Should I keep my mouth shut?

[Jon_Dahl]

I have a player whom I consider to be the worst player that I ever seen, but I tolerate him. Now he has made a human fighter for my game called Caramon. I'm afraid that if I don't say anything, I might see him create Legolas and Harry Potter too. His previous character was Freeway Jack, because there was a can of Freeway on the table when he came up with the name.

I'm also afraid that ’Caramon’ might affect the enjoyment of other players, just with his name.

Any thoughs?

[Stealth Marmot]

Does the character share any similarities beyond the name, race, and class?

If not, then it was just a name and you shouldn't worry about it.

If it does share similarities, then only worry about it if it actually causes tension at the table. Roleplayers sometimes need to work off of a known character in order to learn how to make their own. Eventually the character will have to diverge from the established character because their experiences will be different. The only reason it could actually be a problem is if they insist they are from Krynn when they are playing in a non-Dragonlance game.

If the character fails to evolve past that, the player will likely abandon them anyway, since it will get boring. Novelty characters get old fast. I once played in a Call of Cthulu game where I made my character John Dorian (JD) from Scrubs. After the initial joke wore off, the character was sort of boring to play and confining, so I abandoned him anyway.

If, instead, the player starts with Caramon as their starting template and evolves their mannerisms, goals, personality, and relationships around this world instead, they can be a perfectly valid and great character.

[Segev]

I'd go ahead and ask him if he's really trying to re-create a character from a fictional novel. Not accusatorily, just...to find out. Ask him what it is he wants out of the character and the game.

I mean, if you think about it...does it really matter if he's making his version of Caramon? What does it hurt in your game?

If the other players can't take it seriously, go ahead and bring that up. Ban it, if the level of "can't take it seriously" is sufficient to ruin the tone of your game. But really, "human fighter with a mage-of-questionable-morals for a twin brother" is notably similar, but not enough to make it unoriginal. Caramon was kind of a blank slate: a generally good guy who was good with a sword, personality-wise.

By all means, forbid the name if it hurts your seriousness. But be leery of fighting him over things that don't matter. If he wants to play Captain Expy, does it really hurt anything?

[Telonius]

Some people just have a whole lot of trouble with making a creative character. I've been in several groups with a "Bob the Fighter" player. They just can't wrap their brains around creating something that sounds like they fit in a fantasy setting, and they couldn't fill out a character background to save their lives. I used to find this really annoying (except for people totally brand-new to the game), but I've started to come to the conclusion that it's really not their fault. Even with years of gaming and practice, some people never get much more creative than that. For whatever reason, that switch in their head just isn't there. Once they get to playing, the character starts developing its own personality, and it all kinda works out. "Caramon" might be in this situation too; the difference is he's using a model to help him out.

It could be he's trying to learn. One of the best roleplayers I've ever met started out playing a complete expy of Nori (dwarf from the Hobbit) on an old AOL RP chatroom. Eventually he had new characters with elaborate backstories, and was managing to play, like, 8 dwarves at the same time.

If he's trying to be a "special snowflake" (or actually using it in a Dragonlance game) that might be a different story.

[Geddy2112]

There is nothing inherently wrong about an expy or even direct copy of an established character being played in a game. I and a lot of players I know do this and it is not a problem in and of itself. What is a problem is if this character concept becomes destructive to the group. The idea of role playing is about playing the role of a character in a situation. Nobody says it has to be one you created it on your own.

I second asking, just to know, if they are going for a direct copypasta of Caramon. Even if so, I don't see it as a problem. If the name is really that big of a deal, make him change it. I don't see how it would be a factor...

[Jon_Dahl]

Does the character share any similarities beyond the name, race, and class?

If not, then it was just a name and you shouldn't worry about it.



Yes, it does share many similarities and the player just admitted that he is trying to copy Caramon.

[Segev]

Yes, it does share many similarities and the player just admitted that he is trying to copy Caramon.

I still would ask yourself: why is this a problem?

Is there a reason Caramon, stripped of his Krynn-specific associations, doesn't work in your game?

Is the player trying to say he IS Caramon, with all Krynn-specific associations, magically transported to your world? (I could see that being a problem because it drags baggage from another story into your game.)

[Jon_Dahl]

I still would ask yourself: why is this a problem?

Is there a reason Caramon, stripped of his Krynn-specific associations, doesn't work in your game?

Is the player trying to say he IS Caramon, with all Krynn-specific associations, magically transported to your world? (I could see that being a problem because it drags baggage from another story into your game.)

It's just annoying. Nothing more.

[Segev]

It's just annoying. Nothing more.

If it's so annoying it makes you not have fun, you can certainly tell him not to do it, but I would first try to not let it annoy you. If the only reason it's annoying is that you don't like the practice on principle, but if you hadn't caught on to what he was doing it never would have bothered you, you'll probably get superior results from shaking it off and not letting it bother you.

[Jon_Dahl]

If it's so annoying it makes you not have fun, you can certainly tell him not to do it, but I would first try to not let it annoy you. If the only reason it's annoying is that you don't like the practice on principle, but if you hadn't caught on to what he was doing it never would have bothered you, you'll probably get superior results from shaking it off and not letting it bother you.

I think I can shake it off fairly easily.

[FreddyNoNose]

I have a player whom I consider to be the worst player that I ever seen, but I tolerate him. Now he has made a human fighter for my game called Caramon. I'm afraid that if I don't say anything, I might see him create Legolas and Harry Potter too. His previous character was Freeway Jack, because there was a can of Freeway on the table when he came up with the name.

I'm also afraid that ’Caramon’ might affect the enjoyment of other players, just with his name.

Any thoughs?

So he 'MIGHT' ruin the enjoyment for other players.
Therefore you WILL ruin his right now in the off chance it ruins other player's enjoyment.
Odd.

I would say grow a pair and address the real issue that you don't like him. Don't cop out with the character name EXCUSE.

[Deophaun]

Yes, you keep your mouth shut. About everything.

I had a player that loved him reading FR novels, and he would name and make characters based off them. Rather, he did, until he found out that all the meta references to the character were completely wasted on a group that was completely ignorant of who Elminster's towel boy was and so gave him zero reaction.

Now, he might have continued doing that--obviously we wouldn't know if he did--but he long ago stopped trying to *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink* to us about it.

[Jon_Dahl]

Ok, I won't say anything then. I promise to fully embrace Caramon. Caramon's INT is 6, btw. I let him take a point buy that starts all ability scores from 5.

[Telok]

Caramon's INT is 6, btw.

Oh, yeah, no problems. It's been more than 20 years but I seem to recall the character being a bit smarter than that. The player probably wants something similar to the book character and it's a decent name is all.

Now if he'd come in with a drow ranger with three 18's...

When our "that guy" did it we just laughed until he chose something different to play.

[Segev]

Yeah, I'd just let it go. As long as he's not hurting anybody else's enjoyment, it probably is harmless.

[Stealth Marmot]

Yes, it does share many similarities and the player just admitted that he is trying to copy Caramon.

Then I stand behind the second part of my post.

[Zanos]

It's just annoying. Nothing more.
For what it's worth I don't let people in my games play copies of characters from other media. I don't mind inspiration, but direct rips are banned. I've had more than enough problems with it beyond the fact that it's just stupid.

[Azoth]

For what it's worth I don't let people in my games play copies of characters from other media. I don't mind inspiration, but direct rips are banned. I've had more than enough problems with it beyond the fact that it's just stupid.

Now, I kind of laugh at this one. Just from personal experience. The last two groups I have been in, have challenged me on multiple occasions to build/play characters from pop culture. It is a good laugh for us, and a test of my optimization abilities to recreate certain characters at varying level ranges while keeping their iconic abilities intact.

To each their own though. We find it fun/amusing and it annoys you. All I can say is that if the player isn't being annoying/disruptive with it, then let them have their fun.

[Buufreak]

Honestly, just let the guy play what he feels comfortable with. If he keeps trying to make references no one else gets, he will only be letting himself down until he gets bored with it.

The alternate route is what my DM did when I rolled a Gilgamesh-like character (the comical, slapstick FF one, not the productive warrior one). I got some room to joke around, have some laughs, even a pocket dimension that was only useful for pulling out comical items, usually a already lit cigar. Besides that, he was a 6 armed warblade. Nothing more.

[Zanos]

Now, I kind of laugh at this one. Just from personal experience. The last two groups I have been in, have challenged me on multiple occasions to build/play characters from pop culture. It is a good laugh for us, and a test of my optimization abilities to recreate certain characters at varying level ranges while keeping their iconic abilities intact.

To each their own though. We find it fun/amusing and it annoys you. All I can say is that if the player isn't being annoying/disruptive with it, then let them have their fun.
I generally run more serious games, so when someone is pretty obviously ripping from other media down to the name, personality, and backstory, it messes with my immersion and some of the other players. I don't mind humor or a relax atmosphere, but when people RP I expect it to be serious.

If I was running a one-shot or something I wouldn't care.

[Azoth]

I generally run more serious games, so when someone is pretty obviously ripping from other media down to the name, personality, and backstory, it messes with my immersion and some of the other players. I don't mind humor or a relax atmosphere, but when people RP I expect it to be serious.

If I was running a one-shot or something I wouldn't care.

Fair enough. Even when I do it, I don't rip back story. Just name/personality and emulate their abilities as best the system allows. I have also not done it with very slapstick characters. The most recent examples are Virgil from DMC3, Leoult Steinberg from Straight Jacket, Richard B. Riddick, Dr. Franken Stein from Soul Eater, and Frankenstein from Noblesse.