There’s a guest strip about that. You’ll have to scroll down a fair way.
TIL the sound of a soul being rezzed is “SPLONF!”
He’s said it. And made it clear that Bandana was going to be an additional female main character. Or at least a major one. I’m afraid I can’t give links to the quotes.
But I don’t see any significant love for the character on the other board. It’s not that anyone hates her, though. Just indifference.
Assuming she’s managed to hold the Mechane there long enough. The crew will probably be antsy to go catch a merchantman hauling dwarven precious metals.
A culture grounded on honor and beer is more than a little amusing.
I’m looking forward to seeing Minrah become a regular part of the comic. She has a nice character. Optimistic like Elan without being foolish.
Problem is, if there’s one thing they don’t need any more of on the good guys team, it’s divine spellcasters.
I don’t see Hilgya staying.
Huh. She never seemed so to me, since she had her own thing being the new captain of the ship. The only way I can see to introduce a main character at this point is to make them part of the party. And, even then, I think it’s likely too late.
I was more referring to the Azurites, but Hilgya also included.
I’d say that the bigger issue is her level and she should rightfully end every fight laying on the floor.
Yeah, I wouldn’t have even guessed that Bandana was supposed to be promoted. She has her own pirate ship that she’s fought to be captain of, has her own crew and is tied to the thing. How does that make her anything but a side character when the main act is a team of people on a quest to save the world?
You also have the issue that the Order is already set up with all the major archetypes. Another rogue type isn’t really needed, male or female. It’s like adding another wizard or fighter. There isn’t much room to add in another major character without stepping on toes or making them redundant. Heck, Andi would have been a more interesting ‘main’ character with her mechanical engineering skills.
I don’t know if Bandana was supposed to become a full member of the Order. Probably not, but perhaps if more fans really liked her. More likely she was intended to be just be one of the important supporting cast. Like O-chul, Lien, and Hinjo. And those sometimes get their own story arc, which Bandana did with the mutiny. Looks like the same is true for Minrah, although she may not get an arc.
Trust me, there is no such thing as too many clerics. 
I just don’t see much potential for Minrah as a character in the story. Most of what she would bring to the story is already there. The only thing she would add as new story possibilities is that she’s a low level character.
Bandana would have brought the fact that she hasn’t been a part of Roy’s group for all this time; she wouldn’t automatically defer to his leadership the way the others (even Belkar) do. It would have shaken Roy out of some of his complacency to have to justify his orders.
Miko would have brought the crazy. It would have been interesting to have a good character who was as difficult to work with as an evil character normally would be. It would have demonstrated the difference between alignment and personality. And as a paladin, Miko would have brought a new skill set in.
Hilgya is evil but in a different way than Belkar is. Throw in the personal conflict between her and Durkon. And she’s at the right level and in the right place.
Therkla would have brought in a neutral alignment viewpoint. (I think Vaarsuvius might technically be neutral but it seems more like V just goes back and forth between good and evil.) Plus ninja powers as a new set of skills for the group. And the possibility of a love triangle.
Lien is still alive and on the same side as the group (which is more than several other possibilities can say). And she’s a paladin. But quite frankly, Lien has never seemed all that interesting a character. Even after she got a back story in the recent book.
Sabine would be a remote possibility. She now has something of a motive if she felt that the group was her best means of seeking revenge for Nale. But the group really doesn’t seem to be heading in that direction; they seem pretty much willing to let Tarquin go and focus on Hel and Xykon. And Sabine is still an agent for the three fiends. I think we might see Sabine again as part of the story but I can’t see her as part of the group.
For a pure combat mechanic analysis, you’re absolutely right. However the goal for Durkon now isn’t necessarily to kill RC and Co., but to convince RC to help them with getting the Dark One on the side of snaring the Snarl. Maybe Minrah helps with that somehow, more so than the Order alone? Also, maybe Minrah helps out with convincing the Dwarven Council with whatever it is they need to do to help fend off the Exarch?
I still wonder if RC’s niece is going to be relevant somewhere for the above questions.
Anyone else think that the Deva’s description of their slaad pregnancy and birth was unusually detailed in its timeline for what on the surface is a throwaway joke? Almost suspiciously so? Although, as one poster at the OOTS forums pointed out, it does rule out it having anything to do with the MITD.
Could the MITD’s overall fuzziness with his/her memories, and the Gates especially, have anything to do with what we learned about the Gods mindwiping Outsiders between bouts of world-building?
Burlew isn’t just making this up as he goes along, you know. He has had the whole plot arc mapped out for some time. He doesn’t promote character because they are popular, or kill them off because they are unpopular. Bandana will become a full time member if and only if the plot requires it. I doubt that’s going to happen.
That’s not necessarily correct. The most powerful spell she’s cast is 3rd level, so she’s at least a 5th level cleric, and she had another class before that. She could easily be around 10th level. Further, she brings about the possibility of a love triangle - her and Durkon, with Durkon being conflicted about Hilgya and Kudzu. Remember the caveat to the Oracle’s prophecy for Elan? ‘For you, at least.’ Maybe Durkon learns from his breakup with Hilgya.
And for the low-level POV we have Mr Scruffy and Blackwing.
Isn’t it obvious, that Minrah is Redcloak’s niece? 
And yeah, there obviously can’t be any new main characters. I mean, heck, Scruffy and Blackwing are both, by any reasonable measure, members of the party, Blackwing since almost the beginning, and neither of them is a main character. But there’s still plenty of room for major supporting characters.
Yeah, minor characters are tied to a location area so far, and I’m not sure how many locale changes the story has left. It’s very possible after a quick temple tie up I doubt there will be too big of a to-do getting Dvallin to vote nay, and I don’t see any need for them to go back to the moot in that case, . I can see them relatively quickly(2 years at most :)) at the last gate for the final battle so the rest of the story should be in the “Dwarven Lands setting” and Minrah tagging along or meeting at climax point. Plus as I said before, she has a last name (and as also pointed out a middle one even) she has more to do somewhere.
Yes, but he doesn’t have it plotted out to the level of detail that he can’t introduce significant supporting characters. Otherwise story arcs wouldn’t almost always run longer than he originally figured.
And I wouldn’t be at all certain that the only locations left in the story are the dwarf town they are in and Kraagor’s gate. For all we know, they may end up going to that world seen in the rifts or even somewhere we don’t know about yet. Perhaps they’ll even meet the three Fiends. Or the Snarl.
PS Minrah is also Fryon’s son.
Little Nemo has a nice post, but I’ll note that Burlew doesn’t have to adhere to Chekhov’s Gun. A minor character could play a minor role like filling in Elan’s comic niche once he became a little too overpowered for it for example. Episodic fiction can get quite crowded with characters.
