Thanks in advance
* Jaded cynicism.
It's not something people hear about.
If you can start with a solid, interesting concept with which to build from, you can enter a game with a character that has more depth than "I do this, in this manner, aren't I COOL?".
It's not something people hear about.
quote:
Ruvyen had this to say about Tron:
What is it with people and drow? Honestly, I'd like to see someone play a three-foot ninja, like a halfling or gnome. Not only would there be slight comedy factor involved, halflings make good sneaks overall. Taken from a roleplay perspective, halflings have a tendency to go unnoticed, unless of course they really want to be noticed. A halfling ninja could certainly make great use of racial anonymity.
A gnome Ninja would be nasty. Racial cantrips for distraction, plus the tendency towards clever constructions...tasty. Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael fucked around with this message on 01-20-2005 at 10:20 PM.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
You don't walk on the grass in his campaign. YOu just...don't.
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
quote:
Sabratiz obviously shouldn't have said:
Well I've decided on the Wild Reaper variant druid. It isnt too much different from a normal druid minus a few small things. Most likely this character will be drow, but I'll have to talk to the DM to make sure my class and race choices are plausable. Otherwise back to the drawing board. Its kind of a different end of the spectrum from ninja, but it sounds fun.
Drow + Druid should be a no go.
Of course, if this is the same DM you've described to me, anything is possible.
But seriously. Go with a 3 foot tall halfling ninja. That would be COOL.
If you want, I can help ya with some background on the character when I come home. I'm gonna be starting up again here at school, though one of the nights is a Vampire game instead of D&D.
Have you considered playing a Human?
The extra feat and skill points can make a big difference. They have no level adjustment. They tend to get along with everyone somewhat, none of the other standard races has a real problem with them.
If your GM allows it, look through Races of Destiny. Lots of human stuff in there, including some human/half-human only feats.
quote:
This insanity brought to you by Palador ChibiDragon:
Have you considered playing a Human?
I think that I'm the only person I know that has actually played a Human in D&D.
quote:
Meow meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow Densetsu meow meow meow.
I think that I'm the only person I know that has actually played a Human in D&D.
I'll admit, I don't play them often. But they can be good to play.
quote:
Sabratiz had this to say about dark elf butts:
No longer going drow, its possibly a githzerai or whatever (cant remember the name offhand, or an aasa......something) only problem I see with the githzerai thingy is that its extraplanar which means "oops.... you've been banished"
Also Fal, this isn't the same DM, the old DM will now be a PC and the older uber half-dragon samurai I told you about will be DM.
Still not a great race for doing a druid. Since they mainly live in the "swirling chaos of Limbo." Not very good place to pick up druid skills logically. At lesat you didn't say Githyanki though! They get tracked down at level 16 by the Lich Queen and get the smack laid down.
quote:
Densetsu had this to say about Punky Brewster:
I think that I'm the only person I know that has actually played a Human in D&D.
I played one once, but that character kind of sucked and I'd rather not speak of him again.
Part of it might have been my flakiness, though. I'd either have to work on game days, or couldn't stay connected for more than a couple hours thanks to the magic of the intarweb.
quote:
The logic train ran off the tracks when Densetsu said:
I think that I'm the only person I know that has actually played a Human in D&D.
I mostly play humans and our current campaign is all human PCs except one due to circumstances in the campaign.
quote:
This one time, at Sabratiz camp:
No longer going drow, its possibly a githzerai or whatever (cant remember the name offhand, or an aasa......something) only problem I see with the githzerai thingy is that its extraplanar which means "oops.... you've been banished"
Also Fal, this isn't the same DM, the old DM will now be a PC and the older uber half-dragon samurai I told you about will be DM.
Just play a normalish character, the human is actually a good idea. You don't have to be some strange race.
Me? I'm an elf chick. Dig those ears.
quote:
And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Falaanla Marr was all like:
Just play a normalish character, the human is actually a good idea. You don't have to be some strange race.
Yep.
I think deth said in some thread that if the only reason you think your charecter is cool is because its some weird race or class, then you shouldnt bother or something.
I butcher quotes. It was something along the lines of "charectesr are cool for them, not for the stat sheet"
quote:
Addy obviously shouldn't have said:
The campaigns I've been in are generally either all humans or all elves.Me? I'm an elf chick. Dig those ears.
I wonder if night elf ears are, er...um...er...yeah.
quote:
The logic train ran off the tracks when Falaanla Marr said:
I wonder if night elf ears are, er...um...er...yeah.
I'm gonna beat you up.
quote:
Addy stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
I'm gonna beat you up.
Ahahahahaha you don't know where I liv...er...shit.
*hides*
quote:
We were all impressed when Falaanla Marr wrote:
Ahahahahaha you don't know where I liv...er...shit.*hides*
And I have a car too.
Someone is so getting owned.
quote:
Addy had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
And I have a car too.Someone is so getting owned.
Ah, but I'm up at school. You have no idea where my school is.
HA
quote:
ACES! Another post by Falaanla Marr:
Ah, but I'm up at school. You have no idea where my school is.HA
Mapquest rocks like that.
I'm gonna PK you.
I desperately want to bring a vahnatai (from the Avernum/Exile series) to Sigil.
quote:
Addy spewed forth this undeniable truth:
Mapquest rocks like that.I'm gonna PK you.
You don't have my apartment information.
Teehee.
quote:
There was much rejoicing when Elvish Crack Piper said this:
Yep.I think deth said in some thread that if the only reason you think your charecter is cool is because its some weird race or class, then you shouldnt bother or something.
I butcher quotes. It was something along the lines of "charectesr are cool for them, not for the stat sheet"
Close enough.
Characters you play solely for their stats or abilities are gimmick characters. Now for short stories, or for dungeon crawls, it's fine to use a gimmick character. Chances are the gimmick will last for about as long as necessary.
For campaigns, IE true roleplay possibilities, a gimmick character is a bad idea. Eventually the joke has played out, the novelty of the gimmick has become passe, and you're left with a hollow creation lacking any originality.
This is NOT to say that you can't have an idea of where you're going with the character to start. When I sat down with my players for HSX, I had a list of problems from previous games. One of those problems were the races.
I made a classic error: Players could in theory be just about any race. As such I had an aasimar, tiefling kender, half dragon elf, half-fiendish dwarf, werefox, and a furre, all in the same party as a gnomish paladin. Oi. First off, Halfbreeds have a higher CR and this was before Savage Species, where you can buy your racial abilities as levels. Plus Aasimar were on a different XP chart. So that was the mechanics issue...trying to give the gang XP became an adventure in mathematics which frustrated me to no end.
Moreover, however, there was this very serious problem of people playing their race card constantly. The half-dragon and the half-fiend were constantly butting heads, in part because the half-fiend didn't know his own strength and almost killed the half-dragon. Never mind the fact that there was this IC question of "why was Dwurt so stupid as to almost kill Lia like that?"; the argument quickly devolved to mechanics. And it showed up elsewhere.
So when HSX came around, I levied an edict: no races not in the PHB. None. I wasn't interested in the juxtaposition of a half fiend happening to be a druid or whatever. I wanted solid character concepts. Don't tell me what your character IS, tell me what your character is LIKE. If the first thing out of your mouth is "my character is a..." or something similar, go back to the drawing board.
As a result, I really pushed my players to grind out some interesting stories and personalities for the characters, before I ever let them start building a sheet. And we ended up with some interesting concepts. Alferd the Half-Orc Barbarian's story could easily be something out of the Godfather. Zook the gnome fighter/sorcerer was an amnesiac found buried alive in a cave by dwarves. They have motivations, inspirations, strengths and weaknesses all without ever having rolled a single die, picked a feat, or spent a skill point.
So you end up with Alferd the Half-Orc barbarian, but he's more a mobster hitman sort of guy. Zook is a pit fighter/professional athlete.
Neither of them are gimmick characters. Neither of them rely on their race to be their interesting point.
THAT is the sort of character build you need to look for, I think, if you want characters with staying power.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
when I play, I think about what I want to play, roll it up, etc...all the time with a general idea of what/where I want this character to go.
From THOSE stats and whatnot, I design the background.
Other: Ok, if you want to piss the dm off like all hell in a hand basket. lvl 1 pally lvl x sorc
All the pally bonuses includeing the cha mod to saving throws. I refuse to ever let anyone use this, as my friend down the hall showed me a character with +23 on his will save and i looked at him funny.(at lvl 15 and hes half celestrial)
Otherwise id say start out with an idea and fill out Supplemental #5 for that idea, then make the character. It's what I did for Kats game, and that worked well.
githyanki and gitzari or however the other guys are spelled are 2 different races. Both are ecl+2 or +4 cant remember off top of head as i dont have a 3.5 MM to check. The 2 races hate eachother with a passion and are quite fun to play as. Mostly for the Giant Great sword the Githyanki get(get a Mercurial one and make that magicized at 7 as you need to get the exotic weapon profeciency anyways). Beware, their psionic powers tend to make them easy to power game with, and i hate doing that.
or you could just play a human
Edit:
quote:
From the book of Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael, chapter 3, verse 16:
Close enough.Characters you play solely for their stats or abilities are gimmick characters. Now for short stories, or for dungeon crawls, it's fine to use a gimmick character. Chances are the gimmick will last for about as long as necessary.
For campaigns, IE true roleplay possibilities, a gimmick character is a bad idea. Eventually the joke has played out, the novelty of the gimmick has become passe, and you're left with a hollow creation lacking any originality.
This is NOT to say that you can't have an idea of where you're going with the character to start. When I sat down with my players for HSX, I had a list of problems from previous games. One of those problems were the races.
I made a classic error: Players could in theory be just about any race. As such I had an aasimar, tiefling kender, half dragon elf, half-fiendish dwarf, werefox, and a furre, all in the same party as a gnomish paladin. Oi. First off, Halfbreeds have a higher CR and this was before Savage Species, where you can buy your racial abilities as levels. Plus Aasimar were on a different XP chart. So that was the mechanics issue...trying to give the gang XP became an adventure in mathematics which frustrated me to no end.
Moreover, however, there was this very serious problem of people playing their race card constantly. The half-dragon and the half-fiend were constantly butting heads, in part because the half-fiend didn't know his own strength and almost killed the half-dragon. Never mind the fact that there was this IC question of "why was Dwurt so stupid as to almost kill Lia like that?"; the argument quickly devolved to mechanics. And it showed up elsewhere.
So when HSX came around, I levied an edict: no races not in the PHB. None. I wasn't interested in the juxtaposition of a half fiend happening to be a druid or whatever. I wanted solid character concepts. Don't tell me what your character IS, tell me what your character is LIKE. If the first thing out of your mouth is "my character is a..." or something similar, go back to the drawing board.
As a result, I really pushed my players to grind out some interesting stories and personalities for the characters, before I ever let them start building a sheet. And we ended up with some interesting concepts. Alferd the Half-Orc Barbarian's story could easily be something out of the Godfather. Zook the gnome fighter/sorcerer was an amnesiac found buried alive in a cave by dwarves. They have motivations, inspirations, strengths and weaknesses all without ever having rolled a single die, picked a feat, or spent a skill point.
So you end up with Alferd the Half-Orc barbarian, but he's more a mobster hitman sort of guy. Zook is a pit fighter/professional athlete.
Neither of them are gimmick characters. Neither of them rely on their race to be their interesting point.
THAT is the sort of character build you need to look for, I think, if you want characters with staying power.
Do you have that speach saved somewhere? I could swear I've read it before... Y.O.T.C fucked around with this message on 01-21-2005 at 03:19 AM.