Hey folks!
I thought of doing up an in-character response, but there were things I wanted to say and it was clear Mister Black wouldn't let me.
First, thanks Fulcrumvale. This means a lot to me, as I'm somewhat proud of my characters even as I sometimes wonder if I do them well at all.
If I have a 'secret', is it's I let the characters run wild, sometimes to the detriment of the plot as I've discussed elsewhere. "Resurrection" has taken more twists and turns than I could possibly name. The main character, Thomas Heyward, was originally designed to be similar to me, and I went in wondering what *I* would do if teleported back to 1772 with the chance to stop World War II. Well...he soon let me know he had his own agenda, thank you, from lost love to an eventual showdown with a fallen angel. The other characters began out of necessity, then again took on lives of their own. Recently, for example, we've been reintroduced to a one-armed Army officer named Harding: He started as a throw away character, a random detail ... and stuck around.
'Tannenberg' is the same way. I intended this to be a series of conversations between 'Cat' (a pseudo me) and a Teutonic Knight. Well, somewhere along the line they decided sitting around was boring, and now they're fighting for their lives against unknown assailants. My Teuton started as a source of information, then turned more bitter and darker. Similarly I modify my in game behavior (and create events) based on the personalities I come up with for the various grandmasters and generals, who also take on their own personalities. Fulcrumvale specifically mentioned Konrad von Erlichshausen: I knew he was selfish and hated it when someone stood up to him, but I never figured he'd throw away an army and a war just to control his successor until it happened.
When I was considering an in-character response, Mister Black was going to say 'don't thank him, we do all the work.' In a sense this is true. It sounds ... well, insane unless it's happened to you, but I just sit, type, let my imagination run wild and the characters tell me what's happening. It can be somewhat unnerving...but very rewarding. (Of course, the problem is I've never taught them how to stick to the script yet. I have NO idea where Tannenberg is going, and Resurrection's so much larger than I ever thought it'd be.)
And lastly, since I know my characters won't do it, I want to thank all my readAARs. I wouldn't be doing this without you, and your comments have from time to time actually changed characters and plots. You, too, are part of these wild tales I'm trying to tell.
Thank you!