Writing yourself as a character

[Calthropstu]

So the story is *YOU* are sent to another universe. What setting would you want to play yourself in, what system would you want to use and how would you judge your stats?

[The Jack]

I overestimate my stats wildly and either plan to ascend to godhood or live a life of relative comfort with the power of metaknowledge.

[SunderedWorldDM]

In 5e, I would without a doubt be a half elf lore bard. Bard, as I play many musical instruments and compose music pretty well, lore as I also consider myself intelligent and "book-smart", and half-elf because I'm relatively unique, and this contributes to my charm.

[Quertus]

This is actually a really tough question.

There are several destinations throughout space, time, and reality that would be really sweet. Several would be even sweeter a) given my ample metagame knowledge, or b) if I wasn't following the rules of that system.

Let's hit the bad. If I'm just me, and I don't get a free exalt, then Exalted seems fairly horrible. Warhammer is fairly horrible period.

There's a homebrew where I played myself where, through the power of legitimate metagaming, I was bloody awesome. Really, there's few places better than that that don't involve "I invoke the cheat codes the universe to make myself...". Although there's a homebrew I've started working on that would be a contender IMO.

For something recognizable? Hmmm... Appearing at just the right time & place to go through a particular portal to one of my 2e worlds, following the rules of either 3e or Mage or even MtG might be good. Just... I'd have to choose a non-deity form of immortality, or go off-world to ascend (as that particular world does not support ascended mortals).

Oh, wait - not live through, but play myself in? Hmmm... I'll have to think about it, but, for the moment, same answer? It would be a fun challenge to keep myself alive in 2e or the first homebrew, and I think I'd enjoy the role-playing opportunities any of the three settings would afford.

Although... to roleplay as myself, by not live through, I might enjoy something like Log Horizon. Or MtG, set in the past, armed with both game skill and metagame knowledge, and convincing the original book character to "awaken" me? That could be fun, trying to prepare for Phyrexia.

But, really, it would depend on the GM, and the other players, and what they were interested in, as to what would make a fun game.

[Anonymouswizard]

I've considered running these several times, but always with the idea that you stat up somebody else at the table, and the amount of 'abnormal' stuff I allow has varied a lot with plans. So yeah, a lot of this is cribbed from a portal fantasy campaign I plan to run.

To stat myself up, I'd probably go for GURPS, as it can stat anybody sort of well (if you accept that most people on this forum have nothing above a 12). But picking a setting on it has an unexpected advantage: it takes a good amount of DR before somebody becomes nonsquishy, and the dying rules are fairly forgiving if you have a decent HT. I'd possibly even go for GURPS lite instead of full GURPS, but the basic idea is that I want something that handles ordinary humans fairly well, and 50CP GURPS does the job better than anything else I've seen. If we assume that characters can have passive abilities as long as they'd never trigger in the real world this opens the door to things such as starting with Magery.

Oh, for the record, this specific game uses Path Magic from GURPS Thaumatology, with Magery not as a strict requirement but as a practical one. No throwing fireballs or the like, but PCs willing to study magic definitely can learn it (and even attain Magery if they don't already have it). It also uses a couple of the GURPS cinematic rules, such as bulletproof nudity, to make up for the fact that practically none of the PCs would begin with any combat skills* or weapons (being UK based), and any they do have would be roughly four or more TLs ahead of the time. Still working out the politics and geography of the setting, but it's more at the power level of Narnia or The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant than the Forgotten Realms. I could go into more detail but it's really not overly sorted out, I haven't even settled on the TL yet (I'm considering both TL3 and TL4, although to the Thomas Covenant experiences staffs are more popular as weapons than in most fantasy settings**), I'm a bit more solid on the metaphysics and the 'reason' magicians can cast spells.

For stats, as I've said assigned by the person to their left, possibly with a questionaire using the following scale:
'disabled': <7
'weak': 7-9
'average': 10
'strong':11-13
'prodigy': 14+

Exact stats would be tweaked so that everybody is within +/-10%CP of each other.

* I personally would have one or two points in Combat Sport (Karate), and know a couple of people who might have a point in Combat Sport (Fencing), but nobody with an actual Combat Skill. This is also one of the reasons I like GURPS, the skills that cover niche cases combined with the Defaulting rules giving most characters able to derive a worthwhile score in a lot of skills they haven't invested in. Karate could default at -3 to Combat Sport (Karate), although I don't think it officially does in the rules.
** Instead of being associated with magicians, who get the book and the dagger (not all rituals are nice), it's considered the weapon of the wanderer. Only trained soldiers are expected to be good with the sword, although some common folk understand the spear.

[Kaptin Keen]

It's an interesting discussion.

I have a couple of inventions to my name, and in my youth I was an athlete (sprinter, mostly), able to qualify for but not win a European Championship. In real life, this has made me moderately succesful without performing any spectalular feats - that might be different if I'd found a buyer for particularly one of those inventions.

If my wildest power fantasies became real, I suppose I'd be a psion, a telepath, in some setting that hopefully wasn't Athas (which is pretty much the only place I feel psionics fit well).

If I had my choice of setting, I'd pick a future one. Something with accessible interstellar travel.

In my youth, I'd have answered something akin to Conan.

[gkathellar]

Golden Sky Stories, because depending on whether I end up as an NPC or a PC, I get to either prance around with helpful animal people and maybe ride the cat bus from Totoro, or alternately be a helpful animal person or maybe the cat bus from Totoro.

Vroomeow.

[hotflungwok]

There are some systems you don't want to make yourself in. I did this in GURPS years ago and the total points came out negative.

[Max_Killjoy]

I've found that quite often, trying to create people I know in this or that system doesn't work under the rules for "normal people"... it becomes almost impossible to represent all the knowledge and skills many of them possess within the framework of what the game calls a "normal person" and the value it places on skills.

[The Jack]

I've found that quite often, trying to create people I know in this or that system doesn't work under the rules for "normal people"... it becomes almost impossible to represent all the knowledge and skills many of them possess within the framework of what the game calls a "normal person" and the value it places on skills.

Agreed. Games are somewhat streamlined and tend to force you into going deep, rather than wide, especially for character creation. If I used my beloved storyteller system to make make a character, I'd be grossly overinflating myself with 6/4/3 attribute points ( let alone the 7/5/3 the supes get) but I'd be stretching myself extremely thin trying to get all my miscelaneous nonsense down; Skiing, lego skills, knowing a little of a lot of languages, dishwashing, game-rules lawyering, the ability to consistently write arrogant forum posts that arent any good yet fall short of quality ****posting, self-haircutting, architectural appreciation...

I once tried to do an in-depth soldier character sheet, and unless he's from a struggling country with no training budget, you cant put all the skills they would have learned AND give them points to say they ever lived a life before being a soldier, unless you make up merits.

Most systems give you a strong but narrowly focused character, while real people are usually very broad. Then again, there are skills in these systems, say 'athletics' that are crazy broad, and suddenly every olympic sprinter also competes in shock-put, deadlift and row. All the horse trainers can work with dogs, birds and anything they can find on a farm or in the zoo...

[Lord Torath]

I'd have to say Palladium Robotech. 'cuz Veritech Fighters are AWESOME! (Yes, I just went ALL CAPS. Am I proud of it? No. But it had to be done). Plus, I'm probably smart enough to have decent bonuses to my skills (maybe, depends just how you define Intelligence), even though my Physical Agility is probably only okay. And I'm entirely unfamiliar with Mutants and Masterminds, and have only passing familiarity with Battletech, so Palladium's the system to run it in.

[5crownik007]

Setting wise, there's all sorts of worlds I'd like to experience and see... including a lot of obscure stuff.

Given the choice, setting: The Expanse Novels. System: GURPS. 3e specifically, because it's what I'm most familiar with.

Stat wise, I'd estimate myself to be 8-9 in ST and HT and 11-12 in IQ and DX.
I'd also have many major disadvantages such as odious personal habits, absent-mindedness and the physical disability of asthma, my poor eyesight, stuttering and my bad back. Don't forget the youth disadvantage too. Advantages, I'd say a high-pain threshold and strong will.

Skills wise, I'm essentially useless for anything and everything, but I do have the excuse that I'm still undergoing education, so it doesn't count.

If I got to choose my stats and skills it would be a different story.

I'd leave my ST at 10, put HT and DX at 12, IQ 14.
Advantages, I'd take Collected, Hard to Kill 1, G-Experience(very important), Fit, 3D Spatial Sense
Disadvantages, I'd have Odious Personal Habits 2, Bloodlust, Honesty, Intolerance 1, Killjoy, Clueless, Easy to Read, Selfless.
Skills, Free Fall 4pts +1(very, VERY important), Guns/TL9 4pts +2, Karate 4 pts +0, Language(Belter Creole) 2pts +0, Mathematics 1pt -2, Mechanic/TL9(Epstein Drive) 4pts +1, Engineer/TL9(Spacecraft) 6pts +1, Electronics/TL9 6pts +1, Area Knowledge(Belt) 2pts +1, Area Knowledge(Mars) 2pts +1.

And, unless I miscounted, that should leave me with 20 points to spend on... boosting my skills up a bit further probably.
Also, I've just realized a few things having done this:

1. All I've just done is create a character for an Expanse campaign run in GURPS.
2. This character is very similar to Amos Burton from the books, with very key differences.
3. So my optimal self for an Expanse setting would be a space engineer.
4. I just spent over an hour and a half making a GURPS character without realizing it.

[Quertus]

So, I absolutely would not try to force myself (or anyone else) into any particular character creation rules when converting them to a new system. I would, instead, attempt to create as accurate a representation of them as possible.

But what setting? What system?

I suppose I'd want to listen to what everyone else in the group had to say, and see if there's something that everyone would find fun. But what would I suggest?

Well, either something where we can gain power quickly, or something where we can time-skip to being powerful, or something where we don't need to be powerful. Where by "powerful", I mean a normally playable character.

What I mean is, just how long would it take to apprentice in D&D to become a 1st level wizard, or a 1st level Cleric? Personally, I'm (generally) not interested in roleplaying through that apprenticeship (in part because GMs who want to run that type of game rarely actually run the 1st level wizard part of the game, let alone the epic level wizard overthrowing the gods part of the game, but also because that specific scenario just isn't interesting to me).

In groups that play with Alignment, I probably wouldn't recommend D&D, because people can get touchy about being called "evil". I've never had good experiences with Mage storytellers' interpretations of the spheres, so I probably wouldn't recommend that particular "fight with the GM" system (despite loving it in theory). MtG would be an awesome system - and fun to play in a non-MtG setting - but the combats would be quite... long. And, if the whole party played as MtG mages, how would we decide who gets to tag the Rust Monster or the Urban Mech or the Death Star?

OK, I'm having too much fun with this idea - so here's my pitch: the whole "party" gets independently abducted to different worlds, where they gain their powers. If no one else does (or we choose blind), I guess I'd choose my MtG backstory, and become a MtG Mage.

Then, the whole party gets reunited, and either sent to one world, or to a whole series of worlds. I'd be collecting "cards" of everything I could "tag", building ridiculous decks with spells from diverse realms. The biggest issue, IMO, would be trying to make these decks work in the time frame of whatever combat speed the rest of the party is built for.

Yeah, I could enjoy that.

[JBPuffin]

I’d build myself in Pokémon Tabletop United; that’s a game system I feel like I can build a decent replica of myself in, and going to the Pokémon world is definitely on my fantasy bucket list. I’d probably want to pick up Aura powers and electrokinesis (on offer for Trainers in PTU), but frankly I’d also be totally okay with being a normal trainer...y’know what, I’ll stat myself when I get the chance.

[hotflungwok]

And, if the whole party played as MtG mages, how would we decide who gets to tag the Rust Monster or the Urban Mech or the Death Star?

Beavis Christ, how much mana would it take to summon the Death Star? And assuming you're standing on the same planet as your opponent, what would you do with it?

Death Star (all the mana ever)
Tap to end game. **** it, everyone loses.

[Quertus]

Beavis Christ, how much mana would it take to summon the Death Star? And assuming you're standing on the same planet as your opponent, what would you do with it?

Death Star (all the mana ever)
Tap to end game. **** it, everyone loses.

Well, you could cast it with a Mox Lotus. Or I guess you could always use the Star Trek CCG logic, and just ignore the whole "casting cost" mechanic. "Oh, look, I've got the Death Star in my opening hand - should I play it, Starfire, Fizban, or Mojo JoJo?".

I just haven't figured out an equivalent to "Planeswalker" to actually be the character with a Star Trek deck.

[Lord Torath]

Well, you could cast it with a Mox Lotus. Or I guess you could always use the Star Trek CCG logic, and just ignore the whole "casting cost" mechanic. "Oh, look, I've got the Death Star in my opening hand - should I play it, Starfire, Fizban, or Mojo JoJo?".

I just haven't figured out an equivalent to "Planeswalker" to actually be the character with a Star Trek deck.

Wait, the Death Star doesn't exist in Star Trek. And when you say "Fizban", do you mean the card game, Paladine, or the guy from the Deathgate cycle?

[Anonymouswizard]

There are some systems you don't want to make yourself in. I did this in GURPS years ago and the total points came out negative.

It depends, I tend to find hilariously imbalanced characters are better in a one shot than a continuous campaign, although this will differ. I've not done it in a while, but I think I come out at 10-20CP in GURPS 4e.

I will admit it's somewhat more fun to make people have to conform to the rules of a strict game. As an example, in Scum and Villainy I'd be a mechanic with an extra point each in Hack, Study, Command, and Consort as well as probably the Mechanic's Heart ability, even though this is nothing like me in real life it's the closest the game can get. The other worthwhile thing to do is to allow players to add more skills or talents to bring them into balance, although if you're doing this just have them use a system with restricted character building, it makes everything easier.

Now the fun way to do it is to pick a system and allow players to make themselves, but with powers! This is another campaign I want to run, probably using M&M although something like White Wolf's Abberant might be better, where the players are statted by the player to their left, before the player to their right uses the leftover points to give the character a load of cool powers the player (probably) doesn't have.

[Quertus]

Wait, the Death Star doesn't exist in Star Trek. And when you say "Fizban", do you mean the card game, Paladine, or the guy from the Deathgate cycle?

Whichever (although I was referencing Paladine, I think). I mean, if a MtG mage could tag the Death Star, why couldn't a Star Trek "Summoner" (or whatever you call this theoretical entity who plays by the rules of that CCG) do the same?

It depends, I tend to find hilariously imbalanced characters are better in a one shot than a continuous campaign, although this will differ. I've not done it in a while, but I think I come out at 10-20CP in GURPS 4e.

Hmmm... I can only comment that my intentionally unbalanced parties (where the imbalance was intentional, and part of the fun) played longer than my unintentionally imbalanced parties ("bards ****!").

So, any Buffy / Smallville / etc players care to retail with tales of their multi-year campaigns? Or does this seem right?

I will admit it's somewhat more fun to make people have to conform to the rules of a strict game. As an example, in Scum and Villainy I'd be a mechanic with an extra point each in Hack, Study, Command, and Consort as well as probably the Mechanic's Heart ability, even though this is nothing like me in real life it's the closest the game can get. The other worthwhile thing to do is to allow players to add more skills or talents to bring them into balance, although if you're doing this just have them use a system with restricted character building, it makes everything easier.

Maybe it's just my experience with 3e D&D talking, but I prefer to think of being able to craft (origami) as an advantage, rather than as a waste of precious build points.

Now the fun way to do it is to pick a system and allow players to make themselves, but with powers! This is another campaign I want to run, probably using M&M although something like White Wolf's Abberant might be better, where the players are statted by the player to their left, before the player to their right uses the leftover points to give the character a load of cool powers the player (probably) doesn't have.

I played that game (kinda) - I realized that the "me" I was building would be great for a solo game, but that there was no room for the other PCs in my story (because I could reality travel + "Dr. Who" through space and time... but couldn't bring anyone else along). So I built a sociopath / psychopath / something path brute that was much more party friendly instead.

Actually, because we had a finite budget to build ourselves + add powers, this was a great example of how mapping even a lesser version of my intelligence and skills cost too many points, thereby resulting in me being unable to afford to bring others along with my powers.

[Calthropstu]

Wait, the Death Star doesn't exist in Star Trek. And when you say "Fizban", do you mean the card game, Paladine, or the guy from the Deathgate cycle?

...

Why did I not see this as becoming "I summon Pikachu and equip him with a light saber by spending 2 mana and then I lay a trap card."

[Quertus]

...

Why did I not see this as becoming "I summon Pikachu and equip him with a light saber by spending 2 mana and then I lay a trap card."

Perhaps because you thought your question was not subject to more creative answers?

I mean, it seems you are asking "what world / setting would you choose?", "what system would you choose?", and "how would you determine your stats?". Asking all three, it only stands to reason that people might answer them independently, producing such creative responses.

The first two questions produce responses that are interesting to see others' PoV and priorities; the third, afaict, had only gotten Gamist and vague Simulationist responses.

If taken all together, I choose a world of Hope. A world where there are beings individually powerful enough to fix what's wrong with reality. Even if I never personally become such a being, at least it's a reality where I can believe that there is hope for the universe.

Curiously, that's what other people call "grimdark".

[JBPuffin]

If taken all together, I choose a world of Hope. A world where there are beings individually powerful enough to fix what's wrong with reality. Even if I never personally become such a being, at least it's a reality where I can believe that there is hope for the universe.

Curiously, that's what other people call "grimdark".

Well, yeah, because when things get to that point, said people have either driven things into the ground or otherwise failed to make it a better place, and if you individually don't have a chance of changing anyone's lives for the better, well...what's the point?

[Psyren]

Pokemon is pretty much the only setting where I wouldn't die horribly, so probably that.

[Quertus]

Well, yeah, because when things get to that point, said people have either driven things into the ground or otherwise failed to make it a better place, and if you individually don't have a chance of changing anyone's lives for the better, well...what's the point?

I mean, my preference (especially in D&D) is to overthrow the gods and actually make things better but... that certainly doesn't seem to be a requirement in RPGs IME. So most RPG characters' existence is as pointless in the grand scheme of things as it would be in a "grimdark" universe.

To me, everything else that an RPG character does is just backstory - it just shapes who they are, what they choose to do, and what tools they have to do it with when they get the opportunity to change the world.

Although I can care for emergent stories, "The PCs change the world", or "the PCs react to someone else changing the world" are about the only intentional storylines I find worth pursuing. Of course, the results of Exploration, of encountering something cool for the first time, can add new things to the world, and thus qualifies.

[LordCdrMilitant]

Traveller

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STR: 5
DEX: 7
END: 5
INT: 10
EDU: 14
SOC: 10
Terms: University
Skills: Admin 0, Art 0, Electronics 1, Mechanic 0, Profession [Engineer, Aerospace] 2, Science 0, Gun Combat [Archaic] 0, Gun Combat [Solid Projectile] 0, Melee Combat [Blades] 0.

Honestly, one my Traveller games would be the ideal setting to be dropped off in. Barring the influence of my party, it doesn't actively suck, and is pretty much America, In Space! Unless, Ari, Joe, Dense, Seth, and Chuck are around, in which case buy a ticket out of sector pronto.

D&D 5e stats:

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My Estimate:
Lawful Neutral Human, Fighter 3
STR: 8
DEX: 10
CON: 8
INT: 15
WIS: 10
CHA: 16
Feats: Skilled
Skills: History, Insight, Investigate, Nature, Persuade, Carpenters' Tools, Artists' Tools
Languages: English [US]
Fighting Style: Archery
Manuevers: Commander Strike, Lunging Attack, Maneuver Attack
CR: 0.25

The "What D&D Character Are You" test is a little more favorable to me, offering:
Lawful Neutral Elf, Sorcerer 4
STR: 10
DEX: 10
CON: 10
INT: 16
WIS:15
CHA: 15

Of course, as a Warhammer 40k Player, and GM for Dark Heresy/Black Crusade/Deathwatch, I would be remiss in not featuring myself...

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Katherine HQ, 15 points
WS5+, BS5+, S3, T3, A2, W3, Ld5, Sv7+
I-might-have-read-that-manual: When you spend a Command Point, roll 1 die, on a 6+, that point is refunded.
IMPERIUM, ASTRA MILITARUM [CADIA], ADEPTA SORORITAS [ARGENT SHROUD], SPACE WOLVES
CHARACTER, INFANTRY, KATHERINE

or

Dark Heresy
WS: 33
BS: 33
S: 25
T: 28
Ag: 30
Int: 38
Per:32
WP: 33
Fel: 39
Ifl: 35
Is: 8
C: 0

Aptitudes: Offense, Finesse, Tech, Knowledge, Leadership, Intelligence, Fellowship

Skills:
Awareness
Charm +10
Command +10
Logic
Navigate Surface
Navigate Stellar +10
Operate Surface
Parry
Scholastic Lore [Tactics] +10
Scholastic Lore [Engineering] +10
Scrutiny
Tech Use +10

[Mutazoia]

I've done this a few times. The first time was back in the 80's and my group was playing a lot of Top Secret. We each rated everyone else at the the table, and then took the average of each stat. We didn't bother with rating our skills...obviously high school kids weren't going to have the skills to be secret agents.

The last time, I did was for a GURPS zombie apocalypse one-shot. Rate yourself as you are right now, and here come the zombies. Although, it was harder to rate myself that it was for the other players. By this time, I had had a few years of military service, and it's hard to account for, let alone quantify, that kind of life experience, with a standard 100 point character build. You have to be vary subjective, even with out that kind of advanced life experience.

As a general rule, though, if you want to run the "real world person, transported in to a [sci-fi/fantasy] setting" type of game, then take a cue from all the manga/anime that have gone before you, and roll a character normally, then play it as yourself. 90% of the manga that do this, have the guy from the "real world" arrive in the new one with a new body and skills/powers that he didn't have back home. (So far, "Demon Seed Manual" is the only exception to this that I have encountered to date.)

This gets you around the awkward moments of self reflection as you try to put yourself down on paper form for an RPG, and try to avoid having your EGO poke it's ugly nose in.

[ImproperJustice]

My friends insist that I would probably be a Bard.

My real life job requires a fair mix of investigation, compassion, flexibility, public speaking, learning new stuff and teaching, and a willingness to roll up sleeves and do some hard or unconventional work from time to time.

Then I have had to work odd jobs to earn extra money sometimes including more blue collar factory / food service type work.

So yeah, all things to all men and all that.
I can’t carry a tune, but I am a decent story teller.

Funny thing is in my almost 30 something years of role playing, I have never, ever played a Bard.

[Honest Tiefling]

Pokemon is pretty much the only setting where I wouldn't die horribly, so probably that.

That sounds great! And anything without sanity points. I don't really need to find out how many I really have, or how many mental issues I have as flaws already...

My real life job requires a fair mix of investigation, compassion, flexibility, public speaking, learning new stuff and teaching, and a willingness to roll up sleeves and do some hard or unconventional work from time to time.

I'm trying to think of possibilities for your job that aren't crime lord, and failing. Your username isn't helping.

I wonder if there's a game where you accrue minions because either I'm recruiting the lot of you, or if I'm going down I'm taking the rest of you with me.

[ImproperJustice]

That sounds great! And anything without sanity points. I don't really need to find out how many I really have, or how many mental issues I have as flaws already...



I'm trying to think of possibilities for your job that aren't crime lord, and failing. Your username isn't helping.

I wonder if there's a game where you accrue minions because either I'm recruiting the lot of you, or if I'm going down I'm taking the rest of you with me.

I’m a social worker.
Although Crime Boss is a more respected and better paying proffesion.