what they can do to motivate your character in the future.

If you have trouble thinking of one, try to have a reason to be in the party. Do you need them to complete your secret plans? Do you need to keep a low profile? Do you secretly want attention, glory, or wealth? Or maybe you have a heart of gold and actually care about your group.

Asides

One-on-one in-character chit-chat can develop your character and relationships with the players without harming your edgy ego. You don’t need to be a leader or public speaker, but a loner can have asides with other characters. It’s more dramatic, it adds tension, and it lets you have a mini-secret from the rest of the party (besides that one person you talked to). This way the players aren’t just travelling with some random mute who is sometimes useful but mostly just an edgy desk lamp.

Communicate Intent

In the light of recent fandom events I was thinking about this quote, about Sauron and the concept of servitude, and of how this may shape our perceptions of him in both canon and fanon. 

Canonically, Sauron is closely linked to the concepts of servitude, and by extension, obedience. Firstly, he is of the Maiar, who Tolkien defines as ‘the people of the Valar, their servants and helpers’ (Vq). Already we perceive that Sauron is cast in a servile role, as is defined by his race and situation within the spiritual hierarchy of Arda. We are told that he was firstly a Maiar of Aulë, yet he abandoned Aulë’s house, and pledged fealty to Melkor. The reasons for his desertion are said to be for a desire to achieve his ambitions better under Melkor’s rule than Aulë’s (HoME), and perhaps this is true, but we may perceive that already Sauron has simply switched one servile role for another. He is made the Lieutenant of Angband, and of course is given relative independence, power, and influence, yet he is still subject to a being more powerful than he is. He must still be obedient to another’s wishes, and it is in Melkor that he places his loyalty.   

For the First Age then he serves Melkor, and much of the details herein are left for the fandom to squabble over. We will return to this point, yet continuing forth, it is apparent that Sauron remains in Melkor’s service until the eventual fall of Angband. Following Melkor’s banishment, Sauron then stands to gain the mantle of utmost leadership of evil in Arda, and this we see him accept. It appears, for a moment, that he has cast off a servile role, and assumes one of complete self-autonomy. It is curious then to witness his actions throughout the coming Ages. For despite eventually proclaiming himself Lord of Mordor and perpetuating his malevolence, we continually see him offering up his servitude to other beings or things. This servitude may be false, or treacherous, but still we see him do it, over and over again.

He appears to Celebrimbor of Eregion under the false guise of Annatar, one sent by the Valar to aid the remaining Noldor in Beleriand. This appointment is nuanced, and canonical evidence for its precise working is scarce, yet we may assume that initially Sauron would have pledged his services and loyalty to Celebrimbor. Once again, we see him actively seeking a position of servitude to another. Similarly, Sauron later submits himself to the Númenorean king, Ar-Pharazon; he allows Pharazon to take him prisoner, and to keep him captive upon Númenor, though he swiftly insinuates himself into Pharazon’s court as an advisor and officiate. Again we see repeated our pattern: Sauron willingly submits himself into servitude. “Wait,” I hear you say, “he only did those things to further his ambitions, to give himself a way to corrupt and overthrow his enemies! That’s not real servitude!”. Well, look above; in the beginning Sauron chose Melkor’s servitude to better facilitate his ambitions - the motive is the same, even if the end result differs. The concept of servitude is bound tightly to Sauron throughout the ages, with different subtleties, but a clear repetition.

Perhaps the pinnacle of Sauron’s servitude to another is his creation and loss of the One Ring. We are told that Sauron poured an immense amount of his spirit and power into the Ring, and in FotR Gandalf directly says, “They are one. The Ring, and the Dark Lord.” Is that not the ultimate symbol of servitude - to bind oneself so irretrievably to another that they become united, and the destruction of one all but ensures the diminishing of the other? Whether he intended it or not, Sauron becomes servile to the Ring that he creates; if a thing can hold such power over his life or death, he is irreparably beholden to it, and that is as good as servitude in my eyes. 

Now, what was the ultimate point of this argument? A common criticism of some of the more… extreme portrayals of the fanon relationship between Melkor and Sauron is that it is unrealistic; Sauron would not tolerate such treatment, he would walk away from it, he would rebel against it. However, throughout Tolkien’s canon we see Sauron pledging servitude of a sort over and over again: his entire being both as a Maiar, a ‘servant and helper’, and as an individual, are integrally linked to this concept of obedience. Perhaps this may explain why, in these extremophilic Melkor/Sauron scenarios, Sauron does not walk away. Because even though Sauron may revile what Melkor does to him, to flout his subservience, or to revoke Melkor as his lord, would be to betray every obedient instinct that is so integral to him. In Sauron’s own mind, perhaps it is better to suffer upon occasions than to rebel against his own nature. It is easier to endure the occasional indignity or injustice than to subvert everything that his Maiarin spirit tells him to be true. He is a servant, and therefore he serves, come what may. 

A small flaw is found in that we have witnessed Sauron revoke Aulë’s lordship in exchange for Melkor’s. However, it is arguable that this transition was of less personal consequence - Sauron merely exchanges one aspect of servitude for another, he does not try to declare himself as independent. Any revocation of Melkor’s lordship would be a declaration of self-autonomy - simply put, where else would Sauron go? Whom else could he serve? The Valar would not have him back, all of Beleriand is full of his enemies, and he does not have enough power to set up a force to rival Melkor’s. To revoke Melkor’s lordship would be to destitute himself, and this would surely spell his destruction. Therefore once again the necessity of Sauron’s obedience to Melkor is reinforced, whether he found aspects of it grievous or not. 

Melkor and Sauron

Ordered by Astorey91 http://astorey91.tumblr.com

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