A kinda new-ish DM here of a group of 5 players and I've hit a roadblock of sorts. I got three guys and two girls in the group. One of the girls created a character for my new campaign that made two of the guys complain to me about how her character is overly cliche.
I'd like your input on the matter, Fa/tg/uys. This is her character in a nutshell.
>Five Kingdoms fought a Hundred Year War. At the end of it, two Kingdoms lay in ruins and the other three sued for a fragile peace before a proxy war began between them using hired mercenary bands and paid barbarian warlords.
>Girl's character was born and raised in one of the fallen Kingdoms.
>She was taken as part of the spoils of war and sold off as a slave.
>During her slavery she was raped and beaten
>She eventually snapped and killed her master with his sword when he was asleep one night
>She fled and became a wandering teenage beggar
>A few men who knew her as a slave tracked her down to kill her
>A passing mercenary band gave her a sword and a chance to fight for her life.
>Against all odds, she barely survived the fight and won.
>She was accepted into the mercenary band and has been raised and trained by them ever since.
Does this sound cliche to you guys?
>>44334629
It doesn't sound too bad. If she had become the leader of a mercenary band or secretly the child of one of the fallen kings royalty, THEN that would be bad, but really slave-turned-mercenary is actually kinda generic in a not-bad way.
But just for a frame of reference, what are the other player's characters?
>>44334739
*fallen kingdoms royalty
>>44334739
They're mostly just a toss-up between people born into this particular mercenary band with a rather uneventful/normal life of training and fighting, and some who were once in the military, but left during the peace times to join a mercenary band.
One of the guys who complained has a character who was from a Noble House in one of the Fallen Kingdoms, but fled when the capital fell and then became a hobo living off the streets of a small-time fishing town until he signed up to join this mercenary band that the campaign is centered around at first.
>>44334629
Females and playing a "raped" charc. Again. And again. Fuckbeans.
Boot her from the group and tell her to live her twilight fantasy somewhere else.
Then punch yourself in the dick for having to ask "wat do".
>>44334974
Other than that, sounds like a nifty little setting.
>>44334841
I think they're just being a bit precious, honestly. It sounds like her backstory isn't that different from the rest of the groups, just another sword arm that's joined the mercenary band.
If she starts trying to add in stuff like her former masters always hunting for her and all that, then that's a problem because it would be her trying to turn the games story into mostly about her, but then the same could be said for the guy who used to be a noble. Those are things to watch out for. It's important to let them know that a characters backstory matters, but you're the one telling the games story, not them.
I mean, eight out of the ten sentences you gave for her backstory don't even need to be referenced during the game at all unless you specifically decide to, only the regions political climate and the fact that she's a merc now are what's immediately relevant.
>>44334629
Don't see the problem. Raped backstory is ech-tier but nothing really awful.
Unless there's something you're not telling us, or there's something about how she plays, tell the other guys to suck it up
>>44334974
>>44334998
Thanks, I guess?
>>44335027
Alright, fair enough. Thanks a bunch, man.
>>44335048
>Don't see the problem
Neither do I, so I came here asking if there was something I had missed. Apparently not.
She's as good of a player as the rest of them from what I could gather from my first game, so no problems there.
>>44334629
The character seems fine... in a Dark campaign. If you're running something Bright, all the rape and slavery is probably going to be really jarring to the tone of the game. Assuming that it fits the tone of the game, there's nothing wrong with her character. Player characters are meant to be exceptional, and that gives them license to have exceptional backstories and origins.
What you might want to focus more on is how well she roleplays her character, and how often her trauma comes up during the game. That's a much more valid complaint to have, and one I've had to deal with personally.
>>44334629
Guts got raped.
Casca was about to get raped after being sold and Griffith threw her a sword she used to kill the noble who was beating, and about to rape her.
I'd say a promising, "could be a PC" tier person in that kind of world could possibly cut a few guys like that just barely. I mean, even a relatively normal person could get lucky and stick an unwary thug or even a soldier like a pig partially through beginners luck/being unpredictable/surprising.
And again, if she's "PC material" she's tough.
What's the problem again?
>>44335154
>The character seems fine... in a Dark campaign
Yeah, it's a little bit inspired partly by Wars of the Roses and the bits of Berserk that isn't about Apostles and mythical creatures.
>>44335186
Two guys just thought her character was overly cliche. I'll just have to tell them to suck it up.
>>44334974
How do you view being scarred, maimed or losing an eye in the backstory?
>>44335235
>the bits of Berserk that isn't about Apostles and mythical creatures
This guy knows what's up.
>>44335272
Always loved the first parts of Berserk that was about the war and the Hawks.
>>44335235
Yeah, I caught on to the Berserk vibe. You should definitely tell them to suck it up. If her character becomes annoying or insufferable because of her backstory then tell her to tone it down, until then it's a totally valid backstory.
>>44335238
As not as unoriginal as the "female who was zomg raaaaped" schtick.
>>44334629
depends. Ingeneral no its not, but does she really play this out? not like "uhh i was rped blablabls" but what this does to a person? if yes its actually really cool roleplay.
>>44335340
She's promised to not "whine about being raped in character" as she stated. She's more going to use that backstory to form her character around the person she became due to her time as a slave compared to the person she could have become had she never been sold off as a slave and been raped/beaten and her future experience through the campaign.
She hasn't given me cause to mistrust her, but I'll keep an open eye for anything nonetheless.
>>44335423
She will.
Bank on it.
