Your Quintessential Characters

[wadledo]

What characters do you find yourself playing, time and again, slapping on a new coat of paint ever game but still managing to get that same essence of (in my case) gruff, scruffy, slightly more than mildly awkward in the company of anyone not shorter than him?

My two are:

Crew
The Were-rat Whirling frenzy barbarian, with more drunken escapes from the jail-house than common sense and a battle-axe that could chop off his own head, if he hadn't tied it to his hands.
Number of Times Played: 4

Dain Ironwrought
Dwarven Transmuter, who crafts, shields, and worked in a traveling caravan with his hedgehog familiar, Boo(who's a cheeky little B@stard, if I do say so myself).
Number of Times Played: 3

So, who are you?

[Grynning]

As much as I hate to admit it...

MYSELF
Tactical and analytical, but still somewhat reckless, always up for a challenge. A natural leader or a bossy, arrogant S.O.B. depending on who you ask.
All my characters tend to end up acting like this, despite the personality traits I write down on their sheets

[BizzaroStormy]

Stredexon "Mart" Intwisca

A very young, crippled sorcerer who dresses like Vivi from FFIX. Accepted into quite a few games but those with him in them seem die die fairly quickly.

Times Played: 8

[AstralFire]

I have a fondness for smug, slender, intelligent and arrogant bastards who do what needs to be done.

That and personable, likable, boy scout but pragmatic Paladin-types. Which is ironic as I've never actually played a Paladin or Cleric in D&D.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I try not to reuse characters, but I tend to default toward witty, charming, relatively laid-back Paladins or other warriors with social skills.

I'd say I've done three or four variations on this theme, including a DMPC. Although not every trait comes through in every character.

[streakster]

The Warlock. The flashy, self-centered, arrogant, CN because it's a good party and the paladin won't let me get away with CE, Magnificent Bastard whenever I can get away with it, Warlock.

Most of my characters act like that, actually...

[Siosilvar]

MYSELF
Tactical and analytical, but still somewhat reckless, always up for a challenge. A natural leader or a bossy, arrogant S.O.B. depending on who you ask.
All my characters tend to end up acting like this, despite the personality traits I write down on their sheets

'scuse me, are you me?

[sonofzeal]

Nothing. Seriously, nothing.

Unless pressed for time or specifically asked, I'll almost always play something I've never played before, and something deliberately different. I've had characters continue from one game to a different one, and I have a few favorites, but really what's quintessentially me is a bit of everything. So... factotum maybe? Ignoring the fact that I've never actually played one, the whole concept of the factotum is uniquely appropriate to me and my playstyle.

[thegurullamen]

Spoiled brat Sorc who aspires to archmagedom and kicking the crap out of towns holding people who oppressed him on his way up. And those ******bags in the Mage Academy who keep trying to kill him because he gives mages a bad name. And the kids of anyone who really ticked him off. And the church of St. Cuthbert, but that's just on principle.

[Artanis]

An elvish archer. The character is an elf...who shoots things...

...yeah, I kinda suck at making characters.



When not playing an archer-type, I tend to play somebody with a lot of firepower who likes to use it a little too much. It's not that the character likes killing people, the character simply likes doing things he's good at...which coincidentally happens to include killing people.

[Grynning]

'scuse me, are you me?

If so, one of us is an evil doppelganger of the other, and we must fight to the death!

[Xallace]

Ezekiel Black

Necromancer-type arcane caster with a higher moral standard than anyone else in the party with an appreciation for all living things and an immense dislike of other necromancers. The last part can be explained via a quote of his: "I pay the best respect to living creatures because I know what terrible things happen to them when they die. I cause most of those things."

Number of times played: 2

But he also falls into my general character type, which tends to be morally upright if ethically questionable human males. I never feel comfortable giving my characters a "Good" alignment on paper, but some of them have ended up Exalted.

[Kaihaku]

I rarely play the same character concept twice unless it wasn't didn't get the development I wanted the first time around.

[SurlySeraph]

Marshall Nethren

A death-obsessed paladin. His philosophy is "We're all going to die eventually, but it is my responsibility to make sure that the evil ones die first." Whether he's doing this because he believes it will result in a paradise on earth, or because it's his duty, or for whatever other reason, varies. Not terribly merciful and sometimes angsty, but otherwise tends to be nice and benevolent. Often overlaps with...

Smitey McOrwellian

If you've spent much time on the SMBGs, this is basically my persona there. An old or middle-aged, bitter and cynical paladin. Often a Gray Guard. Tends to oppose pretty much all types of fun, responds to every threat with Smite Evil rather than negotiating or retreating, openly discriminates against half-orcs, tieflings, drow, and other usually evil races, and generally acts oppressively paranoid. But it's to make sure everyone stays safe, and it works. Will show a softer and friendlier side to those few he actually trusts, but his trust doesn't come easily. Much, much more effective (both mechanically and in RP terms) in GRIMDARK campaign settings.

Vain Smasher

A fighter-type who thinks very highly of himself, usually much more highly than he deserves. Tends to drastically overestimate his own toughness and get beat down, but no matter how many times it happens he bounces back. Fun-loving and has very little thought for consequences. Usually either CN (Wheee! I'm awesome! Let's go break things that aren't awesome!) or NE (My innate superiority to you means that I am justified in killing you for my amusement!)

Clemens the Necromancer

A fairly detached, scholarly necromancer. What class he is varies: he can be a wizard, sorceror, or archivist, or some kind of gish. His alignment also varies. What's constant is that he doesn't much care about undead but is very interested in life energy itself, and doesn't care that much about day-to-day life. Usually holds very strongly to a single principle or goal.

[Glyde]

I try to keep it varied when I make a new character, but so far I seem to actually be playing the same character quite a bit. And I mean the same character. He's quite old, now, though still fightin' strong. He makes guest appearance almost everywhere possible.

[Gamgee]

The no ****ing nonsense lets get this done and get it done proper character. Quite prone to saving everyone elses asses due to me just being like that :) That or my oh so lovely dwarf of whatever.

[Deepblue706]

There is one character I've used more than once. The original followed this concept:

A troubled knight who is born of a noble house but falls from his high status because of war (his side lost), and is rather bitter about it. He is well-educated and intelligent, but also biased and judgmental. He would sometimes have bouts with depression, and often resorted to alcohol. While once a bastion of morality and the chivalric ideal, he had become dark, brooding and fairly apathetic to others. But, he would often struggle with himself; fighting between upholding his old beliefs, abandoning them for an easier life, or giving up on life altogether.

The main inspiration of this character came from the blending of two concepts; of the Tragic Hero - which involves a high-man-brought-low - and of the Villain - the low-man-brought-high. He was supposed to be a great person who sought to rebuild himself after the fall, and would walk the line between Hero and Villain due to what had influenced everything about him until this point.

One variation is purely the evil side, who "falls" only because his father leaves him meager inheritance (he is a fourth son). He has little internal struggle, and none of the redeeming qualities the original had. He is a strong man, who does as a strong man does - dominate the weak for his own gain. He has made a "fall" (again, quotes because it's nothing in comparison to an actual fall), but is rapidly rising due to his ruthlessness and animalistic cunning.

Another variation is purely Lawful - he upholds honor and law, but never had any truly good traits (even if his understanding of morality equals the original). He's not a bad guy, but his natural inclination has never been heroic. He helps who he can, and has no reservations for those he can't. He is significantly younger than the original, and essentially the same character prior to experiencing anything that made him great. He has made neither a rise or fall.

[valadil]

I try to make all my characters unique, but I've got a few patterns that have emerged over the years.

• My first character in any fantasy system is some sort of ranger
• I often end up as the academic spellcaster, though I've been shying away from that lately
• I idolize scoundrels

[monty]

Almost always neutral or chaotic (varied on the other axis, but with a slight tendency toward evil) with high Charisma (I've never dumped it for a build I've used). No consistent class, but usually a caster of some kind.

[ocato]

I've never really reused an exact story or build or character, but I have the best luck with melee types--ones who single out the biggest, baddest, scariest thing on the table and proceed to try to fight it all by himself.

The Barbarian that solo'd a Death Knight (from some Monster Manual, I just remember it was pretty epic) stands out as one.

The Dervish that almost solo'd a small army of demons (Marileth survived a full attack barely and telekinesis'd me into a bottomless pit that went straight into the 9 hells is the other. The ongoing theory is that he's still sawing through demons in hell, dancing the night away.

Of course characters like that tend to die, and my friends never remember the epic victories, only the ignoble defeats.

Jerks.

[Eldariel]

Eh, the character I've played most often:
Elven Warrior/Arcane with both, melee and bow competency. That is, I've played it once per edition. Fighter/Mage multiclass in AD&D, Fighter (yea, my bad)/Wizard/AA/Eldritch Knight in 3.0 and 3.5, pending 4.0 play yet. Mind you, the name is always different along with personality and all that (the latest was sort of a Blood Knight striving to test his mettle against stronger and stronger magic users and warriors, defeating them in their own game), but what he can do is always the same.

There's really no other character I'd played multiple times across any number of rules sets/games. I relish in creating new personalities and trying to act like them to best of my ability, just as much as I relish in creating new mechanical shells. This leads to me loving the creation of new characters almost as much as the experience of actually playing them.

[NEO|Phyte]

I've yet to really play the same character more than once, but I've got a few characters that HAVE been played (and some that haven't) that I wouldn't mind reusing, should a suitable game crop up.

Malous
Psiforged Psion (telepath)/Thrallherd
The original concept behind Malous was simple delusions of grandeur, which would be affirmed by his thralls and believers. The campaign was also using the Taint rules from Heroes of Horror, which prompted me to decide that his respect for the living would vary depending on how tainted he was. Even though becoming an NPC would have been certain, I would have so loved ending up a mechanical version of Xykon. Either way, the game ended up drifting out of the horror genre, and the taint rules were pretty much forgotten from session one. Malous ended up becoming a mostly silent observer, speaking only when he had something worth saying. In the early parts of the session, I was rather handy because as I didn't need to eat, I was safe from the rather not friendly plague that was in the area. We had the (infected) paladin tied to me for a while, so that if he succumbed to the plague and turned into a cannibalistic monster, he'd be rather hampered. Luckily, he held on long enough for us to find the plot device needed to cure him. This plot device was one of a set of 12 intelligent stones, which he refused to trust after the first contact with one 'broke' his thrall, an already insane dwarf wizard named Carl. (Carl later became a full PC, and ended up dying epically to a gold dragon's fire breath after benign transpositioning with an unconscious red dragon in order to save an NPC girl that the paladin adopted after rescuing her from the village of cannibals.) From those humble beginnings, he ended up opposing a mysterious group (Including most, if not all, of the stones) that sought to enter Heaven in order to rewrite Fate. He also had a bit of a personal sidequest in the form of freeing his people from the (manipulated by the bad guys) forces of Pelor, who were going genocidal on everything not human, using Warforged to bolster their forces. Aside from a few early encounters, most of the fights we got involved in ended up being against mindflayers, dragons, and/or deific beings, so I never got a chance to REALLY lay into any encounters with the good stuff. Oh how I yearned for a batch of mooks or at least something WITHOUT godly saves and/or SR to try out some of my powers on. Sadly, the campaign ended prematurely. The DM shared his plans though, and had we won, Malous would have been the ruler of the warforged. He was also apparently specially built (which included lacking a soul, something the stones were fond of) by a gnome that knew about the stones.

Agdor Loathestone
Dwarven Psychic warrior/Elocater
I've yet to actually play Agdor, but I've got him all figured out. He started out as a guardsdwarf. One freak landslide/cave in later, and he's a blacksmith with a crushed leg, a grudge against the earth, and a head full of untapped potential. He spends a few years banging out armor and weapons, working on both his powers and his grudge on the side, as well as a set of mithral fullplate. Once his armor was finished, he took it, his axe from his time as a guard, some basic supplies, and left, adopting the name Loathestone to replace his clan name. Assuming the game starts at a high enough level, his first step out of his home also serves as his last step, as he chooses that moment to forever sever his connection with the ground. He remains dwarfy, he just doesn't like the earth.

There's a third, but I feel like I've typed for far too long, so maybe in a later post.

[Ravyn]

It varies for me. I had a while in which I favored overdramatic arcanists, then I switched into subtle combat-evaders and troubleshooters.

The usual similarities: most of my characters are intelligent and more than decent at wordplay. They tend to either have a snarky side or attempt to bring out the best in other people; some even do both.

I had two in one game group that started a bit of a running joke. If three of us were playing in the same game, I'd end up as leader of the free world by accident (one campaign I shouted down a couple armies, the next time I can-openered the BBEG around the time a major symbolic position in my organization was being filled), one of the others would be my partner in crime, and another would be my dark mirror. Still waiting to see what happens when one of the three of us is running and all three are playing...

[ghost_warlock]

Gilbenstock Cy Attax

My first D&D character, ever. I've created a version of Gilben for just about every system I've ever played, whether fantasy, modern, or futuristic. He's a rogue with a pious streak, dedicated to whatever anti-undead deity the setting features. Several versions of him were lycanthropic (werepanther) - in the original game the resident anti-undead deity was a feline goddess who tended to bless her champions with true lycanthropy.

James Cyanblade

Another rogue, but an insane one. Cyanblade at one time possessed both the hand and eye of Vecna (2nd ed D&D), but his companions rid him of them (and he somehow managed to regenerate his then-missing hand and eye). Cyanblade has a taste for the flesh of outsiders, such as hellhounds. In the original game it was hinted that he was descended from the local god of Chaos so he tends to be a bit crazy and have odd features (such as his cyan eyes, which sometimes glow). He eventually married a drow and the couple raised a son together, who ended up getting bounced through time a lot.

Jalsgrim Redmother

Another insane character, Jalsgrim tends to get banned by DMs for crazy shenanigans - he doesn't railroad well. Jalsgrim is a transmuter -> wild mage who does some plane-hopping and wields a dwarven waraxe. His backstory changes every time he tells it; including such things as a gnoll and a plate of spaghetti for parents. He's a fan of shape-shifting magic and has rather liberal erotic tastes (Jalsgrim Redmother: planar whore).

[Jerthanis]

Matthew, A Sarcastic, much suffered and level headed protagonist who is unflappable even in the face of madness and stupidity fighting for a status quo he doesn't even really believe in. Will mock the percieved shortcomings of his foes, and will express his distaste for his companions, but will defend them from any outsider. While his exterior is jaded and cynical, he never shirks an opportunity to step forward and be a hero, though he rarely accepts credit for his actions, explaining it away as a whim or furthering his own goals or whatever excuse comes to mind.

Number of times played: 4 as a conservative estimate

[Cheesegear]

I tend to find myself continually playing stealth-specialists (except for Monks, never monks) of varying specialties. I usually play 'less-than-modern' who prefer old ways over new. Not fixing what isn't broke.
My favorite class/es are Ranger/Scout, Barbarian and Druid (and I rarely ever even D-zilla). I'll take Spirit Shaman too.

My 2e character that I played for a long time was a Half-Elf Ranger who dual-wielded Morning Stars. I guess I never got over that...Until 3e when Half-Elves were crap.

Now my quintessential character is a Human Swift Hunter (Ranger/Scout).

[The_Snark]

I don't have characters I re-use all that often, but I do have archetypes and personality traits that frequently show up, which I'll do my best to remember and list:

-Street rats. Oh, they might not have grown up on the streets, and they might not be poor, but for whatever reason, the character who knows their way around the city and has contacts scattered about is a favorite archetype of mine. Usually talkative, but they range from caustic and cynical to cheerful and easygoing. Class-wise, they tend to be skill monkeys for obvious reasons, but I've also played spellcasters and fighter-types who fit in well.

-Seers. I've done several variations on this, but I particularly like those who have visions in their dreams. Of course, this requires collaboration with the DM to pull off properly, and since DMs rarely want to give clear and detailed visions (which wouldn't fit most media anyway), the character can either end up as a mostly sensible person who doesn't quite understand what she sees, or (more often) is also...

-Neurotic or insane. Not necessarily violently insane, but definitely not right in the head either. My non-rational seers tend to understand what they see a lot better than the sane ones, but have a great deal of trouble expressing this in a way that makes sense. Any shapeshifter I make who's not a natural shapeshifter will usually be at least a little like this—if you could change your shape, wouldn't your mind have to change with it? May overlap with...

-Variations on evil characters. Usually not priests of evil gods; it's hard for me to get inside the head of somebody who thinks of him/herself as evil. Rather than defining them by alignment, though, I usually think of what pushes them over from neutral to evil, and define them by that. My usual variations are Amoral Evil, which is evil by virtue of not caring about most other people (to a particularly strong degree, as in not caring if strangers are murdered in front of them or working as an assassin to pay the bills); Sociopathic Evil, which generally considers everyone else inferior or irrelevant and exploits/harms them when annoyed, offended, or just when it's convenient amusing (I like this for fey in particular); Protective Evil and Paranoid Evil, who are overly aggressive when a friend/the character herself is threatened or inconvenienced; and Fanatical Evil, where I generally pick a cause or belief (often not evil) and have the character pursue it by any means necessary, generally to a degree that puts them under Insane as well. (I haven't had many of these last, since they only work in a few types of game, but they tend to be striking.) Many fall into multiple categories, of course.

Lastly, most of my characters tend to be social in some way, but that's because most of my games are play-by-post, and taciturn or reclusive characters often don't work well in that medium.

[Drakefall]

Aradoss:
A usually elf/human evocation specialist wizard who holds two great loves in life, blowing stuff up and tea. Seriously his love for tea is so great he's become addicted to it to the point where if he goes without it for a day he will become a dishevelled, bags under the eyes, grumpy mess who bickers at anything and everything. Two days without tea and he goes into remission becoming slightly insane and mostly useless. What makes this fun is that he refuses to drink any kind of magically created tea, deigning it unworthy to not brew the great beverage himself, so no summoning to the rescue here. He's generally lazy but is prone to bursts of energy if excited about something. He usually doesn't care about others outside those he names his friends but he harbours an intense hatred for bullying of any kind and has stuck himself in the middle of many a peasant beating scene.

[RebelRogue]

One of the few I have reused (bot as a PC and NPC) is:

Rurik Holderhek. Dwarven Fighter [Yes!!! Pure, freaking, no-multiclass, no-PrC Fighter, baby!] from clan Holderhek, otherwise renowned for their wizards. Fiercely intelligent like his wizard brother Veit, but using it for tactical superiority in combat rather than spellcasting. An expert with the Greataxe! In 4th ed I modelled him as a Fighter/Kensei, but rethinking it now, I think Warlord would probably be more his thing.

[prufock]

Moreso than any particular class, my characters tend to have somewhat consistent character traits. In general, they are atheistic, non-superstitious, practical, analytical, tactical, and materialist. They generally have some sort of scientific craft or knowledge skill that isn't useful in game.

The three most recent characters I've played:

DECKER: Star Wars (dark side) hacker (tech expert/soldier/slicer/starship ace/inquisitor homebrew class). No use of the force at all, simply a technical prodigy. Computer use and crafting bonuses in the thirties. Originally kidnapped and forced into serving the Sith, he now does so because of the resource access he has, particularly in the holonet world. He doesn't care about the force, doesn't care about glory, doesn't care about adventure - he's in it because it allows him to flex his technical muscles.

Audric Ashmore: D&D wizard (specializing in conjuration). Again, atheistic, admits the "gods" exist, but that they were once simply mortals that gained enough power to assert godhood. Believes the world was formed through natural processes, not supernatural intervention. Prefers magic forms that deal with real physical effects - conjuration and transmutation particularly. Dislikes illusion and enchantment because they deal with "flighty" effects on the mind. He'll use illusion when practical (has at least one illusion spell in his book - invisibility - justifies it as a bending of light), but has completely banned enchantment and evocation (which he considers "raw, unformed energy). He's also a magical theorist, researching theories of how magic works. He's an investigator for the wizard's guild, and likes to analyze a situation before engaging.

Gavin Hutch: Barbarian/fighter with density phasing powers for a superhero game. Atheist, tactician, a commander for the superhero military organization The Watch. Dislikes magic, doesn't claim to understand it, often thinks that "magic" is actually a manifestation of some organic superpower. Likes guns.