#overanalyzing a TTRPG game

[caustic-cola]

Spoilers for OUAW below cut

Witchlight withdrawals got me thinking about that episode where they took mushrooms and Gricko told the story of him and his mom. It's interesting because objectively, other members of the party have had worse things happen to them. But the circumstances of the whole thing, just.... yeesh. Telling your friends a story you've never told anyone about a moment where you deeply hurt your mother through your own selfish actions, something you're clearly very ashamed of and have grappled with for a while about how to best approach the topic, only for it to get erased from your memory.

Maybe he was waiting until he could visit home to talk to her about it. Maybe he thought once he came home with the reward, something to help his mother, the shame wouldn't overpower the desire to make amends.

Also Andy getting visibly, genuinely upset as the story goes on is just the cherry on top. I think a lot of people can relate to the feeling of doing something shitty as a kid and not realizing until much later what kind of impact that had. Obviously Gricko would have had no way of knowing what the piano and piano lessons truly meant for his mother: An opportunity for her son to have more than she ever had.

Again, other party members have arguably had worse experiences. But there is an underlying tragedy in Gricko's life, and unfortunately he is often either the cause of or right in the middle of said tragedies. Even worse, he doesn't have an ounce of malice (except for little frog things that kidnap his daughter) in his body. A lack of forethought, low attention span, and a bit of stupidity, yes, but not outright malice, especially when compared to the other half of Carnival Lecroux. And yet he's had a lot of misfortune in his life as a result of the kind of person he is.

I doubt Mikey thought this hard about the character, but kudos to him for finding his stride later in the series and crafting a backstory fitting the type of character Gricko is. Pervertedness be damned that boy can spin a yarn.