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Jorin
2017-03-05, 01:41 PM
Anyone play a game with a character based of a movie, book... etc?

Just started playing a Mad Max based artificer with the thunder cannon being based off his iconic sawed off shotgun. I even named him Madington Maximilion for a laugh. When I hit lv 6 I plan to have him build his mechanical servant as a large dog like in the early movies

solidork
2017-03-05, 03:03 PM
I'm currently obsessed with a hockey webcomic (http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/57705111693) and I wrote up a post on Tumblr about what class the characters would play if they were to play D&D. I liked one of them so much I decided to play it when I started a new game. So, hes a graduate student who took up adventuring to do research on his dissertation about how gender influences what people become adventurers and why. His fighting skills are like 90% enthusiasm and 10% skill, so he's a barbarian.

Jay R
2017-03-05, 05:26 PM
I often create a character starting with a fictional character in mind. Usually there winds up enough difference that he's a unique character, but it helps me get started.

I patterned an AD&D 2e Thief on Tarzan. Climbing, archery, stealth, etc. Then I made him an elf, and eventually he became a thief / wizard loner.

I started with Aladdin and made a street rat. He became a very successful Flashing Blades rogue once I added the rapier skill.

My superhero Professor Power was a combo of Magneto and Lightning Lad. And Pinball was Bouncing Boy with a dash of Plastic Man.

I was reading Alpha Flight, and thought the idea of a really short martial artist was cool. So I built a normally proportioned 3-foot-tall martial artist patterned on Puck. Then I made him Irish, added luck powers, and named him Leprechaun.

I created a mystic superhero named Dr. MacAbre (John MacAubrey). Guess who I patterned him after. But I made him distinct by adding a multiform he couldn't control, and he would sometimes turn into a wolf, bat, or mist form. He wanted to be in a superhero group because he was afraid he might be turning into a vampire, and if it ever happened, he wanted people around who could defeat him.

And back in original D&D, I once ran a Fool named Maxwell, who carried a silver hammer.

SirBellias
2017-03-05, 11:39 PM
I tend to do parodies of characters I see in the media quite frequently.

In Apocalypse World, my character is The News and is based almost entirely off of Cecil Gershwin Palmer from Welcome to Nightvale.

For D&D, I have Jack Sparrow: the Cleric and Slade Wilson: actually a druid.

If I don't start with a particular fictional character in mind, it takes several sessions for a distinct personality to form.

JohanOfKitten
2017-03-06, 04:13 AM
For the birthday of a brownie friend of mine, I wrote a Vampire the Masquerade one-shot for which I wrote 6 characters inspired of My Little Pony's mane main characters.
A bit weird but really fun to do and play. (You don't want to piss of an angry gangrell Fluttershy :smallamused: )

Stealth Marmot
2017-03-06, 02:00 PM
I once played as John Dorian (J.D.) from Scrubs in a Call of Cthulu game.

Edit:

I can't believe I forgot the time me and the group played a prank on our DM. We made characters whose names were amalgams of the voice actors and real names of the characters, and we had 4 players one of which was a Druid with a dog companion.

We were the Scooby Doo crew. We didn't tell the DM and were wondering how long it would take him to figure out.

It took half a session. There was much laughter.

Grod_The_Giant
2017-03-06, 02:58 PM
In pretty much anything other than a humorous one-shot, I tend to get real annoyed with parody characters. I can live with it if they just took some personality/power inspiration and develop their own identity over time, but nothing takes me out of the game like someone showing up with "Captain Sack Jarrow" written on their sheet.

2D8HP
2017-03-06, 06:07 PM
When I really think about it every single one of my PC's is based on Captain 'Sinbad the Sailor", from the movie Seventh Voyage of Sinbad which I first watched sometime in the early 1970's from the back window of a V.W. Bug at a drive-in theatre while my parents watched something boring from the front window.

It had a Dragon! A sword wielding skeleton! A Cyclops! Magic and Monsters a-plenty!


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rCYfrAPEz38

(Sinbad is the Fighter in white, not the Magician in black)

Yep, everyone of my PC's

TheIronGolem
2017-03-07, 11:53 AM
In pretty much anything other than a humorous one-shot, I tend to get real annoyed with parody characters. I can live with it if they just took some personality/power inspiration and develop their own identity over time, but nothing takes me out of the game like someone showing up with "Captain Sack Jarrow" written on their sheet.
I generally agree with this, but with a slightly more literal take. I'd rather you straight-up copy and paste your favorite fictional character than watch you go "Oh, I changed two letters in their name aren't I just so damn cheeky".

If you're going to go that route, put a little thought into the name and use something reminiscent of the character that still sounds like something two sane parents might actually call their kid. Your character is basically Inigo Montoya? Fine, call him "Domingo Garcia"; see how easy that was? You're playing John Rambo? Okay - now he's Tom Lambert. Harry Dresden? Frank London.

And should you ever hear a news report that someone has forced a gamer to swallow dice until they died, mourn not for the dead, for they were naught but one of those champions of comedy who brings "The Inedible Bulk" to a superhero game, and I the instrument of divine justice.

Stealth Marmot
2017-03-07, 12:01 PM
In pretty much anything other than a humorous one-shot, I tend to get real annoyed with parody characters. I can live with it if they just took some personality/power inspiration and develop their own identity over time, but nothing takes me out of the game like someone showing up with "Captain Sack Jarrow" written on their sheet.

I tend to have a lot more tolerance when it's a new player. Making up a character is harder than people think, and might not remember how hard it is to make something resembling an original character. I say "resembling" an original character because I believe the phrase:

Originality is hiding your sources

Yes hiding your sources enough to help immersion is a good thing, but it takes practice and skill.

Beleriphon
2017-03-07, 01:51 PM
And should you ever hear a news report that someone has forced a gamer to swallow dice until they died, mourn not for the dead, for they were naught but one of those champions of comedy who brings "The Inedible Bulk" to a superhero game, and I the instrument of divine justice.

The only time it works is when you can make it as fun a Major Glory, Vanhalla the Norse God of Rock!, and the Infragible Krunk.

Dienekes
2017-03-08, 12:02 PM
A lot of my characters are mixing historical figures with a dash of drama, often stolen from books.

For example my current character is a mix of Subotai the Mongol general and Logan Ninefingers from The First Law series.

But I have done Machiavelli mixed with Thrawn and others.

Though one of my favorites was Sid Squeeb who wasnt inspired by history but Podrick Payne from ASOIAF but made even more pathetic since he was a goblin with no clue how to actually behave like a knight.

Velaryon
2017-03-10, 09:55 PM
I've done something like this a few times.

Once it was a sort of rebellion against an overly restrictive DM who insisted on rolling stats "old school," meaning 3d6, in order, no rerolls. Several of us had to pick classes we weren't particularly interested in playing because the stat arrays we rolled wouldn't work for the classes we had been intending to play. One player joked that his elf ranger was going to be named Spock, and then before you know it we had Picard the sorcerer, James T. Kirk the rogue (me), and Worf the barbarian. It... didn't last long. Although Picard the sorcerer was awesome. He would use different quotes and catchphrases for his different spells ("fire phasers" for magic missile sticks out in particular).

Another time we all ended up naming our characters after rock stars, though beyond that they bore no resemblance to their namesakes. We had Axl Rose the monk, Dee Snider the scout (me), Robert Plant the druid (probably my favorite), and one or two more that I can't remember.

Other people have brought blatant ripoff characters into games I've been in before as well. One friend of mine was Naruto-crazed for a time and made a character named Jiraiya (though I'm told the character was actually a lot more like one of the other characters, but I don't know the show well enough to know who). When that character got killed, he tried to make Rock Lee, but the DM wouldn't allow it... so he changed the name to Rock Austin *groan.*

The same player also tried to play Sephiroth in a Ravenloft game, though the DM forced him to change the name. He became... Seth.

In a d20 Steampunk game I once played in, my character was a mishmash of Alfred Pennyworth and James Bond, though I at least had the decency not to actually name him after his inspirations. Good ol' Wadsworth Sinclair was one of my favorite characters for awhile.

Ragnell-Master
2017-03-10, 10:00 PM
I tend to first come up with my characters by using 2 or 3 fictional characters for inspiration. One recent example, is my swashbuckling rogue inspired by the scoundrel charm of Han Solo and the wit of the Dread Pirate Roberts. Another might be my wise veteran character inspired by many big mentor figures in fiction like Obi Wan, Gandalf, etc. Doing this also gives a clear picture of what my character is like to the other players and allows for much more entertaining interaction. I honestly think using fictional characters as a template for your characters personality is the best way to keep your character from being a woodpost for lack of a better word, especially for newer players.

Uncle Pine
2017-03-11, 05:45 AM
Does having had a player bring an awakened badger Monk named C*ck Norriz count as a parody of the famous roundhouse kicker?

Jay R
2017-03-11, 10:34 AM
I tend to first come up with my characters by using 2 or 3 fictional characters for inspiration. One recent example, is my swashbuckling rogue inspired by the scoundrel charm of Han Solo and the wit of the Dread Pirate Roberts. Another might be my wise veteran character inspired by many big mentor figures in fiction like Obi Wan, Gandalf, etc. Doing this also gives a clear picture of what my character is like to the other players and allows for much more entertaining interaction. I honestly think using fictional characters as a template for your characters personality is the best way to keep your character from being a woodpost for lack of a better word, especially for newer players.

Exactly. Basing it on one character is stealing. Basing it on three characters is research.

GungHo
2017-03-13, 12:22 PM
When I really think about it every single one of my PC's is based on Captain 'Sinbad the Sailor", from the movie Seventh Voyage of Sinbad which I first watched sometime in the early 1970's from the back window of a V.W. Bug at a drive-in theatre while my parents watched something boring from the front window.

It had a Dragon! A sword wielding skeleton! A Cyclops! Magic and Monsters a-plenty!



(Sinbad is the Fighter in white, not the Magician in black)

Yep, everyone of my PC's

I have done this, but changed Sinbad the Sailor to Sinbad the comedian. In the middle of it, I forgot I was doing Sinbad and turned him into Shaq. I don't play drunk any more.

Katrina
2017-03-15, 02:48 AM
I don't tend to do this blatantly, but I have actually saw something and said that's cool, I'm going to do it this way or with this spin. For example, I built an entire character around just the scene in the Marvel Dr. Strange movie where the cloak is fighting for Strange and protecting him. It eventually became a young sorceress who was the inheritor of the Cloak of Levitation (because world changes happened after I introduced my character) and I ended up being a very beginning sorceress because of certain other build restrictions. But the Cloak was actually so powerful it didn't really need me. In the end, the character ended up being nothing but a character built to follow the theme of the Dr. Strange movie and nothing like the actual character of Dr. Strange.

Mordar
2017-03-15, 03:13 PM
Anyone play a game with a character based of a movie, book... etc?

Just started playing a Mad Max based artificer with the thunder cannon being based off his iconic sawed off shotgun. I even named him Madington Maximilion for a laugh. When I hit lv 6 I plan to have him build his mechanical servant as a large dog like in the early movies


In pretty much anything other than a humorous one-shot, I tend to get real annoyed with parody characters. I can live with it if they just took some personality/power inspiration and develop their own identity over time, but nothing takes me out of the game like someone showing up with "Captain Sack Jarrow" written on their sheet.

I think it's important to distinguish between "parody" characters and "tribute" characters. I think the first is taking a character and mocking either the character or the source/system by turning up the distinguishing characteristics to 11 and playing the character in a generally non-serious manner. Think "Scary Movie" - it is a parody, and fine in small doses. A tribute character is one heavily inspired/influenced by the source character and played in proper tone and in a fashion meant to peacefully coexist with the system. Think "Scream" - it is an homage to slasher films of the 80s, and presents the new story in a similar vein and fashion.

One is mocking, the other is respecting.

I know when I was first starting to play (and even in later years) I wanted to play Conan, Indiana Jones, Fahferd, Galahad...all the big names. I didn't make the names the same, but i certainly tried to emulate the characters. Like so many things, when done well it works nicely, when done badly it can be...badly.


When I really think about it every single one of my PC's is based on Captain 'Sinbad the Sailor", from the movie Seventh Voyage of Sinbad which I first watched sometime in the early 1970's from the back window of a V.W. Bug at a drive-in theatre while my parents watched something boring from the front window.

It had a Dragon! A sword wielding skeleton! A Cyclops! Magic and Monsters a-plenty!

[SNIP video]

(Sinbad is the Fighter in white, not the Magician in black)

Yep, everyone of my PC's

Harryhausen owns everything ever! I always wanted to play a Sinbad style character too, but never really found the good fit for him.

- M

PS: I think 2D8HP may be my long lost brother. Or something. No, that isn't weird. Shut up.

Stealth Marmot
2017-03-15, 07:07 PM
I know when I was first starting to play (and even in later years) I wanted to play Conan, Indiana Jones, Fahferd, Galahad...all the big names. I didn't make the names the same, but i certainly tried to emulate the characters. Like so many things, when done well it works nicely, when done badly it can be...badly.

I often equate character creation and even playing to writing.

A great teacher once told me that the best way to learn how to write creatively is to read. The second best way to learn how to write is to emulate someone else's writing style. After a while you start straying away from their style and veering off into your own style. The longer you keep doing it, the further from your original inspiration your writing gets.

Thing is you can't ACTUALLY entirely copy a character into your game. You can't copy Indiana Jones into your game completely because there never was an Indiana Jones movie that ke killed an owlbear. There was never an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Eventually you are going to have to write your own dialog and actions for the character and then suddenly, you realize you are writing original content, and the longer it goes on the further the character will stray from that original.


PS: I think 2D8HP may be my long lost brother. Or something. No, that isn't weird. Shut up.
It's only weird if you kissed him. That's what we call "Skywalkering."

Mordar
2017-03-16, 02:38 PM
Thing is you can't ACTUALLY entirely copy a character into your game. You can't copy Indiana Jones into your game completely because there never was an Indiana Jones movie that he killed an owlbear. There was never an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Not all games are DnD you, know :smalltongue: Yes, I had the TSR boxed-set game Adventures of Indiana Jones (in which you play Indy, Sallah, Marion or Short Round)...but beyond that, Chill was a great game for an Indy style character! Call of C'thulhu works too...but only for a little while.

That being said, there totally should have been an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Elemental Evil...or maybe better yet, Indiana Jones and the Tomb of Horrors!

Which would be better?

- M

Starbuck_II
2017-03-16, 06:05 PM
Thing is you can't ACTUALLY entirely copy a character into your game. You can't copy Indiana Jones into your game completely because there never was an Indiana Jones movie that ke killed an owlbear. There was never an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Elemental Evil.

There is when I play the computer game. :smalltongue:

(Indiana was a Rogue/Ranger when I played I needed trap finding and Wilderness skills character)

Cluedrew
2017-03-17, 07:07 AM
Originality is hiding your sources
Exactly. Basing it on one character is stealing. Basing it on three characters is research.I am more in the second camp, originality is using enough sources it becomes hard to pin down what comes from where. Like Snapshot, which I would describe as a combination of Captain Jack Sparrow, MacGyver, the old lone ranger and a wild life photographer. Points if anyone can figure out what that character looked like.

Also a good parody is more than a rip off. ... We tend not to do either in the groups I have played.