Cecilia Stoutheart

[DeLastOne]

I am having very hard time to bound with here decision. She will not even try to negociate a possible surrender of her enemies, she is just out there for blood... she is blunt and not really likable IMHO...

[jonoliveira12]

No, she is not. She is stubborn, quite a bit incompetent, and backwards, but not a bad person.

Silkspool deserved to die, and she does not kill the captain that forces her to detour, to make ammends with the Faey.
She is far from "despicable".

[Ail]

I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity to leave ethical choices to the player instead of having the main-character make decisions that the player might consider despicable.

"You'll have to do something you consider despicable for an in-game-advantage but it's your decision."

[JellyPuff]

I mean she witnessed the slaughtering of her people and the reasoning by the mercenaries who did it was basically just "Well, it's just business, ma'am." with zero remorse. Not really hard to see how she was like "off with his head" in a medieval fantasy setting during times of war.

She reasoned with the Faye just fine, since they haven't razed any towns to the ground.

There's a moral gray area in all campaigns i've played so far. R´Lac is just on a rampage at some point, taking no prisoners, but it's also somewhat understandable due to being held as slave for long.

The impact of some of the story elements just doesn't come across very well within just the adventure map.

[Wondervice]

She is not a very nice person, but she is not supposed to be.
She is a ruler in a feudal-like society that takes both her rights and responsibilities seriously. That's it. People are so used to the hollywood type "we all need to get along kids" narratives in every story that they think that anyone not conforming to that must be a terrible monster.
Cecilia is the rightful ruler of the land and she is a just ruler to boot. The mercenaries have an entirely different ethical codex which makes what they did fine from their point of view but an abhorrent crime from Cecilia's point of view and vice versa. She certainly isn't wise (which is pointed out in the story), but she is far from despicable.

Every single character in this story is entirely justified from their point of view. Even the Brayans killing and enslaving the Rana have a point that gets proven right when Rasc reawakens the dragons and instantly decides to kill everyone who stands in his way of expanding the marsh.

[jonoliveira12]

People absolutely are too accustomed to hollywoodesque paragon morality.
Cecilia is a PERFECTLY NORMAL character, for a Medieval setting. This is what kings and lords were like.

The mercenaries were conducting operations without any official declaration of war ever having come to pass.
At that point, they are not enemy combatants, they are raiders and outlaws. Silkspool deserved the beheading.

[LexGeneralis]

Seriously? A third thread about Cecilia now?

[jonoliveira12]

Postat inițial de LexGeneralis:

Seriously? A third thread about Cecilia now?

They are in love!

[Heresy]

I've only played the first two missions, but I thought it was refreshing that the protagonist was more nuanced than the regular computer game "hero". I mean, I'd act about the same - if someone kills my friends I'd probably kill them in return without thinking much of it.

[Wlerin]

Meanwhile just about the "nicest" player controlled character so far has been the Baron of Loth.

[jonoliveira12]

Postat inițial de Heresy:

I've only played the first two missions, but I thought it was refreshing that the protagonist was more nuanced than the regular computer game "hero". I mean, I'd act about the same - if someone kills my friends I'd probably kill them in return without thinking much of it.

It is not that she is nuanced, it is that she is not a hero, she is a ruler, and acts like one.
Cecilia is also an unwise character whose convictions often come back to bite her, but that is just realistic.
Aurelia was right, it was impressive that she managed to quash the undead rebellion in Loth.
It was done extremely brutally and efficiently. No moralizing, just claiming back her vassal lands.

[DarkMachine]

I guess there are people here whom never played Heroes of Might and Magic 5/Heroes 5 because Cecilia Stoutheart character and her circumstances in the story is very much based directly off the character Isabel Greyhound from HoMM5.

[jonoliveira12]

Postat inițial de DarkMachine:

I guess there are people here whom never played Heroes of Might and Magic 5/Heroes 5 because Cecilia Stoutheart character and her circumstances in the story is very much based directly off the character Isabel Greyhound from HoMM5.

No, both Cecilia Stoutheart and Isabel Greyhound are based on Catherine Gryphonheart, the protagonist of the most famous game in this genre: HoM&M3.

Cecilia's name is literally a reference Cathy's.

Catherine Gryphonheart is the original redhead queen who muscles in her way to restore her father's beleaguered kingdom, who is being sabotaged by hostile outsiders and dark forces.
She is the prototype for these styles of characters.

[Revirginator]

Just started the game, but very pro Cecilia Stoutheart, for the reasons listed above. I don't like her, but I like having a playable character like her in the game. If nothing else, she's memorable.

[jonoliveira12]

Postat inițial de Revirginator:

Just started the game, but very pro Cecilia Stoutheart, for the reasons listed above. I don't like her, but I like having a playable character like her in the game. If nothing else, she's memorable.

She is brutal and unwise, but she actually behaves like a medieval ruler.
It is true she is memorable. Cecilia elicits a strong reaction, it seems, which means people who play the game will remember the character.