Who's the Best RPer in OOTS

[Lerky]

I know this isn't an acutal "game session" just a world where the rules are similar, but if it was a gaming session, who's character would be the best RPer and who would be the worst?
My list:

:vaarsuvius:-Anyone who can make a character Hermaphroditic and talk like V does, deserves to be the best RPer.
:haley:-Haley's backstory is the most interesting, unique, and developed. She obviously spent a lot of time on it and only real RPers can do that.
:durkon:-also has a creative backstory but whoever can do that accent deserves a gold star (gods know I've tried:smalltongue:)
:elan:-While RPing a stupid character is slightly more difficult if you're not as stupid as the character, Elan breaks the 4th wall constantly. But his pretending to be stupid around the game table make it worthwhile
:roy:-Roy has an extreme lacking of RP. Although he has a darn good backstory, all he does during the gaming session is want to complete the quest, the only time he acts In-Character is when he's mad at Elan (and that might refelcted from Out-of-Character)
:belkar:-I think this is an easy one.

[Kish]

All of them would be pretty impressive if they had players, simply because, while they break the fourth wall, they never break character. My list would probably be pretty close to upside down from the starting post in this thread, though. Roy's in a realistic romantic relationship that wasn't dramatically revealed in a storyline; that strikes me as really advanced roleplaying, and he plays out his annoyance with the other members of the Order, particularly Belkar, as though he'd never heard of out-of-character considerations like needing to keep the party together no matter what. Belkar manages to play a psychopath, and Elan an idiot, with complete unwavering consistency regardless of the cost to the other group members of themselves. Meanwhile, Vaarsuvius shows minimal tolerance for other characters forgetting the mechanics of their world.

[Rotipher]

I'm more interested in what kind of role-player each character's player might be:

Vaarsuvius's player is a rules lawyer.

Belkar's player is a world-class munchkin.

Roy's player seems to be working off steam from a boring, humiliating day job.

Elan's player watches way too much TV.

Haley's player is an old fogey who's been gaming since the '80s.

Durkon's player is overly attached to fantasy-genre cliches.

[NeonRonin]

Hm. If I apply some of the game groups I've played with to the OotS cast, I can see a lot of parallels- V is being played by the guy who has every RP book known to man and crunches numbers for EVERY freakin' level he gains. (He's a great GM, but as a fellow PC he tends to hog the spotlight) Belkar is being played by the ultra-munchkin, who also happens to be a number cruncher. (Ditto) Haley is being played by a guy with an odd tendency to run female PCs in every game(this one is in my current group!).

Elan is being played by someone who enjoys playing bizarre, amusing characters, often with ridiculous quirks. (I've done this on and off.) Durkon is being phoned in by the gamer who's played since the '80s and sleeps through half the session. (I haven't seen that guy in over a year) Roy... well, his player put together a good story, but some of the feats picked up have made him less than he could be. (This is another one I'm guilty of myself!)

[Zordrath]

:elan: While RPing a stupid character is slightly more difficult if you're not as stupid as the character, Elan breaks the 4th wall constantly. But his pretending to be stupid around the game table make it worthwhile
It's entirely possible that Elan's player IS that stupid (his character does not only talk stupid, he also contributes very little, even in mortal danger to the group), and therefore does not RP at all :P


:roy: Roy has an extreme lacking of RP. Although he has a darn good backstory, all he does during the gaming session is want to complete the quest, the only time he acts In-Character is when he's mad at Elan (and that might refelcted from Out-of-Character)
Roy is the group's leader, wanting the main quest to be done isn't necessarily bad RPing. Plus, Roy has the most detailed backstory and is one of only character to have romances with NPCs. I'd say he's a pretty good, albeit somewhat dull, player. I'd place him on the same level as Haley, who has a similiar amount of romance, backstory and character growth. I'd actually rank V beneath the two - the character is played very well, but there is less detail to him than Roy and Haley have. On the other hand, that seems just about to change, so who knows...

[Kish]

Roy... well, his player put together a good story, but some of the feats picked up have made him less than he could be. (This is another one I'm guilty of myself!)
:smallconfused: Huh? How do any of Roy's feats detract from his roleplaying?

It's entirely possible that Elan's player IS that stupid (his character does not only talk stupid, he also contributes very little, even in mortal danger to the group), and therefore does not RP at all :P

This seems to be implying that "good roleplaying" involves talking only, and if you act in a manner consistent with your character when your group is "in mortal danger," it's not roleplaying. I hope that's not what you meant to suggest.

[Rutskarn]

Belkar's player is a world-class munchkin.


You kidding me? Belkar doesn't even know the rules of his own class (evasion, anyone?).

No, Belkar is That Guy. That Guy who kind of creeps you out after a while, like he's venting the psychosexual urges he's swamped with every day in the fictional world.

[Zordrath]

This seems to be implying that "good roleplaying" involves talking only, and if you act in a manner consistent with your character when your group is "in mortal danger," it's not roleplaying. I hope that's not what you meant to suggest.
It's not bad roleplaying, but deciding that your character is so useless you'd rather see the entire party killed than having him contributing anything at all is bad DnD playing. Of course, whether the player does that out of stupidity, roleplaying principle or just to annoy his teammates is up to debate. I just wanted to point out that a character like Elan can just as well stem from an outright stupid player playing as himself, not necessarily from a good RPer intentionally playing stupid.

[aapje]

Roy for staying in character even after his death ;)

[Zevox]

Belkar's player is a world-class munchkin.
Oh no, no he wouldn't be. Belkar isn't even close to being a munchkin-type character. Hell, just to start with, he's a Ranger with a wisdom penalty and no ranks in survival. Not to mention he fights with daggers (which are close to the weakest weapon choice out there) and is a Halfling melee warrior (small size and -2 racial penalty to strength are not conducive to a strong melee warrior). And as Rutskarn said, he doesn't even know what his own class features are. I could go on, too.

Zevox

[Rotipher]

Hey, I didn't say Belkar's player was a smart munchkin! I meant that his player embodies the munchkin attitude, even as he screws up -- and with, when he can get away with it -- the rules.

Frankly, Belkar's player is likely to be a barely-teenage boy.

[Zevox]

Hey, I didn't say Belkar's player was a smart munchkin! I meant that his player embodies the munchkin attitude, even as he screws up -- and with, when he can get away with it -- the rules.
...I don't understand what you mean here. What are you referring to?

Zevox

[Rotipher]

Eh. I'm using "munchkin" in the old-school sense of "immature jerk who's only happy if his PC is upstaging everyone else's in a (cakewalk) fight". "Clever min/maxer" seems to be how you're defining it; has the definition really changed that much? :smallconfused:

[Assassin89]

Frankly, Belkar's player is likely to be a barely-teenage boy.

There are no players in Order of the Stick, unless you forgot comic 606 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html)

[Rotipher]

We know. It's a "what if?" thread.

[Zevox]

Eh. I'm using "munchkin" in the old-school sense of "immature jerk who's only happy if his PC is upstaging everyone else's in a (cakewalk) fight". "Clever min/maxer" seems to be how you're defining it; has the definition really changed that much? :smallconfused:
*shrugs* I've only played D&D for a few years, and only know the term from its use on the WotC forums. The impression I always got of it was that it was synonymous with "powergamer," "min/maxer," etc. Other connotations or meanings to it - such as the one you just described - I've never picked up on.

In the sense you gave, I agree, Belkar's hypothetical player might fit that kind of profile. Though he could also just be the sort who likes to pretend to be excessively cruel and violent.

Zevox

[Optimystik]

Roy for staying in character even after his death ;)

Pretty much this.

[Shadowbane]

I think V or Haley. V's talking is...hard to do. I've tried.

[magic9mushroom]

My own speech occasionally sounds like Vaarsuvius's. It's not that hard, you just need a large vocabulary.

[Kish]

It's not bad roleplaying, but deciding that your character is so useless you'd rather see the entire party killed than having him contributing anything at all is bad DnD playing. Of course, whether the player does that out of stupidity, roleplaying principle or just to annoy his teammates is up to debate.
I find myself reminded of this (http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0138.html).

[Optimystik]

My own speech occasionally sounds like Vaarsuvius's. It's not that hard, you just need a large vocabulary.

Plus a rather large dose of pretentiousness. :smallwink:

[Liwen]

Haley is being played by a guy with an odd tendency to run female PCs in every game(this one is in my current group!).


This tendency is actually not has odd as it would first appear. It can be explained by the follwings causes:

1. An admiration to the opposite, related to the increasingly powerfull feminine influence over modern society.

2. Curiosity.

3. Likes to play with the minds of his gaming friend, especially in games when you can only see the player's avatar or character model. I did that on several occasions in WoW with my Night Elf Hunter. I team with a clearly affirmed male player often, become a good friend by using my vaste array of jokes and approprietaly timed one-liners, pretend to be a "she", up to the point where we start using voice chat. The moments following the revelation are usually hilarious. Even more if the guy being played was a nerd who never gets laid and was actually happy and excited about having a girl friend online. (Kane, if you're reading this, please forgive me ^^)

4. And the most likely, the player IS the nerd who never gets laid and is sick of meeting sick people like me on WoW, so he actually splits his personnality and gives a share he likes to his female avatar and start lusting it has he plays the game. The avatar in question is very often a bisexual redheaded 19 years old 18+ charisma type.

Free sample (http://www.buddytv.com/articles/Image/alyson-hannigan.jpg)

Now relating the main topic :

I give first medal to Roy. His backstory is no less than epic and I just love the way he often acts like a annoyed player, but actually makes it look like a character trait : (well actually Rich is the one doing all the RP, amazigly well)

Second goes to V. Have you ever seen a player, even a good Rp one, reflecting the impacts of a post- thraumatic disorder by major change of behavior that actually makes sense, even in the eyes of a professional psychologist? I think not.

Third's to Elan if his player is actually bright. Restraining his potential by acting stupid in fights just for the sake of Rp would require insane amounts of self control.

Four's to Durkon : Even though I find the character rather cliché and modeled from a standard adventurering description chart, he does play the dwarf so good he actually feel like a genuine dwarf.

Five to Haley : Excellent backstory, but a few flaws explains her very low position : She is inconsistent and greedy. Two player very common and noticeable traits.

Last goes to Belkar. He's the one that broke the fourth wall the most often, up to the point were he actually mention D&D outright. And let's admit it, every not Rping player acts like a sociopath, loot collecting psycopathic killing machine.

[Zordrath]

I find myself reminded of this (http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0138.html).
I couldn't help but think of Darths & Droids while writing this, as well :smallbiggrin: (I could see Elan being played by Sally, by the way :smalltongue: )

[hewhosaysfish]

One random thought: If there were actual players behind the OotS, then I'd bet that V's player is playing cross-gender, i.e. whatever gender V actually turns out to be then this hypotetical player would be the opposite.
Seriously, every time I've seen someone play a cross-gender character, you can guarantee that at least one other person (sometimes the DM) at the table will refer to them in-character with the wrong pronoun and get corrected. And NPCs will occasionally react as if they were the other gender too (though not as ofter).
It explains it all!