Characters based on songs

[Nutella Knight]

I was listening to music and couldn't help but start to imagine characters to whom these songs might fit as their theme. Not simply as the class or race but their whole background. Such as a 'Gods and Monsters'.

A Paladin whose entire training led him to the path of the oath of devotion but a tragedy shattered his illusion of the world, regarding its the purity. No longer innocent, he's vows now belong to vengeance and vengeance alone, damned be the gods. He's now torn between the pleasures he denied himself for so long and whatever is left of his former idealism.

Well, my idea for this thread is actually for each poster to pick a song and create a character for the last song posted. So what can you guys come up for 'Paint it black'?

[napoleon_in_rag]

I was listening to music and couldn't help but start to imagine characters to whom these songs might fit as their theme. Not simply as the class or race but their whole background. Such as a 'Gods and Monsters'.

A Paladin whose entire training led him to the path of the oath of devotion but a tragedy shattered his illusion of the world, regarding its the purity. No longer innocent, he's vows now belong to vengeance and vengeance alone, damned be the gods. He's now torn between the pleasures he denied himself for so long and whatever is left of his former idealism.

Well, my idea for this thread is actually for each poster to pick a song and create a character for the last song posted. So what can you guys come up for 'Paint it black'?

"I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors any more, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes"

Morkil, a Pact of the Tome Warlock

His Patron is the Great Old One Qorong'l; hater of light and warmth. Morkil's dealings with Qorong'l has left him a little crazy. The interior of his dwellings are painted black and he only allows the light of a small candle to read by. He has trouble sleeping unless it is completely dark. Generally, if he doesn't have a blindfold on, he doesn't get any benefits from a rest.

Morkil favors spells with a black or darkness theme. His Eldritch Blast appears as a black ball that explodes as a burst of darkness. He uses Armor of Shadows as an invocation because its dark, not because of the AC bonus. Dark instead of light. Stuff like that.


For my song, something easy:

"The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

"We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!"

[GPuzzle]

"The Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

"We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!"

Holy crap, that is quite easy.

Cehnya, Human Barbarian|Cleric/Paragon of Victory/Chosen of Kord

Wields a Frost Fullblade, charges around, uses Wintertouched, Icy Heart and all sorts of way to achieve Cold Vulnerability and increases its damage. Dressed in scale armor, he leads his allies by handing out bonuses towards them, making them better fighters, as well as intimidating his enemies into submission. Deals a lot of damage in very little time thanks to his multiple attacks. In addition, he has a hint of Fighter to pick up Battle Wrath Stance, which makes him easier to hit but makes him deal more damage. The very definition of leading by example.

He is devoted to the God of Strength, Kord. Despite his behavior of fury, he is very much a father to his soldiers, leading them into glory alongside the band. He has great strength and great force of character. He talks a lot about glory and honor as well as defending those in need. His eyes are of a piercing blue, and his scale armor is decorated with all sorts of amulets for protection.

My song is "In the Blind", by Area 11. Not a classic, but a favorite of mine.

[napoleon_in_rag]

My song is "In the Blind", by Area 11. Not a classic, but a favorite of mine.

"Refluxed detest, integrity I passed on.
Take this f#$k, rejected on the last one.
Drop the weights, accept my fate, and trigger the explosion.
I scar lives in neurons; ink on ripped skin.
Countermand: the paradigm is shifting,
Now keep the faith as illusions break and we'll show you something real.
And when I reach out into event horizons
Will there be light and sound, or will it be just me?"

Josefina Cervantes AKA Bahlam

Decker (Shadowrun)

Once an up and coming hacker in the Tenochtitlan underworld, Josefina Cervantes began her as an idealistic crusader who saw crime as a way of bettering her world. Originally from the notorious slum "La Ciudad Perdida", she believed she could use the money from shadow-running to improve the lives of her people. Soon, she became disillusioned after realizing the nuyen she earned could not end the unbreakable cycle of poverty in the slums. Josefina also discovered that many of the jobs she did were at the behest of the very corporations that oppressed her people.

After a job gone wrong caused significant collateral damage and deaths in "La Ciudad Perdida", Josefina turned to dreamchips to escape reality. Her teammates soon abandoned the unreliable "chip head" and she began a nomadic existence, wandering from city to city and occasionally hacking a node for just enough nuyen to get her next fix. After a year or two, she arrived in Seattle. After recently witnessing a young boy overdose, she decided to give up dream chips and begin crusading again; this time with a plan to bring down the corps that used to employ her.


Let's get Urban with the next song.

"CREAM" by WUTANG CLAN

[DuxAstrorum]

Let's get Urban with the next song.

"CREAM" by WUTANG CLAN

(Cash Rules Everything Around Me
C.R.E.A.M. get)
Yeah, check this ol' fly **** out
Word up

John A. Devlan
RIFTS Black Market Banker

Earth is a hard place to live in for most people. But when all you ever need to worry about is who's gonna pay me today, life gets much easier. Fancy clothes, luxury living, and all I do is count the Market's money.

Honestly Banker's can be really fun to play. but lets move on to the next song shall we? "I know, You know" by the friendly indians.

[LibraryOgre]

I based a Rifts Headhunter off the Black 47 song "Fanatic Heart", once upon a time.

[UrsusMimas]

Easy. "Who Did That to You" by John Legend. The lyrics refer to a person taking vengeance on a man who hurt a woman. The narrator keeps asking the woman for a name so that the narrator can absolutely without question destroy this person. The narrator will bring the wrath of god upon this horrible man and no one can stop this from happening not even the law.

This seems very paladin like. Bringing vengeance upon a man for the evils he has done with no fair trail or evidence at the worst. Protecting a very hurt person and possibly the rest of the world from an evil man at their best.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

I've actually based multiple characters off Johnny Cash songs, enough that I've been banned in FATE for using his lyrics as aspects.

[Douche]

There's an Offspring song called "You're gonna go far, kid" which has a lot of imagery about lying and putting on a front to take advantage of people.

If you watch the video, it begins with a sort-of Dryad giving a golden guitar to a homeless guy, who then uses it to become rich and, again, take advantage of people. For instance, convincing some ladies to give him their jewelry after they've already given him all their money for performing for them. He then has a fall from grace for abusing his power. It's a pretty cool video and an awesome song.

So basically, that's a really great outline for a character. Haven't gotten the chance, but I'll probably end up using it. Sorta-evil bard (maybe with a dip in warlock for thematic purposes) gets a magic instrument and is primarily focused on manipulating people.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

There's an Offspring song called "You're gonna go far, kid" which has a lot of imagery about lying and putting on a front to take advantage of people.

If you watch the video, it begins with a sort-of Dryad giving a golden guitar to a homeless guy, who then uses it to become rich and, again, take advantage of people. For instance, convincing some ladies to give him their jewelry after they've already given him all their money for performing for them. He then has a fall from grace for abusing his power. It's a pretty cool video and an awesome song.

So basically, that's a really great outline for a character. Haven't gotten the chance, but I'll probably end up using it. Sorta-evil bard (maybe with a dip in warlock for thematic purposes) gets a magic instrument and is primarily focused on manipulating people.

Come to think of it, my current character (A Charlatan Rogue) has used that as his theme tune a couple of times. I'm pretty sure the Dryad in our party hasn't given me anything though.

[GorinichSerpant]

There's an Offspring song called "You're gonna go far, kid" which has a lot of imagery about lying and putting on a front to take advantage of people.

If you watch the video, it begins with a sort-of Dryad giving a golden guitar to a homeless guy, who then uses it to become rich and, again, take advantage of people. For instance, convincing some ladies to give him their jewelry after they've already given him all their money for performing for them. He then has a fall from grace for abusing his power. It's a pretty cool video and an awesome song.

So basically, that's a really great outline for a character. Haven't gotten the chance, but I'll probably end up using it. Sorta-evil bard (maybe with a dip in warlock for thematic purposes) gets a magic instrument and is primarily focused on manipulating people.

In my mind I always imagined a story about an old Charlatan who has a apprentice. Then the old Charlatan dies and the apprentice becomes the master. When I saw the official video I was disappointed about how the story told by the visuals didn't match with the story told by the lyrics.

[Telonius]

Basing characters off of song lyrics is kind of my thing. And that's not even getting into the entire 20-level campaign that my players are almost through, that's based around a song. (Really surprised that nobody's figured it out yet, given how well they know I love doing stuff like that).

[LnGrrrR]

Pretty much any Iron Maiden song is a great basis for a character...let's see who knows what song this guy is based off.

Philos Pelvyn, Diviner

From an early age, Philos had visions of the future, hazy potents of things that might be. One dream was always clearer than the others though... a middle aged man fighting against a great winged abomination. Brandishing a gleaming wicked sword, he thrusts it through the man, and suddenly, Philos felt the sticky warmth flow over his fingers. They were his hands holding the blade, he was dying! And there, the vision ends. He is getting closer and closer to the age of the man in his vision, and so Philos desperately searches for an answer, a way to change history, some spell that will prevent fate from unfolding as he has foreseen...

[Douche]

In my mind I always imagined a story about an old Charlatan who has a apprentice. Then the old Charlatan dies and the apprentice becomes the master. When I saw the official video I was disappointed about how the story told by the visuals didn't match with the story told by the lyrics.

Yeah, I originally had your interpretation at first too. The video makes sense as well, though.

Without the video, I picture it being a rogue. With the video, it's a bard.

[8BitNinja]

Chris LeDoux

If you try to take his cowboy hat, he will make you ride a black tornado across the western sky

[goto124]

Easy. "Who Did That to You" by John Legend. The lyrics refer to a person taking vengeance on a man who hurt a woman. The narrator keeps asking the woman for a name so that the narrator can absolutely without question destroy this person. The narrator will bring the wrath of god upon this horrible man and no one can stop this from happening not even the law.

This seems very paladin like. Bringing vengeance upon a man for the evils he has done with no fair trail or evidence at the worst. Protecting a very hurt person and possibly the rest of the world from an evil man at their best.

5e Oath of Vengeance!

[FlumphPaladin]

Basing characters off of song lyrics is kind of my thing.

You just took me back to high school with that one!

And now for my own...

Idell Zenpep, gnome vow of poverty monk.
Idell was from a well-to-do gnome clan, and in the days of her youth was known for her greed, pride, and shallowness (d20 Modern equivalent: cheerleader). One day she was led out of town by the enchanting song of a bird, which she strongly desired to catch and have for herself. While she was chasing it farther and farther into the woods, a streak of light streamed across the sky, and a loud bang from the direction of the village. Returning, she saw only a massive crater and some flaming wrecks of buildings, with very few survivors. She tried to survive with them, but found the hardship too much to bear and took to the road. By and by as an adventurer, she began to see that possessions and the glitter of gold were not what made life worth living, and so she vowed to help those she encountered to see contentment in their current state, adventuring only for causes of lasting good and giving away every reward.

Now, guess the song. It's one of my favorites--a classic in every way.

[Red Fel]

Honestly Banker's can be really fun to play. but lets move on to the next song shall we? "I know, You know" by the friendly indians.

See, this one is tricky, because it's a TV theme. Inevitably, no matter what I try to construct (in this case, CG Human Factotum/Chameleon, D&D 3.5) turns into an iteration of Shawn Spencer. Same is true of virtually any TV theme song, even the ones that don't mention the character by name - the song and the character are so intertwined that it can be very difficult not to end up recreating what already exists. (Caveat: Try "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold.)

It's slightly easier with theme songs in other languages. (Example: Try "Makka na Chikai" performed by Yoshiki Fukuyama. You can do a lot with that.)

Instead, I want to take this in entirely another direction. (Unless you want to do one of the songs I just mentioned without using characters from the show.) Try this: "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." And go.

[Telonius]

Every ball you throw will make you rich..

The man had just been married, and was at the fair with his wife. The showman's coconut bowling booth was actually part of the Royal Warmage Academy's recruitment operation. They were looking for talent; people with a natural inclination for flinging Orbs of every variety. He'd spent almost all his money on the wedding, but - struck by his poverty - decided to give it a go. The showman was rightly impressed, and offered him an opportunity for further training. Now, he's on mission for the royalty (or hiring himself out as a mercenary, whatever the plot demands), trying to strike it rich and retire to the good life with his wife.


Song: Hotel California, by the Eagles.

[Tiktik Ironclaw]

Wajolesh, the Abandoned Lich

Hundreds of years ago, a young bard was at the top of it all; he lived the high life, with the finest ladies, the best wines, and plenty of gold. However, as he became more successful, he found himself withdrawing and abusing himself. With his cadre of frivolous fellows, the bard disappeared into another realm, and was never seen again.
His friends he turned into undead, to match their mental states. He is now a lich, long left alone with his inner torments to bide his time in a pocket dimension. He tries to escape, but what were once his servitors now keep him trapped and entranced.

For the next song, one of my favorites by Zeppelin, and probably one of the easiest: Ramble On

[Arlo181]

I based a swashbuckler off the first verse of "Highwayman"

I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of twenty-five
But I am still alive

He and his banditry crew crossed an influential priest who sent an Inquisitor after them. My character just barely survived the hanging through the use of a Ring of Delayed Doom and a little luck.

[LibraryOgre]

The Mod Wonder:

That is not dead which can eternal lie
And with strange aeons even death may die