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View Full Version : Gamer Tales What was the best true neutral character roleplay you ever had?



S@tanicoaldo
2014-03-21, 01:19 PM
In my opinion true neutral is very difficult to play. I plan to play as one the next game so I'm looking for some ideas.

My best one was a D&D game fo the song of ice and fire.

I was a member of the House bolton, expert in psycological torture, but just because he learned how to do it since he was a child and he walso had a passion for fear and horror.

He was no sadistic character, but really good at geting the job done. Besides that fact he was just a calm and dedicated person.

How about you guys?

Jay R
2014-03-21, 01:28 PM
I played a 2E elven thief/wizard. I occasionally had to remind the DM, "No, I'm not Lawful or Good. I'm not stealing anything because it's more lucrative to travel in a party with a paladin, and don't want to risk that money stream."

He was more focused on stopping the slave trade in elven orphans than teh paladin was, but has simply refused to care about other political issues.

But he was the one who would sneak into the enemy encampment and commit sabotage before battles.

The Oni
2014-03-21, 02:59 PM
The game I'm in now is one where's I'm playing a TN Tiefling Barbarian, hunting a necromancer. He's playing nice because he wants to move on with his life and because he's come to like some of the people he's working with, but really he couldn't give two ****s that the necromancer is breaking Pharasma's Flow of Souls by consuming them for epic magics; it's not his problem.

Troacctid
2014-03-21, 06:31 PM
I find neutral characters pretty easy to roleplay because their goals tend to align so closely with my own--they want to advance themselves. Leveling up, acquiring new magic items, and so on. They enjoy the challenge of adventuring and the sense of accomplishment that comes with it.

Or, to put it a different way, they want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

Really, anyone whose primary motivation is something other than "helping others" can probably fit as True Neutral. Antiheroes are typically neutral. Protagonists of horror stories and Robinsonades are often neutral. Ditto Arthur Dent types who just want a comfortable, stable life. Etc.

Stoneback
2014-03-21, 06:41 PM
I have a pirate from the Pearl Islands named Rogers. He's an 8th level scout utility-belt kind of guy.

He's perfectly nice, maybe a little too over eager. But his first, last, and only motivation is, "what's in it for me?"

Vrock_Summoner
2014-03-21, 06:51 PM
Just wanting to advance yourself CAN breed Evil, though it usually doesn't.

That said, my favorite True Neutral character was probably my Sage in the game Soul, a 3.5 variant system that's popular in the town I live in. The character was nice, charming even, but he mostly just avoided moral issues (and, at times, ignored people) in favor of dedicating himself completely to his studies and self-reflection.

... He became Neutral Good as a result of over-repenting for his carelessness allowing a bad guy to destroy some peoples' souls, but I had already played the character for 32 levels prior, so I think he's a true enough example to use.

Sith_Happens
2014-03-21, 06:57 PM
My current Bard in 3.5 is Neutral. He wants exactly four things: To advance his magic as far as possible (hence his impending entry into Sublime Chord), see as much of the universe as possible, live to recite beautiful poems about it, and have a good time along the way. He hasn't actually had a chance to leave the party since his introduction (rescued from pirates), but once it comes up his reason for sticking around will be some combination of "I feel like it" and "This adventure you're on might make a good story."

Slipperychicken
2014-03-21, 07:22 PM
In Pathfinder, I have a TN Elf Wizard. He crafts things for the party (charging market price: he needs to make a living), is generally useful, faithful, and complaint, but he's also abrasive, cares little for others' feelings, and is snooty.

The other Elf in the party (a female gunslinger) made was made to a human weight (since the rolled elf weights would look like anorexia to humans), so my character noticed her relative corpulence commented that she must have spent a lot of time in human lands, since she had "adapted to human culture".

Jay R
2014-03-21, 10:37 PM
Just wanting to advance yourself CAN breed Evil, though it usually doesn't.

Yup. Just wanting to advance yourself can breed Good, too. Ornrandir has done a lot of good - because adventuring with a paladin is the most lucrative thing he's ever done.

Lord Raziere
2014-04-01, 12:56 AM
I once played a naruto ninja character who just wanted to be a normal rank-and-file Chunnin but kept getting pushed by those around him to be better, which he did so only reluctantly. he was based on Ciaphas Cain.
heck, in his backstory, he tried to fail the Genin exams so that he could be a normal citizen, but ended up becoming a Genin anyways because he accidentally caught a hidden criminal ninja and defeated him by perfectly executing all the moves required to pass.

heck, I think Ciaphas Cain himself is true neutral.

Mastikator
2014-04-01, 03:42 AM
I once played a naruto ninja character who just wanted to be a normal rank-and-file Chunnin but kept getting pushed by those around him to be better, which he did so only reluctantly. he was based on Ciaphas Cain.
heck, in his backstory, he tried to fail the Genin exams so that he could be a normal citizen, but ended up becoming a Genin anyways because he accidentally caught a hidden criminal ninja and defeated him by perfectly executing all the moves required to pass.

heck, I think Ciaphas Cain himself is true neutral.

I thought you could just drop out of the ninja academy or turn in your commission in the naruto-verse? It's not like you're drafted and forced to go on missions right?

BWR
2014-04-01, 04:00 AM
Bard in a Dragonlance game. He wasn't really concerned with fighting the big evil or supporting the cause of Good, he just wanted to get an in with the big names in the conflict so he could write awesome songs about it and be remembered for all eternity for his masterworks. Since the PCs were generally nicer and more accomodating than the Dragon Armies, and he actually got to meet and speak to the high-ups of the good guys, he chose that side.

Lord Raziere
2014-04-01, 04:56 AM
I thought you could just drop out of the ninja academy or turn in your commission in the naruto-verse? It's not like you're drafted and forced to go on missions right?

shhh. the ninja does not know that.

Socksy
2014-04-01, 05:21 AM
I had a TN-ish Oracle who started off at the south end of NG and ended up at the north end of NE. Her sanity took several hits for reasons and she ended up becoming a lich and trying to overthrow the church of Pharasma (because she also loosely worships Pharasma and thinks the clerics are doing it wrong, the voices of the dead which she heard told her secrets which were mostly lies and propaganda). She basically became a Miko-type extremist, determined to right the (non-existent) wrongs in the Church and figure out what the heck is going on to fix it, but she got so horribly misguided by messing with forces she shouldn't have messed with/seeking out information on the far edges of the Outer Planes that she ended up doing pretty much the opposite of that.

I also have a TN Scout//Rogue who will eat anything she kills. Anything. But that has nothing to do with her alignment, so it's probably irrelevant.

HolyCouncilMagi
2014-04-01, 01:05 PM
Most mages I play are True Neutral. It just makes more sense to me. In order to discover the deepest secrets of magic, you need to prioritize it above moral concerns... But it's hard to keep going if you go crazy from having no friends. So they try not to go over the top in either direction.

RedMage125
2014-04-02, 11:50 AM
My current Bard in 3.5 is Neutral. He wants exactly four things: To advance his magic as far as possible (hence his impending entry into Sublime Chord), see as much of the universe as possible, live to recite beautiful poems about it, and have a good time along the way. He hasn't actually had a chance to leave the party since his introduction (rescued from pirates), but once it comes up his reason for sticking around will be some combination of "I feel like it" and "This adventure you're on might make a good story."

Lol, very similar motivations to my CN Elf Bard. He wants to write an epic story, and the best epic stories are about heroes, so he likes to adventure with people who are heroic and wants to accomplish Good and Heroic ends, not because he personally cares about others that much, but because it's exciting. He's more chaotic, though, because his inidividuality and freedom are paramount to him. He's got illegitimate offspring all over the place, and doesn't particularly care, because "no one writes epic ballads about responsible fathers raising their children".

But my TN character:

My Sun Elf wizard views Good/Evil/Law/Chaos academically. He understands all of them as opposing, cosmic forces. He adventures to unearth arcane secrets and gain more knowledge and power. He uses it as he sees fit, his own philosophy is one of responsibility, but he's without any kind of "cause" to devote himself to. The last time I played him, however, he started veering towards Neutral Good, because so much of what he was doing was selfless dedication to a greater cause (the Elven People and the restoration of Myth Drannor). I told my DM that based on how I was playing him, I felt that his increasing selflessness was making him more NG than TN. However, when that campaign ended, the DM whisked all of our characters to an alternate universe, where they became the gods of the DM's homebrew world. All of us players got to have some cooperative worldbuilding input on the DM's world. As my character decided to take on the mantle of overall god of Magic, his view was that his responsibility to Magic as a whole was to be fair and neutral, that such a calling was higher than assisting the Elven People, and thus remained firmly entrenched in a TN alignment.

Defiled Cross
2014-04-23, 01:00 PM
My favorite Bard embodied the very essence of neutrality..

..but not like Switzerland.

:smallwink:

CarpeGuitarrem
2014-04-23, 01:23 PM
My best TN roleplaying?

I really don't want to take sides here.

Knightofvictory
2014-04-23, 02:47 PM
TN Human Wizard. A level one guy fresh out of wizarding school, looking to pay back his student loans and gain combat magic experience for his resume with the high risk/reward career of adventuring. He specialized in transmutation and enjoyed the tactics of buffing allies and disabling enemies, but got sick in the aftermath of battle sometimes seeing the blood and guts of whatever the party barbarian tore up. He was a nice enough, 'sure, I'll do you a favor, but you gotta help me next time' sort of guy, but he also was unwilling to risk his life, unless there was a significant potential gain. He hated Evil for their disregard for life, but did not get along with the Good members on his team because of how willing they were to throw themselves in danger just to 'help' people.

All he really wanted though was to pay off his debts and get a respectable job.

Aergoth
2014-04-23, 03:07 PM
The Fighter in our Kingmaker group is TN if I recall correctly. He's a former dockhand He's a widower and kind of depressed, he likes to drink but doesn't like that he enjoys drinking (tied up with the death of his wife). He's not especially fond of killing people but he's really quite good at it when he gets down to it. He's also not very motivated to jump into danger. He's the one who suggests that all this trouble is really not worth it. He's also in charge of the watch in the capital and for safety of citizens throughout the player's kingdom. His interpretation of law seems to be fairly geared at "do not make me have to do things".