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Silus
2010-11-02, 06:42 AM
So, basically, post a short bio/description on some pretty pimp character concepts (or actual characters) that you have or have encountered.

Here's a few of mine.



Name: Amalee Piks
Race: Tiefling (+1 LA)
Class: Swashbuckler 2 (ECL 3)
Alignment: Neutral (Profit gaining tendencies)
Progression Path: Swashbuckler => Dervish => Dread Pirate
Character History: Amalee's mother was a cultist devoted to, well, Devil worship. Her father was a Half-Fiend and the leader of the cult that was ultimately devoted to Bel, Lord of the First, who was also Amalee's father's father (Amalee's grandfather is Bel). There was a raid on the cult by a group of adventurers, and her father escaped back to Hell (probably on the run from both the Devils and adventurers. For all I know he's a recurring villain for someone out there), but her mother was killed just after giving birth to Amalee. One cultist escaped, taking Ama with them, only to die a short while later (I've not put much thought into HOW they die. Bandits maybe?). Being left on the side of a major road, Ama was quickly found and adopted by a prosperous merchant couple that, due to some biological issues, could not conceive. They knew that Ama was touched by Fiends (her short horns, hooves and red skin were kind of a give-away), but reasoned that with proper parenting, they could raise her to reject her Fiendish heritage. And so they did. She grew up in a loving, caring, and fairly accepting family, who's home was located in the major metropolitan center of the world. She was tutored under both humanoid and benevolent monster teachers (her history teacher was a local Silver Dragon for example, hence her knowledge of Draconic). She eventually took up the family business and debuted into society as one of the first socially accepted Tieflings in the city.

She maintains a close relationship with her adopted parents, and has never met her biological father. However, she also has a very close relationship with her grandfather, Bel. Despite him being a Pit Fiend, the Lord of the First, and the head general of the Fiends in the Blood War, he dotes on his "favorite" grandchild. Ama's relationship with the various other Lords of Hell (except of Asmodeus) is that is a favored daughter or niece. Her relation with Asmodeus is almost non-existant, but she figures that she holds a small place in his black heart (as in if things really, REALLY come down to it, Asmodeus will step in under the claim of him protecting his investments, though Ama's probably be in like Deity level trouble). Her two favorite "relatives" are "Gran'pa Bel" and "Uncle Mephistopheles", Mephistopheles mostly because she thinks he's "soooooo cool" and she looks up to him in a way.

However, Ama's not evil, and constantly (though politely) rejects any offers of serving the Lords or for any Fiendish favors, with the exception of the rare Fiendish intervention on behalf of Bel (often a contingent of Devils sent under the orders to keep Amalee safe from various bad things (Anti-DM-douchbag countermeasures)).

Quick doodle of Amalee as a child (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/SilusCrow/Amalee_Child.jpg)




Name: Jillian
Race: Human
Class: Paladin 6/Rogue 4
Alignment: Lawful Good (Formerly Lawful Neutral)
Progression Path: Unsure
Character History: Firstly, Jillian started as a character at age 12. She was a member of the militant wing of the world's Law religion, and her job was to uphold the law with brutal efficiency. Like most of those taken in by the militant wing, she was an orphan, and trained in a Spartan-esque setting. She was, in a word, a killing machine. The general plot for the initial campaign was that the party was to fight this Half-Dragon demi-god who was more or less pulling a Sauron thing. We ended up just clearing out dungeons and getting levels, up until a magical accident that sent the party into an alternate world (apparently the size of Jupiter and with more portals than Sigil). This is where the real story gets started.

Upon arriving in the new world, Jillian gets in contact with the wing of the church on the world. She rejoins, explains her situation, and retakes her role in the militant wing of the church. However, this church on this world is far more militant, often conducting raids on supposed "unlawful" towns, either arresting or killing those they deem as "lawbreakers" for violating, at times, very obscure laws (This wing is the kind that would uphold the "no whale hunting law" in Wyoming for example). Jillian goes along with the church for a while, until one of her former party members (the party was split upon entering the initial portal and Jill's been alone up until now) is arrested for jaywalking. He's an anthro/were-dodo with very, very poor observation skill, but even still, upon seeing Jill with her Greatsword (Medium Sized, Masterwork Blue Ice Greatsword), something clicked and he remembered her (mostly because of that the safest place to be is next to the Paladin that's wrecking face through a dungeon). Seeing that the church was corrupt and did not follow the true rule of law (in that Laws exist to protect the people), Jillian excommunicated herself from the church. In the ensuing escape and fight, she lost her sword, and escaped with her companion into the wild. It was there that she reevaluated her morals and did a bit of self-searching, and eventually became a force of good, almost akin with Robin Hood, bot of a now Lawful Good bend (mostly thwarting the apparent evil/uncaring nature of the Church).

Objectives are as follows. Gather a force to oppose the church. Lead a rebellion against the Lawful Neutral church to overthrow the corrupt, power mad church leaders and bring about change for the better. And lastly, get her sword back ("It's a good sword, and I miss it.".)

Jillian, age 12 (http://SilusCrow.deviantart.com/art/DnD-Asskicking-Paladin-177361645?q=&qo=)
Jillian, age 19 (http://SilusCrow.deviantart.com/art/DnD-Jillians-Mech-182535727?q=sort:time+gallery:siluscrow&qo=3)

Prime32
2010-11-02, 07:57 AM
The first seems a little... Mary-Sue-ish. What with "everyone loves her, and the greatest manipulators in the universe refuse to manipulate her for some reason". While they make more gracious hosts than demons, devils are still made out of evil and should act in ways atrocious to a Neutral character. ("Your seat comfy? I can ask the butler to stuff it with more decapitated-but-still-living babies.")

And you're telling me that her parents and silver dragon teacher devoted to destroying evil are fine with her skipping off to Hell for a cup of tea made from the souls of the innocent? Family reunions must be interesting.

Rowsen
2010-11-02, 08:02 AM
Descendant of Bel.
Loves and revers Bel.
Friendly with the Lords of the Nine.
Not Evil.
Does not compute.
Sorry if I sound mean, but my Sue-ometer is going wild here.

Tytalus
2010-11-02, 08:09 AM
The first seems a little... Mary-Sue-ish. What with "everyone loves her, and the greatest manipulators in the universe refuse to manipulate her for some reason". While they make more gracious hosts than demons, devils are still made out of evil and should act in ways atrocious to a Neutral character.

+1.

It's a tiefling that isn't shunned by society who also has several super high-powered contact/friends (a silver dragon, two lords of hell), at least two of which would go out of their way to protect her (Bel sending a contingent of devils to save her? Seriously?).

All the while her fiendish contacts - who are the epitome of evil - refuse to be, well, evil to to her.

Why hello there, Mary Sue!

MarkusWolfe
2010-11-02, 08:12 AM
An awakened St.Bernard who takes levels in paladin.

Around his neck, there is a small keg of limitless bourbon.

Instead of summoning a mount, he summons a halfling paladin 3 levels lower than him.

When he's not adventuring, he's a guard dog for an orphanage for children from war-torn countries.

I have never seen this character before, but I intend to play it sometime.

Rowsen
2010-11-02, 08:13 AM
An awakened St.Bernard who takes levels in paladin.

I love it!

Tytalus
2010-11-02, 08:26 AM
An awakened St.Bernard who takes levels in paladin.

[...]

Instead of summoning a mount, he summons a halfling paladin 3 levels lower than him.


Now that is awesome.



Around his neck, there is a small keg of limitless bourbon.


Could be a keg of healing potions...

... or a means to dispense his Lay on Hands healing.

Silus
2010-11-02, 08:33 AM
*Laughs* Well, she was my first D&D character. I've toned it down quite a bit, though DM intervention tends to get in the way (Like my Ork Tinkerer that ended up becoming a time traveling Owlbear Tinker/Binder wielding a long-rifle).

As for the whole family'o'fiends, it's mostly fluff if anything. And an attempt to discourage the DM from being a jerk with excessive stuff (Like a Mind Flayer and his minions against a party of four lvl 3's for example). And the dragon, again, fluff to explain her knowing Draconic ('cause in the session I used her, everyone else knew the other basic languages, but nobody knew Draconic, and I had a slot open, so I needed the fluff to support it).

To be honest, she kinda sucks in play, being (currently) only a lvl 2 Swashbuckler.

*Feels the need to defend his characters*

freebiewitz
2010-11-02, 08:48 AM
Warforged.
Book of vile darkness.

Get spell from book of vile darkness that allows you to shoot your hand off to hit the enemy, considered an evil spell since it's all gory.

Have a warforged use it and you have a rocket punch mech!!!!

Next step.

Warforged.
Bag of holding.
Several mechanical peices of whatever.
A ballista.
One small construct.

Put bang of holding on chest, have the little mechanical pieces have the ability to hold/open said bag.
Put ballista and small construct inside.
When the construct see's the bag open have it instructed to fire the ballista.

You now have a chest cannon.

Next step.

Make sure your warforged is unarmored.
Then get a suit of armor, pimp said piece of armor as much as you want.
Then use a series of spells to make armor sentient.
Then make it so that the warforged and the armor can combine.

You now have two robots that combine.

So lets sum things up.

A rocket punching, chest blasting, combining robot!
Don't forget to add those mechanical wings from races of Ebberon.
Wrist mounted magic auto reloading crossbows.
And last of all perhaps laser eyes (Can't rememeber which book)

All I can say is.

GAI GAO GAR
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:3ktiqfCEEXRcEM:http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4422/04uz6.jpg&t=1

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 08:48 AM
As for the whole family'o'fiends, it's mostly fluff if anything. And an attempt to discourage the DM from being a jerk with excessive stuff (Like a Mind Flayer and his minions against a party of four lvl 3's for example). And the dragon, again, fluff to explain her knowing Draconic ('cause in the session I used her, everyone else knew the other basic languages, but nobody knew Draconic, and I had a slot open, so I needed the fluff to support it).

One answer could be that the high level devils tend to be well behaved around her because they are playing the long game with her soul:

a "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" thing.

Being subtle and charming, and avoiding "pushing" evil deeds on her, helps acclimatize her to it:


That said, if her soul's that important to them that they are going to such lengths to ensure she hands it over of her own accord, that might be even more Sue-ish :smallamused:

Silus
2010-11-02, 09:05 AM
Well the inevitable outcome I'm looking for her is to turn her into a high ranking soldier for the Fiends in the Blood War.

Ama's dad was supposed to take the spot, but the adventurers happened, and Bel was like "Well, a heavy handed approach didn't work with him, so let's try a more subtle try with his kid".

But yes, what you suggested Hamishspence would probably be the best course. Only problem is that the guys that DM the games I play have this.....complex about people playing evil characters. They think we're going to burn down an orphanage and eat babies or something. Like with this new campaign, we get to be pirates, but we're not allowed to pillage, kill, and torch port towns and stuff. Just pillage and rough people up, but no massacres :smallfrown: . Not sure how they'd take the granddaughter of an Arch Fiend's slow descent into evil...


That said, if her soul's that important to them that they are going to such lengths to ensure she hands it over of her own accord, that might be even more Sue-ish

Well that's a recent addition (originally she was just the adopted daughter of a merchant family in a world that was heavily influenced by the Discworld books), added after our now current main DM began killing our characters off with disturbing regularity (3 characters, 6 sessions). Kind of like a "Haha, screw you" if/when he pulls off something dickish. Hasn't called the bluff yet, so I suppose it works.

Edit: Though I suppose she's not as bad as my now-deity Dwarf Fighter who's patron to Crafting, War and Progress who, if he wasn't currently a vestige, could systematically destroy layer upon layer of the Abyss from his mobile domain that is essentially a floating island the size of Long Island, festooned with more weapons than are practical and enough ammo to fight both sides of the Blood War for a good few years.

Aidan305
2010-11-02, 09:09 AM
One of my favourite characters that I ever created was an Arcanoloth named Shirketh the Apostate. Essentially, he was an outcast among the Yugoloths, but he may, or may not, have also been an agent of theirs, with the whole outcast thing being a disguise. I built up layers and layers of subterfuge in to his background to the point where even I couldn't tell what his true goal was.

I had fun with that guy.

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 09:21 AM
They think we're going to burn down an orphanage and eat babies or something. Like with this new campaign, we get to be pirates, but we're not allowed to pillage, kill, and torch port towns and stuff. Just pillage and rough people up, but no massacres :smallfrown:

Well, the fact you frown upon not doing that means they are just right.
Also, a pirate torching a port town is just stupid. What would they pillage next week? :smallsigh:

Quietus
2010-11-02, 09:25 AM
I've just come up with a brand new character idea - a bullfighter-type, meant for single combat, possibly arena-style. I still haven't determined exactly how I'm going to represent this mechanically, I'm leaning toward a Knight basis (to force things into melee with him, so that he can "bullfight" a wyvern), but the more that I think about it, the more I'd like to add Improved Feint and some sneak attack in there, possibly with some spring attack to force a charge every round. I'd have to find a way to avoid damage, though, outside of just a high AC.. Elusive Target would certainly help, particularly if I started "bullfighting" an ubercharger of some sort, but .. well, we'll see. It needs a lot of work XD

Silus
2010-11-02, 09:26 AM
Well, the fact you frown upon not doing that means they are just right.
Also, a pirate torching a port town is just stupid. What would they pillage next week? :smallsigh:

Oh no no no, I'd not do random acts of evil unless I could gain something from it. Like if I torched the orphanage in such a way as to frame someone else for the crime, then somehow lie/swindle my way into his property (maybe become the orphanage owner before the torching or something and demand compensation from the accused).

As for the pirate bit, I'd at least like the option to do so without the DM penalizing me for it. I do so love my options.

Silus
2010-11-02, 09:28 AM
I've just come up with a brand new character idea - a bullfighter-type, meant for single combat, possibly arena-style. I still haven't determined exactly how I'm going to represent this mechanically, I'm leaning toward a Knight basis (to force things into melee with him, so that he can "bullfight" a wyvern), but the more that I think about it, the more I'd like to add Improved Feint and some sneak attack in there, possibly with some spring attack to force a charge every round. I'd have to find a way to avoid damage, though, outside of just a high AC.. Elusive Target would certainly help, particularly if I started "bullfighting" an ubercharger of some sort, but .. well, we'll see. It needs a lot of work XD

Perhaps a level or two of Swashbuckler? Maybe take the Duelist prestige class or something?

freebiewitz
2010-11-02, 09:56 AM
Perhaps a level or two of Swashbuckler? Maybe take the Duelist prestige class or something?

I'd say a level or two in gladiator for flavor if nothing else.
They work on intimidation and peform checks I think, can't rememebr.

Silus
2010-11-02, 10:03 AM
I'd say a level or two in gladiator for flavor if nothing else.
They work on intimidation and peform checks I think, can't rememebr.

I'm pretty sure it's perform checks...

the clumsy bard
2010-11-02, 10:09 AM
I'd say swordsage actually mixed with whatever class you are thinking works for you (maybe knight for the goading factor you mentioned)

swordsage has the counter maneuver feigned opening that replaces your ac with sense motive etc...

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 10:15 AM
Oh no no no, I'd not do random acts of evil unless I could gain something from it. Like if I torched the orphanage in such a way as to frame someone else for the crime, then somehow lie/swindle my way into his property (maybe become the orphanage owner before the torching or something and demand compensation from the accused).

As for the pirate bit, I'd at least like the option to do so without the DM penalizing me for it. I do so love my options.

The problem with evil characters is not about their 'random acts of evil'. It's about their acts of evil. Do you realize your group probably does not want to play a game like that? Some people actually enjoy being the heroes. Sure, you can play an evil character in a group of good characters and even be heroic (Firefly had good examples), but there are two problems in this aproach:
1) You keep saying you 'want to do evil things'. This is not even something ingrained to a concept to anything, you want to be evil for evil's sake. That will cause trouble in a group, because you will need spotlight time for your 'evil deeds' and that means the other guys play less - or you will do it in front of them, eventually engaging in in-party conflict. Again, in-party conflict can be a good thing, bu this kind of in-party conflict is the bad one. It results in your character being killed.
2) Stories about evil guys in a group of good guys usually have one of two goals: redemption or the portrayal of 'unredeemable evil'. Only the first one actually plays well in a good party (and it's obviously not what they want) and the second one makes for good novels and movies... and awful roleplaying games.
TL;DR - You're complaining about your party style. Either fit in or drop out.

Quietus
2010-11-02, 10:17 AM
I'd say swordsage actually mixed with whatever class you are thinking works for you (maybe knight for the goading factor you mentioned)

swordsage has the counter maneuver feigned opening that replaces your ac with sense motive etc...

I was considering Knight for that reason, but the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that might not be a good idea. I'm leaning more toward swashbuckler3/rogue3 at this point, with the potential to either hit Invisible Blade (depending on feat availability) or continue with that one feat that I can't remember to combine Rogue and Swashbuckler levels. Improved Feint if I don't go Invisible Blade, high Bluff ranks for feinting, see where things go from there, I'm thinking.

Myth
2010-11-02, 10:20 AM
*Laughs* Well, she was my first D&D character. I've toned it down quite a bit, though DM intervention tends to get in the way (Like my Ork Tinkerer that ended up becoming a time traveling Owlbear Tinker/Binder wielding a long-rifle).

As for the whole family'o'fiends, it's mostly fluff if anything. And an attempt to discourage the DM from being a jerk with excessive stuff (Like a Mind Flayer and his minions against a party of four lvl 3's for example). And the dragon, again, fluff to explain her knowing Draconic ('cause in the session I used her, everyone else knew the other basic languages, but nobody knew Draconic, and I had a slot open, so I needed the fluff to support it).

To be honest, she kinda sucks in play, being (currently) only a lvl 2 Swashbuckler.

*Feels the need to defend his characters*

This is so very wrong. First and foremost you can't use your back story to command or push your DM around. In-game, HE decides what Bel and every other NPC and printed monster do. Second of all, if your DM is throwing encounters that are too challanging for you, either talk to him/her or leave the game. You can never win an arms race versus your DM nor can you get them to do anything. Power Word: DM fiat trumps all.

The character is not one I'm impressed with from a writing perspective, nor from a mechanical one. How old were you when you wrote it?

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 10:23 AM
But yes, what you suggested Hamishspence would probably be the best course. Only problem is that the guys that DM the games I play have this.....complex about people playing evil characters. They think we're going to burn down an orphanage and eat babies or something. Like with this new campaign, we get to be pirates, but we're not allowed to pillage, kill, and torch port towns and stuff. Just pillage and rough people up, but no massacres :smallfrown: . Not sure how they'd take the granddaughter of an Arch Fiend's slow descent into evil...

One way might be "do evil things, to bad people".

If the character takes "Pay Evil Unto Evil" as

"Do REALLY horrible things to those who prey on the innocent" - and enjoys doing so, they might start sliding down the slippery slope.

Could start out as devilish temptation "Surely it violates justice that this horrible evildoer that preys on the innocent gets a relatively painless execution"- and carry on from there.

That's a big part of devils- punishing the souls of the wicked, but in a disproportionate fashion.

Coidzor
2010-11-02, 10:27 AM
An awakened St.Bernard who takes levels in paladin.

Around his neck, there is a small keg of limitless bourbon.

Instead of summoning a mount, he summons a halfling paladin 3 levels lower than him.

When he's not adventuring, he's a guard dog for an orphanage for children from war-torn countries.

I have never seen this character before, but I intend to play it sometime.

Rawsome. Though I'd make it go via leadership myself.


Currently one of my favorite concepts is a Necromancer who is also a gardener/landscaping specialist. Inspired by a campaign story where the Dread Necromancer posed as a gardener to explain away all of the dirt and digging implements and such on his person.

Something about the idea of mobile skeletal flower-pots really appeals to me. Where they've had a bit of soil rigged up inside of their rib cages or pelvises and flowers and vines grow out and intertwine and overlay the bones in a resplendent display of color. Also, help make the place smell better and add a bit of color. Potentially would mess with druids and clerics who might mistake them for plant creatures after the plants are fully grown and covering them. Use 'em as sculpture when not needing them as lackeys/muscle....

mootoall
2010-11-02, 10:28 AM
My favorite concept, build wise, works one of two ways. Either a first level wizard, using a fell drain sonic snap for a first level wightocolypse, or a higher level (at least sixth), high CHA dread necromancer, using Leadership to get, wait for it, a ridiculous number of 1st level wizards to fell drain sonic snap the world into a wightocolypse. And then rebuke/command undead for my own personal army of level draining folk. Season with Necropolitan to taste.

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 10:32 AM
One way might be "do evil things, to bad people".

If the character takes "Pay Evil Unto Evil" as

"Do REALLY horrible things to those who prey on the innocent" - and enjoys doing so, they might start sliding down the slippery slope.

Could start out as devilish temptation "Surely it violates justice that this horrible evildoer that preys on the innocent gets a relatively painless execution"- and carry on from there.

That's a big part of devils- punishing the souls of the wicked, but in a disproportionate fashion.

Now that would be an interesting character.

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 10:41 AM
Taken to its logical extreme, you might have a character who is willing to commit any act against those who prey on the innocent, in order to punish them, no matter how vile- and revel in these acts.

Yet at the same time, retain compassion for the innocent, and a willingness to defend them and never harm them.

Such a character might be fully aware that torturing people for pleasure is seen as evil by most of the people in his world, and respond with "Then I'm evil and proud of it."

Definitely an unusual take on the "card-carrying evildoer".

Silus
2010-11-02, 10:46 AM
This is so very wrong. First and foremost you can't use your back story to command or push your DM around. In-game, HE decides what Bel and every other NPC and printed monster do. Second of all, if your DM is throwing encounters that are too challanging for you, either talk to him/her or leave the game. You can never win an arms race versus your DM nor can you get them to do anything. Power Word: DM fiat trumps all.

The character is not one I'm impressed with from a writing perspective, nor from a mechanical one. How old were you when you wrote it?

Firstly, I'm going to say that I do understand where you are coming from with the "don't fight the DM" bit. However, this DM has stated, quite plainly, that he runs a DM vs PC game.

As for how old I was, what does it matter? If you take out the bit about the fiends and Bel, it's a perfectly fine character.

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 10:47 AM
Taken to its logical extreme, you might have a character who is willing to commit any act against those who prey on the innocent, in order to punish them, no matter how vile- and revel in these acts.

Yet at the same time, retain compassion for the innocent, and a willingness to defend them and never harm them.

Such a character might be fully aware that torturing people for pleasure is seen as evil by most of the people in his world, and respond with "Then I'm evil and proud of it."

Definitely an unusual take on the "card-carrying evildoer".

My country's most popular fantasy setting has one of those as a main villain. An ex-paladin that simply thinks everyone else is 'just wrong'. He warps the god of justice's teaching to fit his purposes and is deviously dangerous.
Of course he is a fan-favorite.

Silus
2010-11-02, 10:47 AM
Taken to its logical extreme, you might have a character who is willing to commit any act against those who prey on the innocent, in order to punish them, no matter how vile- and revel in these acts.

Yet at the same time, retain compassion for the innocent, and a willingness to defend them and never harm them.

Such a character might be fully aware that torturing people for pleasure is seen as evil by most of the people in his world, and respond with "Then I'm evil and proud of it."

Definitely an unusual take on the "card-carrying evildoer".

*Laughs* Lawful Evil with Good tendencies?

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 10:49 AM
*Laughs* Lawful Evil with Good tendencies?

No, that's just Lawful Evil.

AtwasAwamps
2010-11-02, 10:50 AM
My best concept? BestCat.

BestCat is not really a character…yet. He is a concept I use at the moment to terrify my group. He is an awakened housecat daring outlaw (rogue/swashbuckler) with possible levels in swordsage. He was created due to me being drunk and threatening to whip the entire party with an optimized housecat after someone stole my dice.

BestCat currently remains a legitimate threat, as the players are well aware of my ability to optimize normal, hapless creatures into nightmare beasts from beyond just about everything in the world. BestCat remains something lurking at the edge of the group’s collective consciousness and nightmares. BestCat means that housecats passing by in combat situations result in rapid reorganization of the party structure to protect the weaker members from the possible danger of BestCat.

BestCat is the greatest thing I have ever created and I don’t even know what his stats are.

Silus
2010-11-02, 10:50 AM
No, that's just Lawful Evil.

*Laughs* Fair enough.

Prime32
2010-11-02, 10:52 AM
Warforged.
Book of vile darkness.

Get spell from book of vile darkness that allows you to shoot your hand off to hit the enemy, considered an evil spell since it's all gory.

Have a warforged use it and you have a rocket punch mech!!!!

Next step.

Warforged.
Bag of holding.
Several mechanical peices of whatever.
A ballista.
One small construct.

Put bang of holding on chest, have the little mechanical pieces have the ability to hold/open said bag.
Put ballista and small construct inside.
When the construct see's the bag open have it instructed to fire the ballista.

You now have a chest cannon.

Next step.

Make sure your warforged is unarmored.
Then get a suit of armor, pimp said piece of armor as much as you want.
Then use a series of spells to make armor sentient.
Then make it so that the warforged and the armor can combine.

You now have two robots that combine.

So lets sum things up.

A rocket punching, chest blasting, combining robot!
Don't forget to add those mechanical wings from races of Ebberon.
Wrist mounted magic auto reloading crossbows.
And last of all perhaps laser eyes (Can't rememeber which book)

All I can say is.

GAI GAO GAR
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:3ktiqfCEEXRcEM:http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4422/04uz6.jpg&t=1...I thought you were talking about Mazinger Z (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYCT7M1kBtc) (who was the first user of all those weapons). GaoGaiGar doesn't have laser eyes. I had this thing written up for adapting GaoGaiGar to Eberron once, let me see if I can find it...
EDIT: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2699.0


One concept of mine which I'm fond of is:

Livewood does not die when cut down. Dryads can sometimes be found in livewood tress, and thus can end up in livewood ships, etc.
Warforged are partially made of wood.

I think you can see where this is going. It could work as a pair of characters, or something like this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6880.0).

Silus
2010-11-02, 10:57 AM
Just remembered a character that I wanted to run for a Mind Flayer heavy game.

He was a Half-Farspawn Wood Elf Ranger. He was originally a doctor and lost his wife and daughter in a Flayer raid. So he joined this "ark" thing where the other players were, in a gambit to kill the Mind Flayers and save the remaining sentient races (or something like that). So stasis comes about, and something from the Far Realm breaks through into his mind and turns him into a Half-Farspawn for the purpose of him getting vengeance, spread madness and chaos, and to forward his Far Spawn patron's agenda. Since he was pretty darn mad already (and because I know Flayers are psionic and the DM has a psionic "fetish"), I gave him some feats to counter Psionics, and skilled him up for stealth.

So, kinda like a completely psychotic, anti-psionic, tentacle limbed stealthy xenomorph nightmare with an unnatural hatred for Mind Flayers.

And what's more, the DM loved the idea.

Silus
2010-11-02, 11:00 AM
Also, to the people that focused on the Tiefling in the first post, what was your opinion of the Paladin?

Terumitsu
2010-11-02, 11:11 AM
Just once.

Just a single time.. I want to play an epic level good aligned lich (Has to be skeleton style rather than zombie style) with full ranks in proform, Create Wonderous Item, a leniant DM, and have the the Eidolon epic spell.

Why?

So I can use CWI to make:

A few 'Boxes of Channeled Sound Blast'
A 'Bass of Chain Lightning' (The instrument)
A set of 'Drums of Transmute Rock to Lava'
A 'Guitar of Meteor Swarm'

Put all that on a large floating platform (Enchanted with Levitate), and then summon up some Nighmares to pull it.

Cast Eidolon a few times to fill the spots for the other two instruments, grab the guitar, cast continual flame on all our skulls, and proceed to ride into battle while rocking out with a band of heavy metal liches raining death from above and hell from below...

I don't care how many dice I have to roll, it will be so worth it.

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 11:13 AM
*Laughs* Fair enough.

Except for a few posters who insist "anyone unwilling to harm the innocent is Neutral at worst" and would say such a character either cannot exist, or is Chaotic Neutral.

Running such a character in a BoED/BoVD game could be interesting (none of the Vile feats or PRCs are lost for Good acts- so they could be truly Vile and yet heroic at the same time.)

Especially when they run into their Exalted counterpart who is morally opposed to torturing villains and thinks they should be redeemed- but knows they have little justification for actually attacking someone who never harms the innocent.

Silus
2010-11-02, 11:22 AM
Except for a few posters who insist "anyone unwilling to harm the innocent is Neutral at worst" and would say such a character either cannot exist, or is Chaotic Neutral.

Running such a character in a BoED/BoVD game could be interesting (none of the Vile feats or PRCs are lost for Good acts- so they could be truly Vile and yet heroic at the same time.)

Especially when they run into their Exalted counterpart who is morally opposed to torturing villains and thinks they should be redeemed- but knows they have little justification for actually attacking someone who never harms the innocent.

Well, again, the DMs that run the games I play in frown on evil characters, even if they don't kill innocents. We're talking like "Oh, your character is now evil? Ok, they're an NPC now. Roll a new character" in intolerance.

Though....with this new campaign, that could work. Would help if I decided to take the Dread Pirate or Scarlet Corsair. You know, like giving her a reputation as a ruthless pirate against other pirates and "evildoers".

Honestly I think my Paladin (second character, first post) is closer to the "I like killing evil people" mentality. Even though I ran her as a 12-year-old (Small size, -1 or -2 to mental stats), she had the highest kill count in the party at the end of the campaign (Power Attack + Monkey Fist + Medium Masterwork Blue Ice Greatsword + Holy Smite = face wrecked).

Edit: Funny thing with the Pally. In the campaign, she actually killed my current DM's previous character--a Chaotic Neutral (Evil tendencies) awakened bear rogue that liked pickpocketing people and had a halfling fetish. She chased the bugger down through the streets, killed him, skinned him, and now wears the pelt as a Cleansed Fiendish Bear Cloak (+2 AC vs Evil creatures, +5 Disguise, +20 Speed).

Lucid
2010-11-02, 11:26 AM
One of my current favorites:

A neutral evil Wild Elf hunter in a mostly good-aligned party.
He's a ruthlessly pragmatic survivalist, doing whatever it takes to keep his family and tribe alive.

He sees humanoids/intelligent creatures as no better or worse than animals, though he enjoys the thrill of hunting them since they're more unpredictable.
Has no qualms about eating a slain foe, if time allows it he skins them and preserves their meat for later consumption. Hey, they're dead anyway, better they serve his survival than rotting away in a grave.
In keeping with his somewhat animalistic nature, cruelty and torture seem meaningless to him, you either kill someone if you need to or let them live if they are of no worth or threat to you.

He set out into the world when a blight came upon his forest home, hoping to find a cure. Eventually he came upon the rest of the party, who'se goals seemed to align with his own. Since it's mostly a wilderness campaign they have to rely upon his skills a lot, and he can be quite personable if he wants to.

true_shinken
2010-11-02, 11:39 AM
Especially when they run into their Exalted counterpart who is morally opposed to torturing villains and thinks they should be redeemed- but knows they have little justification for actually attacking someone who never harms the innocent.
Man, I so want to play this. You are awesome, hamishspence.

Silus
2010-11-02, 12:13 PM
So, people's thoughts on a Neutral Owlbear Mek Boy 3*/Owlbear 4/Binder 1 that can craft like nobody's business and rocks a longrifle?

*Mek Boy = Ork Tinkerer (From World of Warcraft D20)(Ork = Warhammer 40k, which the character in question was before getting a DM sanctioned Reincarnation)

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 12:47 PM
Man, I so want to play this.

I wrote a little sketch featuring the character, a paladin (who could be an Exalted counterpart)- and a third character, in one of the earlier threads:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173378&page=6

This is the sketch:

The characters are a LG paladin (Hero), a LN cleric of an LG deity (Villain), who has launched an inquisition to destroy evil- but also (very regretfully) destroyed innocents along the way- and an LE blackguard of an evil deity (Antihero) who commits evil with great delight and has one major redeeming feature- a moral compunction against harming or threatening the innocent. The villain has the antihero cornered, and the hero has come on the scene:

Villain: "Ah, brave paladin. Help me punish this vile evildoer."

Antihero: "Yes, I'm a vile evildoer- I do evil and I love it. If you must punish me, get it over with."

Hero: (points at Antihero) "I'm not here for his punishment."

Antihero and Villain: "WHAT?!"

Hero: (points at Villain) "I'm here for yours."

Antihero and Villain: "Why??"

Hero: "Because he may be a vile evildoer..."

Antihero: "Kind of you to say so."

Hero: "Not helping."

Antihero: "Sorry."

Hero: "He may be sadistic and psychopathic..."

Antihero: "Hey, those are my best points!"

Hero: "Not. Helping!"

Antihero: "I'll shut up."

Hero: "Yet in all his sick and twisted career of evildoing, he has never once harmed or threatened the innocent. You. Have."

Hero: (draws weapon, points it at Villain): "Surrender now, and your punishment will be left to the authorities. Otherwise, we fight."

Coidzor
2010-11-02, 01:23 PM
My best concept? BestCat.

BestCat is the greatest thing I have ever created and I don’t even know what his stats are.

Mmm, Awakened Warbeast Magebred Housecat... :smallamused:

Pechvarry
2010-11-02, 02:23 PM
One way might be "do evil things, to bad people".

If the character takes "Pay Evil Unto Evil" as

"Do REALLY horrible things to those who prey on the innocent" - and enjoys doing so, they might start sliding down the slippery slope.

Could start out as devilish temptation "Surely it violates justice that this horrible evildoer that preys on the innocent gets a relatively painless execution"- and carry on from there.

That's a big part of devils- punishing the souls of the wicked, but in a disproportionate fashion.

Dexter?


I've just come up with a brand new character idea - a bullfighter-type, meant for single combat, possibly arena-style. I still haven't determined exactly how I'm going to represent this mechanically, I'm leaning toward a Knight basis (to force things into melee with him, so that he can "bullfight" a wyvern), but the more that I think about it, the more I'd like to add Improved Feint and some sneak attack in there, possibly with some spring attack to force a charge every round. I'd have to find a way to avoid damage, though, outside of just a high AC.. Elusive Target would certainly help, particularly if I started "bullfighting" an ubercharger of some sort, but .. well, we'll see. It needs a lot of work XD

Blade Bravo! (though the Goad feat sucks)

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 02:31 PM
Dexter?

That's one character who fits the trope- but he's far from being the only one.

Urpriest
2010-11-02, 02:45 PM
Dexter?



Blade Bravo! (though the Goad feat sucks)

Seconded. Some variant of the Other Killer Gnome would be awesome for this guy.

PersonMan
2010-11-02, 03:21 PM
Dexter?

It took me a while to realize that people weren't talking about the Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory-this confused me a lot, and it's still what I think of when I see the name.

There are three concepts I've made fairly recently which I feel are pretty cool:

Direna: Uses an 'Ultimate Technique' consisting of spells, rage/frenzy and the Swiftblade PrC

Kel: Two personalities-one who is Evil but is working towards a utopia and judges people by the purity of their souls, and the other who is Good but considers herself Evil due to an odd set of morals. They both have to live with the fallout of each other's actions(i.e. A goes to Rock A to get something. B wakes up, leaves and gets lost. A must find a way back to civilization).

Blade-Person(working name): Perfectly normal human-looking construct with swords in arms and legs. Probably more suited as a recurring NPC/enemy.

Pictogram
2010-11-02, 04:21 PM
My favorite character that I've played is Cyphrus (Cy) Tolliver. { Bonus points if you know where the names from}

More than his class, (Hexblade 9, homebrew that doesn't suck- no spells just curses) Cy is a vicious actor with a taste for dramatics, going to extreme lenghs to keep up the act(lie) even if his cover is completely blown.

Cy doesn't remember his parents nor does he care, they were probably liars anyway. His earliest memory's are those of his youth, filled with romantic endeavors. Cy wandered from small town to small town under guise as a charming gypsy boy, selling oddities and jewelry ( has ranks in craft jewelry/ profession gem cutter). Cy would get a feel for the town, and then consequently, its most beautiful women. Cy listened to their troubles, he discovered what made them laugh, found out if they had lovers or not. Then he moved in for the kill. If they had no ties, they were easy enough to seduce on his own; if they had lovers, Cy would use his face-changing abilities to trick them into thinking he was their beloved. He would use, abuse, make them fall in love, and then move on.

After growing up a bit, Cy got tired of his game and settled down in a city called Nullton. There he looked for work as an actor. Finally impressing the right half-lings with his talent. They were known as The Twins by everyone- the best damn bards to ever sing in the region. They owned their own theater/troupe and employed Cy, quickly falling for his charm, all the meanwhile realizing of what nature he actually is: A Changeling.

The Twins coaxed him into comfort, and implored him into using his abilities on the stage in front of audiences- Cy had never felt comfortable about exposing his ability, but they were just too damn convincing. The three were a major success, receiving several invites to perform amongst lesser nobility and rich merchants.

Everything was peaches and cream till the troupe was invited to act amongst a wealthy elven house. All the actors knew that this was their big break, this would give them the connections that they would need in such a business. The night of the show came, and everything that possibly could go wrong did. Some support roles showed up drunk, costumes and props fell apart, Cy stumbled on his lines and forgot stage direction, while The Twins voices and instruments cracked and twanged.

The show was supposed to be a tragedy, but the elven house was filled with laughter- they jeered and mocked, insulted and slandered, ending with rotten fruit thrown. Cy was in shambles, as he seemed to be receiving the most of it. As the show ended, Cy ran off, only to be stopped and pursued by some of the elves. They drove in the stake further, attacking him personally, threatening that he'd never act again. Cy could take no more. He drew a sword and slashed out wildly in rage, cutting a few. He ran off again, muttering: " I hope you never catch me". As he looked back, thinking he'd see the elves following in close pursuit- they seemed to be running in slow motion, hindered by some unknown force. At the time Cy saw it as a lucky escape; now he knows that it was his developing hex powers.

So pretty much in game I say witty slander or curse them, correlating it via acting, to activate my hexes. Whatcha think?

Notreallyhere77
2010-11-02, 04:57 PM
Currently one of my favorite concepts is a Necromancer who is also a gardener/landscaping specialist. Inspired by a campaign story where the Dread Necromancer posed as a gardener to explain away all of the dirt and digging implements and such on his person.

Kyle? Is that you?

Back on topic, I've been thinking of playing a paladin who used to be a death-row convict, but has decided to redeem himself (I guess I'd keep parole as long as I retain my paladin powers?). I want to be the guy who knows and understands evil, and the measures it takes to stop it, but who also knows very well that if he can be redeemed, so can almost anyone.
He'd carry a merciful weapon asap, and refuse to kill anyone but undead, evil outsiders, or someone who has faked surrender ("I gave you a chance to change, you blew it."). Of course, there would still be people he knew from his life of murder and thievery that would know and recognize him from time to time, which could lead to problems...

Build wise, I'd probably go with either a pally-rogue mix, perhaps going into grey guard (he's not afraid to get his hands dirty).

If I can get the right setup, I can see the following scene playing out perfectly:

Paladin walks into den of criminals, decked out in holy symbols and gleaming armor.
Old acquaintance: "Hey, I thought you were put away! What are you doing here?"
Paladin: *unsheathes sword* "Penance."
*Butt-kicking ensues.*

I also considered making him a hellbred instead of an ex-con, if my DM would allow that race. In that case, he'd be ruthless, but still merciful, and entirely selfless, considering himself expendable because the worst that could happen to him already has.

hamishspence
2010-11-02, 05:02 PM
Paladin walks into den of criminals, decked out in holy symbols and gleaming armor.
Old acquaintance: "Hey, I thought you were put away! What are you doing here?"
Paladin: *unsheathes sword* "Penance."


I like it.

Cerlis
2010-11-02, 05:20 PM
One answer could be that the high level devils tend to be well behaved around her because they are playing the long game with her soul:

a "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" thing.

Being subtle and charming, and avoiding "pushing" evil deeds on her, helps acclimatize her to it:


That said, if her soul's that important to them that they are going to such lengths to ensure she hands it over of her own accord, that might be even more Sue-ish :smallamused:

I find the best villians are those who cultivated a life of happyness only to have it ruined and everything happy and good in their life only fuels their hatred and vengence.

I say ya should have the silver dragon on a quest to prove the concept of redemption by finding a way to make something made of evil redeemed. And i think the father being protective of his progeny except when they are killing each other off, the be a good idea. What if she has a hundred or so half brothers and sisters in hell who all want to be the "Daddy's favorite" (for selfish, evil or true reasons) and see her as an easy target to narrow the playing field. THe more Siblings she kills the more reputation she gains until she becomes "If i can just kill her i know i will prove myself"

Maybe look at Rich's articule about making a Good villian for inspiration (it involves a Half Devil/demon prince)

------------
And everyone else, dont forget the theorlogy of adventurer's only surviving so long and doing something special BECAUSE they are special. :P

Coidzor
2010-11-02, 05:26 PM
Paladin walks into den of criminals, decked out in holy symbols and gleaming armor.
Old acquaintance: "Hey, I thought you were put away! What are you doing here?"
Paladin: *unsheathes sword* "Penance."I like it.
As do I. :smallbiggrin:


Kyle? Is that you?

Nah, I wasn't the one. The story was posted somewhere on this website though(I think here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9056374)is where I first (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9056093&postcount=7) spotted it), the party was a motley crew gathered up by the guards to escort the crown prince somewhere, with the definite vibe that they wanted rid of the crown prince by pairing him up with a couple of no-name adventurers and a "gardener."

Prime32
2010-11-02, 05:34 PM
Direna: Uses an 'Ultimate Technique' consisting of spells, rage/frenzy and the Swiftblade PrCI've wanted to try an ardent 1/warblade 14/abjurant champion 5, who can combine Time Stands Still with twinned swift fusion to perform six full attacks in a round.

Or a boomerang-wielding swordsage/bloodstorm blade who uses Setting Sun maneuvers from range.

Urpriest
2010-11-02, 06:11 PM
Blade-Person(working name): Perfectly normal human-looking construct with swords in arms and legs. Probably more suited as a recurring NPC/enemy.

Ooh, name him Edward!

the clumsy bard
2010-11-02, 06:32 PM
or perhaps Paimon (vestige)

On another note I was slightly amused by the earlier mention of an awakened animal character and shared it with a friend.

His game is starting up in a couple of months and after sharing the awakened animal character concept he's demanded my character be an awakened monkey paladin.

My thing is... how do you justify a monkey paladin lol

Prime32
2010-11-02, 06:38 PM
or perhaps Paimon (vestige)

On another note I was slightly amused by the earlier mention of an awakened animal character and shared it with a friend.

His game is starting up in a couple of months and after sharing the awakened animal character concept he's demanded my character be an awakened monkey paladin.

My thing is... how do you justify a monkey paladin lolNot hard. The Monkey King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong) could see evil.

Urpriest
2010-11-02, 06:48 PM
Not hard. The Monkey King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong) could see evil.

Hanuman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman) is an even more well-known example.

MarkusWolfe
2010-11-02, 07:09 PM
Hanuman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman) is an even more well-known example.

And just in case he changes his mind and wants a bard.... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Louie)

Psyren
2010-11-02, 07:34 PM
Get spell from book of vile darkness that allows you to shoot your hand off to hit the enemy, considered an evil spell since it's all gory.

This is perhaps WotC's most irritating quirk :smallsigh:



a "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" thing.

Obligatory (http://xkcd.com/357/) :smallamused:



On topic: one concept I always wanted to try was a good-aligned Beguiler with Vow of Nonviolence that eventually enters Exalted Arcanist. She devotes her magic (and considerable brainpower)to fighting evil without harming anyone.

She's very much the bookish sort, but extremely kind-hearted as well. I haven't yet figured out the ethical side of her alignment though.

Urpriest
2010-11-02, 07:56 PM
Well one of the ideas floating around my head is Chaupiti, the dwarven shadowbear. She'd be some sort of totemist/bear warrior thing, able to teleport on top of people and maul them while being a kung fu panda. Fluffwise she'd spend her not-a-bear time as a round, asian-looking dwarven woman with a cheery, gentle disposition. Just because she's well versed in the eclectic magic of battle doesn't mean she's a bloodthirsty killer.

Shyftir
2010-11-02, 07:57 PM
My current one is pretty awesome, me thinks.

Arash Zarius "Azar"

Race: Maenad
Class: Monk/Psychic Warrior (going pyrokineticist)

Background:
Azar was found by a traveling Xeph monk, crying in the ruins of a burnt down house not far from the Inner Sea. The Xeph adopted the child and he was raised in the monastery high in the cliffs near a vast dessert. While the child was loved by the monks it was decided he had "too much chaos in his soul" and upon reaching adulthood was sent away with a deep-crystal glaive for a weapon and a working knowledge of the monastery's unique blend of martial arts and psionic power. Over the next few months, he traveled, eventually reaching the city of Dregatz. In the large fortified town he became an arena fighter and quickly became a trusted citizen.

Persoanlity:
Azar's inner chaos took form as a strange obsession with fire. He would stare into its depths and attempt to manipulate it with his mind. He thinks that with just the right sacrifice he can open himself to the "secret heart of fire" within himself and master the deadly element. He hovers between Law and Chaos, disciplined and ascetic, yet reveling in combat and simple joys. He views a well tended fire to be the perfect balance of order and chaos. Flame burns true and free but if left unchecked brings great destruction. He is the stoic and peacemaker in the party but jumps to adventure and combat as quickly as any.

Galsiah
2010-11-02, 08:01 PM
My idea isn't just a single character, so much as an entire party. An entire party of kobolds! My friends and I are thinking of making a tribe of kobolds made up of different casting classes, a wizard, a cleric, a psion, and a druid. All dragonwrought, naturally, so we can stand a pretty good chance of not dying. Hilarious hijinks ensue as a bunch of quirky kobolds try to make it in a world that hates kobolds, like most worlds.

Notreallyhere77
2010-11-02, 11:00 PM
Nah, I wasn't the one. The story was posted somewhere on this website though(I think here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9056374)is where I first (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9056093&postcount=7) spotted it), the party was a motley crew gathered up by the guards to escort the crown prince somewhere, with the definite vibe that they wanted rid of the crown prince by pairing him up with a couple of no-name adventurers and a "gardener."

I... OK, Xallace is Kyle. Yeah, I remember Mortimer. And his skeletal companion, TJ. Yeah, I DMed that game. We started at level one and ended at level nine, and then I had to move out of state. It ended in late september of '08. Good times.
Um, the prince was actually in some danger, but the idea to relocate him fo gnomish country was a political move in case kobolds attacked again.

Edit: Xallace isn't Kyle, but the similarity between our two games is strange and unnverving.
Now that I think about it, though, there were two necromancers in my game, and they didn't show up until several sessions in. Both were played by Kyle. Mortimer joined the party right after the gardner necromancer died. And I'm not so sure about the last name. But escorting the prince was the overarching mission of the campaign. I guess when you have enough gamers talking at once, this sort of thing is bound to happen.

Blaze
2010-11-02, 11:22 PM
I have a Drow Bard that that is not evil, grouped with evil characters.

He's so good at bluffing and charming, that the others can't resist his awesomeness. He's chaotic neutral, but he tends to swing both ways at times, he just lies to himself. He's horrible in combat, and I mean absolutely ****ing horrible. Lucky for him he has some evil bastards ready to kill stuff if anything comes near him, because he's so clutch at getting them out of trouble with anything that requires more then a sword, arrow, or magic missile in the eye.

Myth
2010-11-03, 03:41 AM
Firstly, I'm going to say that I do understand where you are coming from with the "don't fight the DM" bit. However, this DM has stated, quite plainly, that he runs a DM vs PC game.

As for how old I was, what does it matter? If you take out the bit about the fiends and Bel, it's a perfectly fine character.

Well do let us know how this goes? DM vs PCs game is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Unless he abides by your back stories in which case it's a DM with demi-DM PCs :smalleek:

And the character, well for a thread named "Awesome character concepts" you should be ready to receive some criticism, as people's gauge on how "awesome" something is varies. I like three dimensional characters, those who resemble real people. Naturally those are hard to make and are the key behind most great writer's success (but not all famous writers are great writers, but let's not get into that), but an effort is what i was looking for. Giving her some mix of good and bad traits for example - a short temper, or a bit of selfishness, or stubbornness or the sort. Of course giving a background to that trait or traits is very good for the convincing story part - like getting a short temper because she constantly bickered with her siblings or because she was bullied in the streets (very cliche examples). You get my drift.

Silus
2010-11-03, 05:58 AM
Well do let us know how this goes? DM vs PCs game is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Unless he abides by your back stories in which case it's a DM with demi-DM PCs :smalleek:

And the character, well for a thread named "Awesome character concepts" you should be ready to receive some criticism, as people's gauge on how "awesome" something is varies. I like three dimensional characters, those who resemble real people. Naturally those are hard to make and are the key behind most great writer's success (but not all famous writers are great writers, but let's not get into that), but an effort is what i was looking for. Giving her some mix of good and bad traits for example - a short temper, or a bit of selfishness, or stubbornness or the sort. Of course giving a background to that trait or traits is very good for the convincing story part - like getting a short temper because she constantly bickered with her siblings or because she was bullied in the streets (very cliche examples). You get my drift.

Yeah, I should have been ready for it ^^; Figure if I ever make an updated version of this thread later on, I'll throw in a "TL;DR" that's like "Tiefling Swashbuckler, going Dervish, social and merchant skills, knows Infernal, Elven and Draconic, and has a fluff-based Panic Button if/when the DM (who runs a DM vs PC game) gets uppity and unfair". Figure that would have smoothed things over a bit better as opposed to my posting a pretty Mary Sue character ^^;;

But yeah, most of her flaws revolve around simply not caring about "ZOMG X-Warlord is doing bad stuff! Help help help!" She'd be like "Ok, where's the profit for me? How can I benefit from helping you?" She was raised to be a high class merchant after all. And she's naive to her own personal situation (That being a Tiefling is usually a bad thing) as she grew up in a pretty darn tolerant city to a pretty wealthy and influential family (so heaven forbid you say anything about their kid lest they cut off trading ties with you).

Honestly, she's not had much in the way of character development, as I've only played her for a few sessions, and that was back when I was just starting to play D&D. My Paladin, at least in my opinion, is more....balanced in terms of overall character.

freebiewitz
2010-11-03, 07:31 AM
...I thought you were talking about Mazinger Z (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYCT7M1kBtc) (who was the first user of all those weapons). GaoGaiGar doesn't have laser eyes. I had this thing written up for adapting GaoGaiGar to Eberron once, let me see if I can find it...
EDIT: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2699.0


One concept of mine which I'm fond of is:

Livewood does not die when cut down. Dryads can sometimes be found in livewood tress, and thus can end up in livewood ships, etc.
Warforged are partially made of wood.

I think you can see where this is going. It could work as a pair of characters, or something like this (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6880.0).

Really? I swear he had eye beams o.o; Well anyways I do love Mazinger Z as well. I wonder if theirs a way to turn a warforged into an actual fist as well?

Edit: I prefer Jeeg over Mazinger though. Anything made by uncle GO is good me thinks. (Loves the side burns)

true_shinken
2010-11-03, 08:34 AM
Yeah, I should have been ready for it ^^; Figure if I ever make an updated version of this thread later on, I'll throw in a "TL;DR" that's like "Tiefling Swashbuckler, going Dervish, social and merchant skills, knows Infernal, Elven and Draconic, and has a fluff-based Panic Button if/when the DM (who runs a DM vs PC game) gets uppity and unfair". Figure that would have smoothed things over a bit better as opposed to my posting a pretty Mary Sue character ^^;;

I just have to point it out... if your DM allows something like a 'panic button' built into your story, then he's pretty forgiving actually. If someone came to my came with something like that (which basically amounts to 'I'm Elminster's long lost young brother', really) I'd just say 'No, think of something else'.
Any DM that actually wanted a DM vs PC game would just flat out kill you, no questions asked. Why 4 mind flayers when he can send an atropal? Why bother with an atropal when he can have a deity insta-kill everyone? And so on so forth. Maybe there was a reaosn for those mind flayers. Maybe you were supposed to run, to be captured, maybe it was meant to set up a DMPC to save you (ugh) or something like that. It just doesn't sound like 'DM vs PC', because that kind of thing is a boardgame that doesn't need any fluff. If anything, adding fluff to it just meand the DM always wins every time unless he wants to. I mean, where is the fun in that?

the clumsy bard
2010-11-03, 08:42 AM
Play a bunch or warforged egoists

Make sure they all have the appropriate craft skills and then turn into the parts with Metamorphosis or its greater version

Play Warforged egoists... or at least eventually have leadership and cohorts who are warforged egoists.

At first you can ride them around by having them increased in size with enlarge person etc...

Then after they gain the metamorphosis power http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/metamorphosis.htm

You can have them turn into the different body parts (read: legs, arms, head and torso?) and combine into awesomeness.

Merk
2010-11-03, 08:43 AM
A bard focusing on songs and stealth. "Haunts" an opera house.

Silus
2010-11-03, 09:11 AM
I just have to point it out... if your DM allows something like a 'panic button' built into your story, then he's pretty forgiving actually. If someone came to my came with something like that (which basically amounts to 'I'm Elminster's long lost young brother', really) I'd just say 'No, think of something else'.
Any DM that actually wanted a DM vs PC game would just flat out kill you, no questions asked. Why 4 mind flayers when he can send an atropal? Why bother with an atropal when he can have a deity insta-kill everyone? And so on so forth. Maybe there was a reaosn for those mind flayers. Maybe you were supposed to run, to be captured, maybe it was meant to set up a DMPC to save you (ugh) or something like that. It just doesn't sound like 'DM vs PC', because that kind of thing is a boardgame that doesn't need any fluff. If anything, adding fluff to it just meand the DM always wins every time unless he wants to. I mean, where is the fun in that?

Well I've not had to use it, so at the moment it's more like cautionary fluff more than anything, but knowing my temperament and my dislike for DM's killing characters I'm attached to, I figure he's not going to be calling my bluff any time soon. On the plus side though, I'm probably going to get rid of that bit of fluff due to the "problem DM" not DMing much any more (He's going to try his hand at more "mellow" characters for this pirate based campaign).

By "DM vs PC", I mean....well...lots of different things.

1. He lets us dig our own graves without any hints what so ever that the reasonable actions we are doing (Scouting about, whispering plans, taking a left instead of a right, ect. ect.) will result in our death. It's just like "Oh, wow, you guys weren't even supposed to fight these guys yet. But, oh well. Roll initiative."

2. He's crazy inflexible. Example from a session: Our cleric was down and out for a couple days after being poisoned, our rogue was knocked out from looking directly into time, my Ork was trippin' balls after failing a fort save after accidentally sniffing a chest full of drugs, and the Assistant DM's Centaur Dragon Shaman character was trippin' as well (a bit of in character/out of character revenge on my part. The Ork just wanted to share the good :smallwink:). So instead of giving us a way out so it wouldn't be a TPK, he had the assassins that were sent out after us show up when everyone was incapacitated, instead of having them be delayed by, say, a snowstorm. It was pretty much an unwarranted "Rocks fall, everyone dies".

3. Covered with #2, he very, VERY rarely gives us, the PC's, an escape route. If we get in a fight, we have to fight. There's no way out to escape. Modrons with crossbows show up? Have to fight. Have an undead outpost turn on you after negotiations? Have to fight (then try to pick off five runners on undead horses when the DM rolls AC each round). There's no escaping when he decided there are going to be hostiles, no matter what he's throwing at us.


But here's the thing. Even though the DM is, well, a bit of a jerk with this sort of stuff, he loves fluff. Like, he urges the players to write up full backstories for their characters and a list of contacts (friends, family, ect.) that our characters have (Like we ever get around to using said contacts). So if you make the fluff fit, and make it fit well, then you can get away with some crazy **** in his game.

BridgeCity
2010-11-03, 09:19 AM
Well I've not had to use it, so at the moment it's more like cautionary fluff more than anything, but knowing my temperament and my dislike for DM's killing characters I'm attached to, I figure he's not going to be calling my bluff any time soon.

I think you may be misunderstanding what a few people have said about this.

If the DM decided to send something massive against you, and you said "I call on the tyrants of hell for support, as per my character background" the DM can just say "They do nothing." And leave it at that. HE decides if they turn up or send support, HE decides if they care enough about your character, not you. The player never has that sort of control in a game.

I'm sorry, but your panic button offers you no protection, because you have no say in if it works or not.

Silus
2010-11-03, 09:22 AM
I think you may be misunderstanding what a few people have said about this.

If the DM decided to send something massive against you, and you said "I call on the tyrants of hell for support, as per my character background" the DM can just say "They do nothing." And leave it at that. HE decides if they turn up, HE decides if they care enough about your character, not you. The player never has that sort of control in a game.

I'm sorry, but your panic button offers you no protection, because you have no say in if it works or not.

*Sigh* You're right...

Helps me not feel like I'm not an ant under a magnifying glass though...

Prime32
2010-11-03, 09:22 AM
Really? I swear he had eye beams o.o; Well anyways I do love Mazinger Z as well. I wonder if theirs a way to turn a warforged into an actual fist as well?I statted Big Bang Punch as valorous weapons + rhino's rush.
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5811.msg207837#msg207837

Incidentally, the best way I can find for combining mecha is cohorts with the Eldritch Haunt template (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9701.0). Eg. the Pilder can turn into a cloak of flying.

BridgeCity
2010-11-03, 09:24 AM
*Sigh* You're right...

Helps me not feel like I'm not an ant under a magnifying glass though...

Yeah, I know how you feel, I just didn't want you to find that out the hard way or something. It's always nice to have impressive back stories, we all do it I'm sure, we just can't put our faith in anything in them helping us out if the DM decides they don't want it to.

Silus
2010-11-03, 09:26 AM
Yeah, I know how you feel, I just didn't want you to find that out the hard way or something. It's always nice to have impressive back stories, we all do it I'm sure, we just can't put our faith in anything in them helping us out if the DM decides they don't want it to.

*Nods* At least I can still throw a monkey wrench or three in his plots.

DM: "You enter the city and hear a commotion in the market place.
Me: "I leave the city. Surely there is another city that is commotion free (or "Haha, not biting that plot hook")."

BridgeCity
2010-11-03, 09:28 AM
*Nods* At least I can still throw a monkey wrench or three in his plots.

DM: "You enter the city and hear a commotion in the market place.
Me: "I leave the city. Surely there is another city that is commotion free (or "Haha, not biting that plot hook")."

Haha yeah, you can do that. Though I'm glad to hear your DM may not be DMing much longer, it doesn't sound like you have much fun.

Silus
2010-11-03, 09:31 AM
Haha yeah, you can do that. Though I'm glad to hear your DM may not be DMing much longer, it doesn't sound like you have much fun.

Well I did got turned from an Ork into an Owlbear after a TPK, so it's not all bad.

And he was a Binder that could summon a longrifle with unlimited ammo (Binder weapon).

BridgeCity
2010-11-03, 09:37 AM
Well I did got turned from an Ork into an Owlbear after a TPK, so it's not all bad.

And he was a Binder that could summon a longrifle with unlimited ammo (Binder weapon).

Haha Awesome.

As for the topic of the thread, there is one that I've always found hilarious.

A tomb-born druid stone-death assasin. Sit down in the under dark and shapechange into a giant squid. You don't breath, so no issues there. Use your stone death assassin ability to sit inside a cavern wall in a small, say ten feet by ten feet, tunnel. Wait for a group of creatures to walk past and death attack with tentacles from the safety of the stone.

Alternatively be a druid with shapechange and hide in plain sight (I don't care how you get it). Shapechange into an elephant or similar sized animal and hide in plain sight in a ten foot by ten foot tunnel. People in the tunnel technically can't possibly see past you given you block the entire tunnel, but they still can't see you either - brilliant.

Psyren
2010-11-03, 09:39 AM
Play a bunch or warforged egoists

Make sure they all have the appropriate craft skills and then turn into the parts with Metamorphosis or its greater version

Play Warforged egoists... or at least eventually have leadership and cohorts who are warforged egoists.

At first you can ride them around by having them increased in size with enlarge person etc...

Then after they gain the metamorphosis power http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/metamorphosis.htm

You can have them turn into the different body parts (read: legs, arms, head and torso?) and combine into awesomeness.

And much later, one can Expansion to Huge size and the others can fuse (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/fusion.htm) into him.

freebiewitz
2010-11-03, 10:27 AM
I statted Big Bang Punch as valorous weapons + rhino's rush.
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5811.msg207837#msg207837

Incidentally, the best way I can find for combining mecha is cohorts with the Eldritch Haunt template (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9701.0). Eg. the Pilder can turn into a cloak of flying.

Big bang punch? O.o Oh dear god WRY!?

Lol the strongest (Well not strongest but best) Punch I've ever made a character do was with a level two character.

Level one monk and level one sorcerer.

Round one. True strike +20 to hit on next attack.
Round two. Blood blade (Swift action) With Decisive strike (Full round)

Both round two abilities are from players handbook 2.

Blood blade adds an extra 3d6 damage onto your unarmed attack making the total 4d6. My character had 16 str so the damage was 4d6+3.

Not only that but Decisive strike doubles that damage at -2 to hit (Which is why the true strike is there.)

Basically what we have here is a single punch (That takes 5 hitpoints off the caster.) That deals.

14 - 54 points of damage at level 2.
With the low average being 30.
This is enough to knock out if not kill most other players your own level, with a lucky roll you can even take out fighters with maxed out hp who use feats and 18 con.

But seriously? Big bang punch?
Am I talking to a SRW fan here? Cause if I am! Then I would like to say one thing.

I AM THE ______ THAT CLEAVES THROUGH EVIL!

true_shinken
2010-11-03, 12:15 PM
By "DM vs PC", I mean....well...lots of different things.

Dude, your DM does not sound nowhere near as bad as you first made him sound. His games are deadly, so what? Just try to be more careful.

Prime32
2010-11-03, 01:33 PM
Big bang punch? O.o Oh dear god WRY!?

Lol the strongest (Well not strongest but best) Punch I've ever made a character do was with a level two character.

Level one monk and level one sorcerer.

Round one. True strike +20 to hit on next attack.
Round two. Blood blade (Swift action) With Decisive strike (Full round)

Both round two abilities are from players handbook 2.

Blood blade adds an extra 3d6 damage onto your unarmed attack making the total 4d6. My character had 16 str so the damage was 4d6+3.

Not only that but Decisive strike doubles that damage at -2 to hit (Which is why the true strike is there.)

Basically what we have here is a single punch (That takes 5 hitpoints off the caster.) That deals.

14 - 54 points of damage at level 2.
With the low average being 30.
This is enough to knock out if not kill most other players your own level, with a lucky roll you can even take out fighters with maxed out hp who use feats and 18 con.
Bonus damage dice are not multiplied like that - it would deal average 23.5 damage. There are some sandals which let you deal double unarmed damage on a charge though, and the Hammer Fist feat lets you treat unarmed strikes as two-handed weapons as long as you don't flurry.


But seriously? Big bang punch?
Am I talking to a SRW fan here? Cause if I am! Then I would like to say one thing.

I AM THE ______ THAT CLEAVES THROUGH EVIL!"Am I talking to a SRW fan here?"? You're asking someone who just linked you to a thread of SRW builds they did for D&D? :smallconfused::smalltongue:

TurtleKing
2010-11-03, 02:15 PM
To the ones who say powers that be do not interfere do not include all.

My first character's backstory was epic which lead that sandbox game into being a campaign. The effects of that campaign have echoed across the subsequent campaigns as well. The campaign he was played in also resulted in the group becoming gods in our own pantheon. Those same deities have acted in the third campaign. My character had a divine "readied" action should certain pcs die. Those pcs are dead, but not on the prinny plane.

If you have not guessed it by now I am talking about the Prinny. Sadly because of the effects on the campaigns after his I regret playing him.

@Silus: I have found you. Does the prinny not give it away? :smallsmile:

Silus
2010-11-03, 02:26 PM
Do I know you? :smallconfused:
I'm assuming the "@" was directed at myself?

Silus
2010-11-03, 03:38 PM
I really need to find a way to make a Half-Farspawn Vampire <race>. The LA/CR would be crazy, but methinks it would be interesting....

Pictogram
2010-11-03, 03:46 PM
Sad face. No one even commented on my character. Too much text?

freebiewitz
2010-11-03, 09:16 PM
Bonus damage dice are not multiplied like that - it would deal average 23.5 damage. There are some sandals which let you deal double unarmed damage on a charge though, and the Hammer Fist feat lets you treat unarmed strikes as two-handed weapons as long as you don't flurry.

"Am I talking to a SRW fan here?"? You're asking someone who just linked you to a thread of SRW builds they did for D&D? :smallconfused::smalltongue:

Are you sure they aren't multiplied like that? I know it doesn't work for say crits but the way the ability Decisive strike words it sounds like you can double all extra damage including damage dice.


If the attacks hits, it deals double damage (as does any other attack you make before the start of your next turn.)

Well my DM considers spell damage to be part of a attack so he allowed it, not sure if that's the case but I think it makes sense.

Also wow I am an idiot, SRW FTW!!!!
Also have you seen another centries episode? Seriously it is awesome.

hamishspence
2010-11-04, 03:48 AM
Of course, one basic character concept, can be fluffed in a lot of different ways, depending on the system.

Take "Evil guy that protects the innocent and does not harm them"

Applied to Warhammer and WH40K, they would probably be an Undivided Chaos Warrior.

They partake of all four Chaos gods- Khorne's bloodlust, Slaanesh's love of inflicting suffering, Tzeentch's deviousness, and Nurgle's fortitude and kindliness to those under his protection.

They would probably be devoted to Khorne's older version- a deity of martial honor that punishes his followers for harming the weak and helpless.

And they would offer up those villains they capture, as sacrifices to the dark gods.

The character would probably end up fighting most more ordinary Chaos guys they come across, as well as inquisitors who are far too free to sacrifice the innocent when rooting out and destroying Chaos.

But the gods would have no problem with their actions:

"Khorne cares not from where the blood flows, only that it flows..."