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Callos_DeTerran
2011-09-17, 10:31 AM
character concept? Not class mind you, a class can be twisted around to suit a variety of different character ideas, plus there's a ton of threads about that kind of thing. No, this is about what your favorite character concept is! What concept for a character do you keep returning to, no matter how much you may dally with other concepts, because you just enjoy playing it so much?

For me, it comes down to two different concepts that I can't choose between.

The first is the swordmaster. No fancy magical tricks, except maybe a mighty sword (even that's optional), just a warrior who gets by on his sheer skill with his weapon, strength, and wit. Most important of all, is fearlessness. Mad arch-mage? No problem. Dragon? The bards will sing of this story! Demon army? A worthy task. The kind of warrior who lives on cause he didn't need to bend the laws of reality to be an utter bad-ass. I've always loved the concept and I've put it through many different filters over my period of play from a glory-hound warblade (my favorite), to a knight/paladin I've yet to play.

The second actually is almost partial to the second. The story-teller, the ministrel, the sort of character you don't really notice in the thick of battle but entertains the village children by telling them what had happened in the inn that evening. They've got a story for almost every occasion to provide kernels of wisdom but, most importantly, they'll be telling the group's story when their adventures have ended. The final battle cuts to black to an old man/woman telling the epic to a group of people and inevitably gets the question 'so was it all true?' to which they just smile and move unto the next town.

Otacon17
2011-09-17, 11:02 AM
The smart guy. When the DM says, "You see a mysterious <thingy>" I love being the one to guy in the party who knows to gasp in horror and say, "By Bahamut! That's the legendary <thingy> of <whatever>!"

INDYSTAR188
2011-09-17, 11:59 AM
I have two as well.

First I absolutely love the idea of the Crusader/Paladin. Someone fighting for his righteous beliefs to punish (but not necessarily kill) evil. The kind of hero who can go to a crypt, cave, ruined castle, ect and vanquish the evil to save the local villagers. I'm a big fan of the arch-type of undead slayer too.

Second is the trickster. The kind who always has the item required to get out of (or into) any situation. Maybe not the most powerful fighter, he doesn't have the magical resources of the mage but he is irreplaceable in most epic stories. I especially like the idea of beating the baddies by out smarting them or cleverly distracting them while the party swoops in for the victory.

Quietus
2011-09-17, 01:57 PM
Mine is the reluctant hero. I like a character who has some internal struggle each time Evil raises its ugly head. No, I don't really WANT to go put my life on the line again, but.. if I don't, then who will? Would I really be able to deal with the guilt that comes with doing nothing when I had a chance, however small, of stopping this world-rending terror? Case studies :

- A druid who only got involved to stop her protected lands from being wrecked, and stayed with the party because she started to see them as her family - her children, actually.

- A more or less one-armed bard, who would rather not risk his life, but understands that in Faerun that's the fastest way to gain the political power he craves.

- A generic soldier who happened to land the killing blow on a demon, which attached its dissipating soul to him. Now he has to deal with the ramifications of this.

- I don't know how I forgot this one; A man exiled from his small village for manslaughter, now wandering the wilds seeking to do good in an attempt to atone for his actions.

GenericGuy
2011-09-17, 02:22 PM
I always like playing a charismatic character (usually a bard), who is a disgraced noble on the run. He tends to be a womanizer, racist in a condescending way, use underhanded tactics and likes to work as the “face” of the team during negotiations. But is a true neutral to neutral good person.

A female barbarian of one the stereotypical “savage/evil” races. So often in fiction the more “physical” monster races are always represented by a male character, and I like to be a little different.

A nerdy mage, not a wise beyond their years and respected wielder of the arcane, but a dweeby bookworm coward, who acts like how I think most of us would act if he were put into a dangerous world like the ones in DnD.

A Generically good and righteous Paladin out to make the world a better place, being subversive with my characters all the time can get tiresome. Being a straight up Paladin is refreshing for me.

TheThan
2011-09-17, 03:54 PM
I love the daring two fisted adventurer. From high flying bush pilots to daring archeologists, I can’t get enough of them.

I also love roguish scoundrels, you know the type that’s equally at home exploring a dungeon as he is wooing the ladies at the fancy dress ball.

zenon
2011-09-17, 04:32 PM
My favourite concept is the selfserving guy who'd prefer to live a hedonistic life, but who realises that if he doesn't go out and be a hero or something, it's going to come back and hurt him later on.

*.*.*.*
2011-09-17, 09:30 PM
Racial Progressions: I love playing exotic races(usually through progressions). I adore the concept of a character growing into their power instead of learning their "profession"(class). Unfortunately, most DMs are very hesitant to allow such characters.

Wyntonian
2011-09-17, 11:39 PM
As poorly as it fits into actual play, I love the archetype of the Wise Old Master. Yoda, Rafiki, Brom, any of them. Bonus points if they appear to be slightly crazy at first. Extra bonus points if they tell lots of stories and smoke a pipe.

Esprit15
2011-09-17, 11:47 PM
My favorite tends to be the smart alec. Has a bit of wit, and still supports the team over all, but will laugh at anyone doing something he deems stupid, or find any reason to make a jab at the party leader or anyone who it wouldn't be too bad an idea to tick off.

Knaight
2011-09-17, 11:49 PM
The rut I lapse into with an annoying frequency is the silver tongued liar. Someone who talks their way out of any situation they can, manipulates their enemies with a complex web of lies, pretends to be any number of different people, and in general avoids anything that vaguely resembles a fair conflict.

Golden Ladybug
2011-09-18, 01:40 AM
I have a few that I like playing;

The not-so-favourite son. This is the guy who leaves a family of wealthy background because they never thought he was quite good enough. Often this character will be a Half-Elf or Half-Orc, born out of wedlock and never quite accepted by the other members of their family. Recently, this Archtype took form in Daniel Iric, a Half-Elf Ranger from a family of Elven 'Aristrocracy' who's father had a few dalliances with some human women. He left his family in his mid-twenties (and would have only been considered a toddler by Elven standards at the time too) and became a Ranger. He ended up travelling with a Dwarven Paladin, an Elven Rogue (who he knew from his home town, and completely hated) and a Githyanki.

The four of them ended up confronting a powerful Sorcerer, who Daniel tried to kill. He failed, and had his mind flattened by a room of Illithids. The Dwarven Paladin called upon Heironeeus for support, and curbstomped the Sorcerer with his Divine Powers.

I like to think Daniel went wandering in the wilderness after this, and died trying to stop another great evil. Daniel was an eternal failure, really :smallfrown:

The Naive Kid. This is the one who wants to believe that the world is a good place, really, and all these mean people are just a loud minority. They treat the Adventuring Party as their family, and try to protect them. Currently, I'm playing this Character in Felicity, a Catfolk Scout of only 9 years (Catfolk are considered adults at 14, of course, but shes still a kid really). She's very fast, and willing to put her life on the line to protect her friends. She also plays the Fiddle.

The Suave as F*** Compulsive Liar. This is a fun concept; given the choice between telling a simple truth or an Outrageous Lie, this character will have already started talking about how he defeated the demon king of a far away continent with only his wits and three bananas. This is almost exclusively a Bard, because they're the only ones who get Glibness, something of a necessity for this sort of character. Anton the Bard was my most recent incarnation of this character. I'm fairly certain he got lynched after trying to claim that the well respected and honest dwarven blacksmith was the leader of a cult of demon worshippers (no such cult existed, to the best of his knowledge)

The Tomboy. Fairly simple, really. The Tomboy is a Girl who isn't the princess of the story. She doesn't wear dresses if she can get away with it, and feels more comfortable with a Longsword in her hands then some knitting needles. Wants to be treated as 'one of the boys' and wears her hair short. Will often be the one who volunteers to rescue the damsel in distress, much to the curiousity of her comrades. The most recent version of this was Alice, in a game that never quite got finished. She was a Fighter who was hired to guard a wagon train as it travelled to a nearby city, but got caught up in a battle to save the world from a Necromancer of unmatched power. The game never got finished, so I suppose she's still alone on a winding road, climbing up a mountain to confront an enemy so far beyond her abilities, abandoned by her allies. I wish her luck.

Vknight
2011-09-18, 02:49 AM
The 'Mysterious Stranger' is awesome because of the past they can carry with them and other things.

The 'Cold Sniper' which my favorite in a D&D game was in a one shot in D&D 4e and and coolest Cold Sniper has to be Boone form 'Fallout New Vegas'

My favorite is the holy man with great ideals for there church and strong beliefs of there church that actively put them at odds with the churches teachings and sometime parts of the gods portfolio.
Inigo Wayne the Paladin from a pathfinder game. His goddess is one of the Harvest & Moon. He thinks this means she is a goddess of harvest as in death. To continue this he harvests enemies.

Silus
2011-09-18, 03:18 AM
1. The "Rule of Cool" character. I don't care if it's optimized or not, I'm gonna run a loli Human Paladin with Power Attack, Monkey Grip and a Greatsword made of tempered magic ice. Character progression includes Paladin, Rogue, Grey Guard and some for of Inquisition Prestige Class.

Or a Tiefling Swashbuckler/merchant's daughter turned Dervish who can literally dance through the battlefield with a pair of scimitars while wearing an evening dress and a leather bodice/armor.

2. The social character. I played a Bard once and I loved it.

Earthwalker
2011-09-18, 03:41 AM
Knight in sour armour detective. (Please note this is not a knight) Everything about the character could be prefaced with "badly" as in dressed, shaved and in need of a drink.

He knows that people are mean, petty and simple just bad. He still tracks the killer, and tries to save the day. Maybe he gets the murderer and he is carted away to jail. Still tomorow there will be another murder, or another crime and its back to the start.

Cerlis
2011-09-18, 03:48 AM
(i've finished rewatching Firefly so sue me)

Actually i just now realized that the character i'm thinking of reminds me of Mal. The idea was a Jack-of-all-Trades (I always imagine gimble when doing this) Who seems personable and friendly and clever. Not a silver tongued liar since he doesnt like to Lie but he has the mind and conviction and ability to do it when need be. He'll fight back when fought at, one major scene i think of is there being a shootout in building and he's hiding behind an upturned table, and after her ally gets up to run to and jump out a window he gets up, dual wielding wands or using a single revolver shoots and gives them cover fire. The second scene is them running through the alleyways of the town and they run into a a single guard looking for them. As the party pulls out their swords and weapons he puts his arm in front of them telling them to wait, the casts a spell, confounding the guard, thus stopping his allies. Before they leave, to finish his suggestion spell he tells him "You almost died today, go home and tell your family and friends you love them."

The second is the Paladin/warrior who just wont stop when its time to do the right thing. YOu shoot him in the leg, you knock him to the ground, and he keeps coming after you, not because hes that strong. In fact he might even suck at combat, but he wont give up. The second time Simon jumped on that bounty hunter was just a "YEEEESSS!" moment for me. It was stupid, and almost got him killed, but the fact that his love and conviction would drive him to "face the dragon" over and over like that is just to inspiring. I mean just try to imagine the rage and love you'd have to feel to not just give up and cry. And instead get up in agonizing pain and literally throw yourself at a monster because you cannot live with the idea of your loved one coming to harm.

Other examples are Strum Brightblade, when he died fighting a Dragon!(and the bitch on its back...) and i have some image of a rainsoaked injured young man surrounded by the enemy, who just waiting their at the command of their leader (swords drawn) because they know hes not a threat (heavily injured). But he wont stop getting up to protect his charge (perhaps lying unconcious on the ground?). The villian either knocks him out himself, finding his conviction intriguing, or perhaps seeking to harden such a soul. Or perhaps the Villian kills him with his bare hands, an act to get the audience to hate him all the more.

GunbladeKnight
2011-09-18, 04:19 AM
There are two characters I like to play most of all:

The convicted warrior (usually with a large weapon). They hold strong to their beliefs, even when the world is falling apart around them. This could be the previously mentioned Sturm (I disliked him up to that point), or it could be Rorschach from the Watchmen movie (Never compromise. Not even in the face of armageddon).

The other would be the stealthy/assassin. I mostly play this kind in single player games, but I love the idea of going around undetected and picking people off one by one. And also the danger to getting caught, since you'd probably lose in a straight up fight.

A third one I've enjoyed, though not as much as the other two, is a pacifist character. Usually in the form of a cleric (with augment healing and other feats), the character refuses to harm anything. He'll act as a shield, protecting both his friends and his enemies (Once tried to hold down a mind-controlled enemy when my spells were used up for the others to search for the illithid. Warmage who was supposed to be LG decided to kill him anyways as we convinced him to drop down to LN). The most interesting aspect would be when this character would be forced between choosing his non-violent ideals and the well-being of the party.

Lucid
2011-09-18, 05:59 AM
The grizzled veteran who fought hundreds of battles, often a knight in sour armor. Some examples include:
- A paladin who knows the world is a bad place, but still pushes on, trying to inspire others to do good. If he won't do it, who will?
- The tactician who uses smarts instead of strength to win battles. Who isn't above using every dirty trick in the book as long as it means victory.
-A disillusioned ex-army sergeant, spending his days drinking and whoring, who unwillingly gets drawn back into conflict.

The wilderness survivalist character, whether a barbarian raging against society, a ranger hunting from the shadows or a druid protecting his grove. He doesn't fit in with civilized society, feeling more at home in the wild where it's as simple as kill or be killed, eat or get eaten. Often true neutral, not caring about the distinction between good/evil or law/chaos.

Yora
2011-09-18, 08:07 AM
Mine would be a non-wimpy sorcerer. Or a battlemage if you will, just without such a narrow focus on blasting spells.

But sorcereres are not scholars or archivars, they don't have to spend their entire life holed up in some library and focus entirely on training their minds. Sorcerers as a concept seem much more suited to be out in the dirt, wearing light armor in battle and carrying a real weapon like a short sword or a spear.
In many systems, not focusing entirely on improving spellcasting is a suboptimal choice, but the coolness easily makes up for that and you're much more versatile when you can fight your way into fortresses together with the other soldiers instead of staying safely behind them.