I chose Duncan on my first play through. Royland seemed a little to hot headed and with the Starks dead and my only hope of intervention from the outside being that Mira could persuade Margery to convince Joffery to NOT be a douchebag it seemed that my best option at the time was to bend the knee, convince Ramsey that my house was a better bet to keep the Ironwood pipeline flowing and hope. I figured Royland, being so hot tempered would do something behind my back (the entire story he treated Ethan like a child and not his Lord) like try and ambush the Snow/Whitehill envoy or burn the Ironwood or something that would have been really bad. Of course as we know there is no deterent to the shit storm headed towards Ironrath, but that was my thinking the first time around.
Royland. Duncan was a good guy but I felt like he would realize when it was time to bring out the swords too late. Rather be safe than sorry… more, right?
Tbh, I wanted an option to pick the Maester over either one. He seemed to be the perfect balance of both men.
Sure, let's fight a house with the backing of House Bolton, the new Wardens of the North! What could possibly go wrong, other than us being ripped to shreds within seconds?
He is too aggressive and unstable.
But Maester Ortengryn would still have been the best. Sadly, you can't choose him. Duncan is also not the wisest one out there, but still better than Roland. And his tactics for greeting Boltons son were...a little wiser.
I doesn't really make sense to brag with something you don't have, Royland! You know, like that 10.000+ men of House Bolton, whereas you have like 5-10. Wow.
Royland, I felt like I needed to project strength to keep my house alive. Duncan reassured me of my wise choice when he didn't even show up to my meeting with Ramsay (I am sure that if I had picked Duncan, Royland would have been the one to not show up, but my experience was that Duncan abandoned me.)
It is tough because I want to like Duncan since I know he knows about the North Grove. The problem is, none of my characters know anything about that but Gared. Further, the Gared thing made it unreasonable for me to fully trust him, and now, when I have to deal with him in the future, whichever character I am playing as will be approaching it from a 'You weren't there to help Ethan when he needed you!' perspective.
I went with Duncan because I seriously thought I could placate Ramsay by not charging at him head-first like a mad bull. Also, even though Ethan didn't know it, and I did, the late Lord Forrester trusted the 'North Grove' with Duncan - and Duncan only. So I presumed he's a more trusting character.
I think familiarity with the series played a big role in how people expected the meeting with Ramsay to pan out. He's really nasty in the TV series, but in the books he's pretty much the Worst Person Ever in a cast of villains that seems to be practically in a competition for that title. I really wasn't all that surprised when things turned out the way they did, no matter what approach you took.
I went with Duncan because I seriously thought I could placate Ramsay by not charging at him head-first like a mad bull. Also, even though E… morethan didn't know it, and I did, the late Lord Forrester trusted the 'North Grove' with Duncan - and Duncan only. So I presumed he's a more trusting character.
I chose Duncan. Although crazy sometimes work, I suspected Royland would of easily of over stepped his mark and done/said something stupid in his blood lust. The house was clearly in no position to start a fight and I thought diplomacy would of been the better way forward. I think it would of been for what it's worth...It's just a shame you were asked to be diplomatic with a complete nut job.
As stated above, Duncan was also in trusted with information know one else knew of by the previous Lord. He trusted him, so I felt no reason to not do the same.
I do agree, but the problem with that though is the north clearly isn't strong at that time. The thought of Royland being in charge as Ethan is gone is concerning too. For me, there's little to be gained from acting tough when everyone knows they're not at that time.
Royland.
Duncan's advice boiled down to appeasement and the problem with that is we're dealing with lunatics.
Lunatics only respect strength.
Royland's advice won't help much but we need to be strong in the North.
heh, i actually searched for an option to make maester Ortengryn the Sentinel, he seems smarter than both them, and also seems to bear more … morerespect to me, after sadly finding out that i can't, Duncan was an easy choice, Royland's behavior with the prisoner just annoyed me, and he's got a bad sense of things overall, yeah, let's fight an army ten times bigger than ours, what can go wrong?
As this being my first Telltale games I am very interested in hearing the reasoning of other players.
I chose Royland because despite his recklessness and brashness he has the right mindset for the current position House Forrester is in.
GOLDEN RULE: Never negotiate when in a position of weakness, and House Forrester is the epitome of a weak house at the moment. Furthermore, GOLDEN RULE 2: NEVER negotiate with a BOLTON. Royland made it clear in one of his arguments that the only thing a Bolton understands is force, and it was from that point on that I knew he was the guy for the job.
Diplomacy is all great and dandy, but you have to be rational and cynical. The Boltons and WhiteHills want you dead, there is no point of being 100% cooperative and diplomatic, because in turn you're only making the enemy stronger all while making yourself weaker.
To add, Duncan knows the secret of the groove. My final motive for my decision is giving Duncan a smaller target on his back. As sentinel he would be more at risk, thus the secret of the Grove is safer with him not being the sentinel. Not that I agreed with his point of views anyways..
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it would still only be about 100 times bigger, House Bolton fields 5,000 men. House Forrester has about 50 men at Ironrath.
The only problem is a Sentinel holds their position for life. So if the Forrester's make it out alive then you've got a crazy bastard for life yelling at you for not picking fights with other Houses.
As this being my first Telltale games I am very interested in hearing the reasoning of other players.
I chose Royland because despite his… more recklessness and brashness he has the right mindset for the current position House Forrester is in.
GOLDEN RULE: Never negotiate when in a position of weakness, and House Forrester is the epitome of a weak house at the moment. Furthermore, GOLDEN RULE 2: NEVER negotiate with a BOLTON. Royland made it clear in one of his arguments that the only thing a Bolton understands is force, and it was from that point on that I knew he was the guy for the job.
Diplomacy is all great and dandy, but you have to be rational and cynical. The Boltons and WhiteHills want you dead, there is no point of being 100% cooperative and diplomatic, because in turn you're only making the enemy stronger all while making yourself weaker.
To add, Duncan knows the secret of the groove. My final motive for my decision is giving D… [view original content]
I chose Duncan, because what I actually needed was 'sage advice'. Royland was still at my beck and call if I needed him, and I could still refuse Duncan's suggestions. I would've loved to make Malcom Sentinel though, he seemed like the perfect middle ground.
I went with Duncan. Royland is all "we need to show we are strong" when, let's face it, we AREN'T! Guile is the way to go, and guile takes many forms. Guile can be a silver tongue or a knife in the dark. We only need to have enough chest-thumping to show we aren't push-overs, not to push our luck. On top of that, even though Ethan didn't know, the whole "North Grove" aspect could prove vital in the long run; ergo, it would be best to stay in Duncan's good graces and not to have him bail on us in the end.
He's not asking to pick fights, but he firmly believes that we have to make a stand instead of appeasing the Boltons and WhiteHills. I do see your point of view though, long-term he might not be the best choice, but I highly doubt he's a warmonger :P
The only problem is a Sentinel holds their position for life. So if the Forrester's make it out alive then you've got a crazy bastard for life yelling at you for not picking fights with other Houses.
One of the main reasons is because i honestly feared he might betray Ethan or do something really stupid if i didn't choose him. Like with the few men we have remaining loyal to him i was worried he might take it out against Ethan where as i knew Duncan would help Ethan no matter what, he just has that vibe to him at the moment.
Another reason is because he makes a good point. This is war and we need a soldier not a negotiator. I mean they are sending Ramsay Snow, obviously negotiations wouldn't have worked for everyone who knows that character. Also i figured Ethan was young and needed a strong respected sentinel to help keep his authority.
Ultimately I went with Royland mainly because of Malcolm's recommendation and the fact that Duncan chose to send Gared to the Wall without his Lord's judgement. He would most likely still have made a good and safe choice being Lord Gregor's Sentinel and seemingly level-headed and wise, but on the other hand I also felt going with Royland would send the right message to the Whitehill's and the Bolton's.
I chose Royland. He wasn't exactly an ideal candidate because of his aggressive nature, but Duncan was his polar opposite, and seemed like the type who would just roll over. If there was an option to choose a character who was more in the middle ground, I would have chosen them. Considering I didn't have that option, I went with the candidate who had the most to offer. Royland is headstrong, but I figured I would be able to mitigate this to an extent.
Yeah, I was like. I don't want Royland and Duncan... give me the maester! I was disappointed to find out he was not an option. Then I chose Duncan because I don't trust Royland at all.
heh, i actually searched for an option to make maester Ortengryn the Sentinel, he seems smarter than both them, and also seems to bear more … morerespect to me, after sadly finding out that i can't, Duncan was an easy choice, Royland's behavior with the prisoner just annoyed me, and he's got a bad sense of things overall, yeah, let's fight an army ten times bigger than ours, what can go wrong?
Went with Royland as well. Yes, Duncan was nice and careful and all but he was named during a time when the north was relatively stable and peaceful coordination was more valuable than militaristic advise. Now, between the fall of House Stark, the really offensive nature of Lord Whitewall and the Boltons (!) being wardens of the north, it was clear that we needed someone who can work under pressure and knows how to fight.
Plus, and that was the decisive factor for me, I also considered Ethan's personality. He's the typical "artist". He already is very calm, careful, etc. Chosing Duncan might be the easier choice, but if leader and advisor are too close in personality, there's a risk of both of them just cradling each other's balls instead of deliberating different ideas.
Now, under the hindsight-section falls the fact of how Duncan reacted upon my decision, which wasn't at all as calm and fatherly as he seemed so far. Plus, there's still the question of who left the Bolton men inside and Duncan being strangely absent...
Comments
Indeed Fallandir!
I chose Duncan on my first play through. Royland seemed a little to hot headed and with the Starks dead and my only hope of intervention from the outside being that Mira could persuade Margery to convince Joffery to NOT be a douchebag it seemed that my best option at the time was to bend the knee, convince Ramsey that my house was a better bet to keep the Ironwood pipeline flowing and hope. I figured Royland, being so hot tempered would do something behind my back (the entire story he treated Ethan like a child and not his Lord) like try and ambush the Snow/Whitehill envoy or burn the Ironwood or something that would have been really bad. Of course as we know there is no deterent to the shit storm headed towards Ironrath, but that was my thinking the first time around.
Yea but I tried not to keep that in mind. The hardest thing about these games is not 'meta-gaming'.
Royland. Duncan was a good guy but I felt like he would realize when it was time to bring out the swords too late. Rather be safe than sorry, right?
Tbh, I wanted an option to pick the Maester over either one. He seemed to be the perfect balance of both men.
Yup
Same, I'd pick he and his maggots over both of them.
With the backing of House Bolton, so 10.000 times bigger
Duncan, because Royland is a dumbass
Sure, let's fight a house with the backing of House Bolton, the new Wardens of the North! What could possibly go wrong, other than us being ripped to shreds within seconds?
He is too aggressive and unstable.
But Maester Ortengryn would still have been the best. Sadly, you can't choose him. Duncan is also not the wisest one out there, but still better than Roland. And his tactics for greeting Boltons son were...a little wiser.
I doesn't really make sense to brag with something you don't have, Royland! You know, like that 10.000+ men of House Bolton, whereas you have like 5-10. Wow.
Royland since Malcolm said he is the right man. Let Duncan do his secret stuff noone else knows about.
I would pick Duncan because of... reasons.
Royland, I felt like I needed to project strength to keep my house alive. Duncan reassured me of my wise choice when he didn't even show up to my meeting with Ramsay (I am sure that if I had picked Duncan, Royland would have been the one to not show up, but my experience was that Duncan abandoned me.)
It is tough because I want to like Duncan since I know he knows about the North Grove. The problem is, none of my characters know anything about that but Gared. Further, the Gared thing made it unreasonable for me to fully trust him, and now, when I have to deal with him in the future, whichever character I am playing as will be approaching it from a 'You weren't there to help Ethan when he needed you!' perspective.
I predict six episodes of stormy relations.
Wow, uncanny resemblance.
I really wanted wise old Duncan, but I chose Royland for the obvious reasons, and I hoped that Duncan would be at my ear in confidentiality.
I went with Duncan as he was opposite of what I wanted Ethan to be.. oh how wrong I was.
You mean that wasn't Grenn?
I went with Duncan because I seriously thought I could placate Ramsay by not charging at him head-first like a mad bull. Also, even though Ethan didn't know it, and I did, the late Lord Forrester trusted the 'North Grove' with Duncan - and Duncan only. So I presumed he's a more trusting character.
I think familiarity with the series played a big role in how people expected the meeting with Ramsay to pan out. He's really nasty in the TV series, but in the books he's pretty much the Worst Person Ever in a cast of villains that seems to be practically in a competition for that title. I really wasn't all that surprised when things turned out the way they did, no matter what approach you took.
I choose Royland, cuz he want to fight with the Boltons, Duncan want to negociate.
I chose Duncan. Although crazy sometimes work, I suspected Royland would of easily of over stepped his mark and done/said something stupid in his blood lust. The house was clearly in no position to start a fight and I thought diplomacy would of been the better way forward. I think it would of been for what it's worth...It's just a shame you were asked to be diplomatic with a complete nut job.
As stated above, Duncan was also in trusted with information know one else knew of by the previous Lord. He trusted him, so I felt no reason to not do the same.
Royland.
Duncan's advice boiled down to appeasement and the problem with that is we're dealing with lunatics.
Lunatics only respect strength.
Royland's advice won't help much but we need to be strong in the North.
Duncan because that other guy is a dick.
I do agree, but the problem with that though is the north clearly isn't strong at that time. The thought of Royland being in charge as Ethan is gone is concerning too. For me, there's little to be gained from acting tough when everyone knows they're not at that time.
So you trust the Maester? Interesting.
Besides the messenger, Lord Gregor trusted one person in the entire world with the secret of the North Grove. That got my vote for Duncan.
Yes!
Sir Royland. I think I would be able to handle his temper, and a good bodyguard is ever appreciated.
A pity you couldn't make your sister, your mother or your uncle Sentinel, though.
As this being my first Telltale games I am very interested in hearing the reasoning of other players.
I chose Royland because despite his recklessness and brashness he has the right mindset for the current position House Forrester is in.
GOLDEN RULE: Never negotiate when in a position of weakness, and House Forrester is the epitome of a weak house at the moment. Furthermore, GOLDEN RULE 2: NEVER negotiate with a BOLTON. Royland made it clear in one of his arguments that the only thing a Bolton understands is force, and it was from that point on that I knew he was the guy for the job.
Diplomacy is all great and dandy, but you have to be rational and cynical. The Boltons and WhiteHills want you dead, there is no point of being 100% cooperative and diplomatic, because in turn you're only making the enemy stronger all while making yourself weaker.
To add, Duncan knows the secret of the groove. My final motive for my decision is giving Duncan a smaller target on his back. As sentinel he would be more at risk, thus the secret of the Grove is safer with him not being the sentinel. Not that I agreed with his point of views anyways..
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it would still only be about 100 times bigger, House Bolton fields 5,000 men. House Forrester has about 50 men at Ironrath.
The only problem is a Sentinel holds their position for life. So if the Forrester's make it out alive then you've got a crazy bastard for life yelling at you for not picking fights with other Houses.
I wonder what the the other guy we didnt take as sentinel will do when he hears that Ethan died. I bet Royland will feel like shit in my game.
I chose Duncan, because what I actually needed was 'sage advice'. Royland was still at my beck and call if I needed him, and I could still refuse Duncan's suggestions. I would've loved to make Malcom Sentinel though, he seemed like the perfect middle ground.
I went with Duncan. Royland is all "we need to show we are strong" when, let's face it, we AREN'T! Guile is the way to go, and guile takes many forms. Guile can be a silver tongue or a knife in the dark. We only need to have enough chest-thumping to show we aren't push-overs, not to push our luck. On top of that, even though Ethan didn't know, the whole "North Grove" aspect could prove vital in the long run; ergo, it would be best to stay in Duncan's good graces and not to have him bail on us in the end.
He's not asking to pick fights, but he firmly believes that we have to make a stand instead of appeasing the Boltons and WhiteHills. I do see your point of view though, long-term he might not be the best choice, but I highly doubt he's a warmonger :P
Royland.
One of the main reasons is because i honestly feared he might betray Ethan or do something really stupid if i didn't choose him. Like with the few men we have remaining loyal to him i was worried he might take it out against Ethan where as i knew Duncan would help Ethan no matter what, he just has that vibe to him at the moment.
Another reason is because he makes a good point. This is war and we need a soldier not a negotiator. I mean they are sending Ramsay Snow, obviously negotiations wouldn't have worked for everyone who knows that character. Also i figured Ethan was young and needed a strong respected sentinel to help keep his authority.
Ultimately I went with Royland mainly because of Malcolm's recommendation and the fact that Duncan chose to send Gared to the Wall without his Lord's judgement. He would most likely still have made a good and safe choice being Lord Gregor's Sentinel and seemingly level-headed and wise, but on the other hand I also felt going with Royland would send the right message to the Whitehill's and the Bolton's.
Sir Royland; Tuttle raged in my face xd
I chose Royland. He wasn't exactly an ideal candidate because of his aggressive nature, but Duncan was his polar opposite, and seemed like the type who would just roll over. If there was an option to choose a character who was more in the middle ground, I would have chosen them. Considering I didn't have that option, I went with the candidate who had the most to offer. Royland is headstrong, but I figured I would be able to mitigate this to an extent.
Yeah, I was like. I don't want Royland and Duncan... give me the maester! I was disappointed to find out he was not an option. Then I chose Duncan because I don't trust Royland at all.
Went with Royland as well. Yes, Duncan was nice and careful and all but he was named during a time when the north was relatively stable and peaceful coordination was more valuable than militaristic advise. Now, between the fall of House Stark, the really offensive nature of Lord Whitewall and the Boltons (!) being wardens of the north, it was clear that we needed someone who can work under pressure and knows how to fight.
Plus, and that was the decisive factor for me, I also considered Ethan's personality. He's the typical "artist". He already is very calm, careful, etc. Chosing Duncan might be the easier choice, but if leader and advisor are too close in personality, there's a risk of both of them just cradling each other's balls instead of deliberating different ideas.
Now, under the hindsight-section falls the fact of how Duncan reacted upon my decision, which wasn't at all as calm and fatherly as he seemed so far. Plus, there's still the question of who left the Bolton men inside and Duncan being strangely absent...
I chose Duncan because I feel like the north grove will be important.