Character building

[stewstew5]

(please let me know if this is the wrong place for this)
I am in the middle of creating/writing a motley crew style comic and am asking for advice for the leader. Most likely a human male, what class should he be? I don't want to do fighter, as that is overused (Roy, Nale, ElanandNale'sdadwhosnameicsntremember, etc.) and not paladin, cause, stick-up-the-buttishness. Any tips?

[Bohandas]

Sounds like you're leaning towards martial classes, so how about a ranger?

(Or if I'm misreading you on that, how about a psion or a bard?)

[stewstew5]

I've alread got a ranger, but psion could be cool...

[stewstew5]

Although, yes, i am leaning towards the martial classes

[Durkoala]

What classes are the other members in the party? That could help choose one that either fits in or stands out from the group. Also, do you know what personality the leader (and the rest of the party) has? Knowing a bit about a character is a huge help in deciding more details, even for an author. If you need to, fiddle about with some other bits and pieces like his likes and dislikes, important events in his past and so forth and come back to deciding what class he should be later.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

What type of leader do you want him to be? A lead from in front type who's good at fighting could be a fighter, paladin (I know, I know), barbarian, soulknife or maybe something like a bloodrager. A keeping the overview type smart tactician would more likely be some kind of warlord, bard, psionic warrior or cavalier (not a bad choice if he can have a mount, and an interesting more realistic character-proof take on a paladin-like code of conduct). If he's the take a third option kind of outside the box thinker a skill monkey like rogue or ranger could be more fitting. Bard would probably fit this one quite well too, although it's really bad for the lead from in front type.

If you don't know what class you want, start with what you do know about the character.

[hajo]

(please let me know if this is the wrong place for this)
I think this would fit better into the thread Arts-and-Crafts (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?27-Arts-and-Crafts)


I am in the middle of creating/writing a motley crew style comic
and am asking for advice for the leader.
To become a leader, you need followers.

So, how did that happen, where&why did they meet,
what is their relationship [1], what is their mission/motivation[2] ?

Think about it in terms of the makeup of the groups in 'classic' stories, e.g.
Robin Hood, 3 Musketeers, Treasure island, Glorious 7, Hobbit/LotR, etc.


[1] as in: family / friends / fellow workers/soldiers/students / hired help / random desaster-survivers / outlaws / etc.
[2] as in: defend home / bodyguard/job / explore/scout/spy / deliver message/item / raid/loot / survive/escape ...

[DeadpanSal]

Yeah, I would say that starting with the class first is the wrong move. Figure out the character first, then move backward into his makeup to match that. I think if you sort out what sort of role he needs to fill you will have a stronger character in all than if you just start with a class and fill that in after the fact.

Look at a few more motley crew examples and see the archetypes and how they come together. Is your central character Malcolm Reynolds, a rogue who leads with both mirth and military-based control over his crew? Is he a Leonardo, a warrior who was appointed leader without any real cause and just tries to make the best of the situation with his brothers? Is he Rhys, a charismatic hero that isn't really in charge of anything but stumbled into a pivotal role through bad luck and corporate conspiracy?

Figure out your plot a little more and the rest should fall into place nicely.

[rcarb65]

I agree with Hajo and Master of Aeons. You need to figure out the story line and why this person is the leader and why he got the group together. Is it a military type group and the leader is assigned the rest of the players? Is there a certain mission or quest and the leader gathers the group together? Work from big to small.

Try not to fall into stereotypes either. Think outside the box and have fun with the character.