Do any of you guys have a "default" character? You know, a basic archetype that you find yourself coming back to in character creation? If so, what is it? I recently caught myself doing this when making a character for a new campaign and was wondering if anyone else does the same thing.
Pic sort of related. Dutiful, honourable fighters, typically relatively young and with optimistic ideals about protecting the weak and upholding righteousness are what I tend to fall back on, especially when trying a new system.
>>44139440
In modern/future settings, it's goofy techies/mechanics who don't like combat and are terrible at reading the mood of a situation. They usually have blond hair and glasses, too.
>>44139440
Rangers in the French and Indian Wars archetype. People who are trained to operate self-sufficiently and attack when they have the upper hand-- Being more effective as a loner means I have to come up with a good reason why they aren't, and that's like, party dynamics, yo.
>>44139440
Yes, actually. "Aloof, acerbic spellcaster who snarks at his party members to cope with the stress of their incessant, stupid antics. But secretly really does quite like them". All the time, man. If I didn't deliberately avoid the archetype sometimes I'd probably fall into a major rut.
Sneaky git that's seen some shit and alternates between shouting and getting all touchy feely with the other PCs and occasional NPC.
>>44139440
Somebody with a huge weapon and a huge ego. Sticks with the party out of respect for their power, but is condescending to those outside.
>>44139440
I seem to almost always end up character-wise as melee/spellcaster hybrids with some healing typed powers. And personality wise almost invariably "thinks he's smarter and a better flirt than he actually is"
Not really. One of my favorite parts of playing TTRPGs is that I can create a truly unique character and act out how that character would act--even, sometimes, when that character behaves in ways completely antithetical to my own patterns of behavior. As such, I try to make each character unique, with personal tastes in everything from weapons to how his armor should be fitted. Though, one thing I always like to do is make my characters entertaining for myself and other players, so some comedic element or thing which could potentially be exploited for comedy or simple spectacle always goes into my characters. Though, I will say that I do tend towards daggers and exotic weapons, so classes that typically use those tend to be my favorites.
>>44139440
In modern/sci-fi games I tend to play operators or speed freaks.
In fantasy I always go back to rangers and spellswords.
Almost all of my characters wind up being somewhat flippant in the face of danger unless I am intentionally trying to play them another way. For a lot of my characters, a good sense of humor can overcome a lot scenarios, but not at the expense of the seriousness of the moment, if that makes sense.
>>44139989
>but not at the expense of the seriousness of the moment, if that makes sense.
Yeah, that makes sense. A character's jeu d'esprit in a tense situation and the contrast it provides can certainly serve to enhance the drama rather than negate it. Like a sweet sauce or condiment can highlight the savor of an entree without overpowering it. Takes skill certainly, but it can be done.
Roger Zelazny was particularly good at that. One of the major reasons I really, really like his work.
Jerk ass wizard.
I mix it up, but I often default to a benevolent rogue.
I like having options to bypass obstacles, but not as keen on magical 'poof you succeed' sort of solutions.
A female Cleric/Wizard who supports allies with healing or freezes enemies. I tend to have her with white hair and blue eyes, and rarely use any magic that isn't frost or holy. Righteous, but willing to kill in the name of justice.
>>44139440
Melee warrior, two handed preferred but varies depending on the rule set, older, (sometimes) refers to himself as a knight despite being low born and never knighted, has a very low opinion of the world morality wise but hold himself and his companions to a high standard.
Kind of a paladin, I guess, but with explicitly thinking that the world is corrupt and no amount of good works will change that but he still has to try because he just can't stand the idea of sitting back and doing nothing.
I do have a tendency to play relatively moral characters overall; I do get some of your idealists, but by and large they are either willing to bend the rules to preserve what they see as right or just can't work within the system and focuses on fixing the little things that they can.
Fighter is just my HFY showing through.
Smiley happy diplomatic man-whore skill monkies. They tend to be either rogues or bards.
A cleric/healer who worships a benevolent sun god. Bookish and brainy, hella weak physically, but plucky as fuck.
The first comparison I can think of is that I play as Milo from Atlantis the Lost Empire.
>>44139440
The "oh god what have I done with my life" Knight. The warrior who looks back at his past actions and begins to wonder if he should have gone down a different path at some point and now begins to look for something to affirm himself.
>>44139440
I have found myself generally gravitating towards technically skilled characters, craftsmen, hackers, stuff like that.
I usually play a supporting role in the team, but rarely a healer. the only two healer type characters I have ever played were an elder Salubri who used his healing powers entirely to tank, and a cyberneticist who's medical skills were primarily secondary to her ability to give people USB ports and subdermal armor.
Most of my characters who deviate from the technically skilled support role have been determinator style loners. I have long been trying to get into a group where I can play a big heavily armored helicopter mom.
>>44139440
Some manner of autistic wizard/sorcerer.
Fitting, really given I've recently been diagnosed with autism, and I'm well on my way to wizarddom.
Bold, young, and clever hero, always able to hold his own in a fight, but never needlessly aggressive. Loves to help people and stick up for the little guy.
People way out of their league. The sort of characters who shouldn't, or wouldn't be there otherwise, and have to rise to the occasion. Younger orphans/street urchins, elderly or decrepit and even the maimed and broken. I really enjoy the RP that comes with it, and my DM loves it from the regular powergamers he gets.
My favourite is probably the elderly. I love out of retirement, or just pushed to action types. Doubly so if they have no right doing so (pushing 60+).
>>44139440
How is it even possible to NOT have a dozen different character ideas bouncing around in your head at any given time?
>>44144015
Too much 4chan?
>>44144280
Sun worshiping Cleric here.
It depends on the situation. For example, in D&D I first started off with my book-smart cloistered cleric in 3.5, but noI have a ton of characters ideas that I'm dying to flesh out the next time I'm not DM.
However, if I'm being introduced to a new system or a new game, I have a tendency to test out the waters with what's familiar with me. For example, I picked up the Thaumaturge class in Frostgrave, because it has heals and blasting people with sun beams.
>>44144874
I guess that makes sense to me even if it's personally not what I would do. When you're past testing out a new system, i've got so many characters i want to play at some point that i can't really see how i'd ever end up basically repeating one.
I gravitate toward warm, do-gooder types, frequently clerics. It's a type of character that meshes well with my playstyle, which is primarily support, and also gets the ball rolling on most quests because I'll drag the party kicking and screaming after any NPC that needs help.
Loli with a great sword.
My default character isthe little girl
Paladins. Mr. Rogers with a fukhueg sword (or bolter, as the case may be).
>>44145328
I go between this, the "rogue with a heart of gold" trope, and animal-loving characters like druids.
Young, shy and naive half-dragon fighter who's reluctant to give in to their draconic instincts. Mostly dark skinned with wide hips and thighs.Yes, the male characters too.
>>44139440
i like the neutral aligned sellsword with two-handed skills quite a bit
or all-rounder characters , minmaxing is nothing for me
>>44139440
Pretty consistently a strength-based melee character with some sort of bent toward crafting/engineering/tinkering. Often an unwilling loner from social ineptitude and some sort of physical disfiguration that drives others away.Basically just Hephaestus.
>>44144324
You can actually catch Autism by reading the wrong Wikipedia or Tumblr pages.
>>44144280
The issue for me is that I really enjoy certain types of characters; I can make a lot of different ones, but only a couple seem enjoyable.
Almost all my characters end up as good guys, even if they were originally something else. Also super-strong melee fighters with a backstory based around some kind of love and what it did to them
I like playing dickass thieves.
Not to the point where I'm stealing from the party or intentionally betraying them, but very much a self-centered character who knows he can get out of any situation, even if the other characters can't.
In non-fantasy, I like playing somebody who's down on their luck, like an ex-priest who's trying to scrape by, a homeless guy with mental issues, or maybe some college kid with a really academic background (calculus, art history) that's nevertheless thrust into the spotlight.
