for me it's
whatever ethnicity doesn't fit the setting (like an oriental PC in the middle of what otherwise amounts to europe)
Fauxlitas (especially of the cuter medium races, usually adapt thier class choice around thier personal stat and gear choices)
slaves, second class citizens, anything that gets people to give funny looks.
planetouched (Especially pretty ones like Aasimaar and Tiefling)
anything with a decent number of skill points.
High point buy.
Gestalt.
Catfolk.
Child.
An Alchemist with the Wings, Mummification, Vestigial Arms and Tentacle Discoveries.
A half-giant, since they're pretty much my favorite race, preferrably as a Martial Artist or a Tetori. Though if other large-sized races exist, I'd probably be interested in them too.
A gestalt character. I even already have a Monk//Ninja in mind...
A Totem Warrior Barbarian with ALL OF THE TOTEMS that give natural attacks, which are like... Beast, Fiend, Hive, and Spirit? Maybe Chaos too. I'm not even sure if this would be useful but damn it'd be awesome. (that is, assuming Totem Warrios can select multiple totem powers)
Lastly, it's not as high as the others in my list, but a Soulknife. Just... a Soulknife. They sound cool.
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I love to play different races to their implied stereotype while also providing depth to the character. In otherwords I enjoy playing the cranky aggressive half-orc only go into the reasons for it, while also exploring what makes him happy. I enjoy delving into the deeply introspective agelessness of the elf yet also explore how this has enhanced his worldview.
I usually dm, so I rarely get to play, but here's a few ideas I've been a hankerin' for.
A happy-go-lucky blowy-stuff-uppy Giff (or equivalent race) gunslinger. Big guns + impulsive attitude = fun. Alternatively, a goblin alchemist might suffice for this role.
A detective type investigator with the Sherlock Scan (using the Super Genius Anachronistic Adventurers supplements would be my preferred mechanics here.)
A spirit medium/detective who combines investigative skills and spiritualism to act as an advocate for the dead and lay them to rest (oracle or inquisitor most likely here).
A white or gray-hat necromancer who animates the undead non-evilly.
A slightly mad scythe wielding fighter type who fancies himself as an avatar of the death god.
A harpoon throwing fighter (just really wanting to yell "Get over here!" just once!)
A runecaster/runesmith (dwarven, human, or half-giant most likely).
Some kind of ritual caster or spirit binder.
A hypnotist/mesmerist type complete with dreamwalking abilities (likely a bard or the like, although a psion might also be possible)
Extraordinary 'mundane' types- serendipitous everymen (super luck, only sane man abilities), manipulative politicians/demagogues, bureaucrats from hell (literally or not)
An honest-to-god weird science gadgeteer/tinkerer.
Living/sentient golem.
Big dumb jolly oaf who throws tables and other inappropriately sized objects at people and beats bad guys over the head with other bad guys. Bonus points if he has a high wisdom and points out things unexpectedly from time to time to more "rational" characters.
I'll take someone else's crappy rolled stats and have fun with 'em. Alternately, I just fill whatever niche has been left vacant and try to make it as awesome as possible. Therefore, concepts vary.
whatever ethnicity doesn't fit the setting (like an oriental PC in the middle of what otherwise amounts to europe)
Today I am not going to be the guy that's an ass about this. Personally, though? I jump at fitting right in and enjoying the "pirate campaign" or "el-cid campaign" or what-have you to the fullest. I'll jump at the chance to be the salty old talespinner or the exiled knight, and work with the GM as much as possible in fitting into the campaign.
If I'm going to be a pirate, I'm going to be the piratiest of pirates.
I enjoy delving into the deeply introspective agelessness of the elf yet also explore how this has enhanced his worldview.
I jump to play the core-races, human or otherwise, that are missing from my party.
I like the simple, dottering, fish-out-of-water types, (usually small-size ALA Bilbo Baggins.) or the simple, rustic everymen. I want people to be SURPRISED when I'm insightful or heroic, or grow into the hero that my group have (supposedly) been from the start.
I really enjoy playing narrow-minded characters. It opens the way for some great inter-party banter.
I tend to construct my characters from what accent I'd like to give them, or my latest doodle.
None of my characters since discovering Pathfinder's power attack have bothered with a two-handed weapon. I enjoy the practicality of a dagger or longsword.
Half-Dragon Human with 1/day turn into dragon type of equivalent CL (IE level 19 turns into CL 19 dragon type.) With Wizard and Two-weapon fighting... Probably Eldritch Knight prc (bonus points if gestalt.)
yeah, dragons are sorcerers... But I really like having a vast variety of spells... That and Still spell is probably going to be my best friend (possibly quicken spell too... Who knows.)
I usually dm, so I rarely get to play, but here's a few ideas I've been a hankerin' for.
Best thing about being the DM all the time: I get to play everything. How else would you ever get the chance to explore every concept you can imagine?
Kobolds, goblins and furries.
And all of them as multiclass or at least with a dip.
An air-bender type, but not just any old monk with can channel air-powers with ki points a few times per day or an "air" mage who throws lightning bolts around. I want a character whose primary schtick is hurling devastating bolts, bullets, scythes, and any other constructs made of wind. He forfeits alternate casting abilities (unrelated spells) for raw attack power. I imagine spell-like abilities for wind-powers that deal slashing/bludgeoning/piercing damage that counts as ranged touch attacks but is offset by not automatically piercing damage reduction (it might at later levels).
Something about flying around tearing apart legions of minions with razor-sharp wind slashes is really appealing to me, but it's probably far from an optimized idea. Oh well.
X-COM based RPG... I need it so badly...
A simple country wizard with a pig familiar, claims the pig is the brains of the operation.
A noble german fighter with a penchant for engineering and love of all things clockwork.
Order of the Cockatrice Cavalier (named Erik) played as a total frat boy.
An elven druid that has a love for all of nature except for anteaters.
I love playing non-traditional alignment/class combinations. IE: Lawful Rogues, Evil Bards, Neutral Clerics.
I also like adapting anachronistic archtypes into a fantasy setting. A Rogue as a secret agent. A Ranger as a sniper.
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A sword-fu samurai reminiscent of old school Rurouni Kenshin graphic novels
A summoner with an eidolon who can just eat the threat and move on to the next one
Ratfolk. Dunno why
A weasel witch with a human familiar.
A bomb-crazy alchemist with a maniacal laugh and no eyebrows.
Anyone who believes and attempts to be as evil as possible with his every action but is indescribably bad at it (i.e. all of his supposedly evil plots are either childishly ineffective or designed to be easy to sabotage so that they'll always fail).
A master thief who doesn't take anything seriously ( reminiscent of Gonff the Mousethief, or certain portrayals of Robin Hood, or Lupin III).
A man who has deluded himself into believing he is a superhero (probably a sorcerer with the destiny bloodline, deaf to all logical arguments that his magical powers are actually quite mundane in everyday life).
A campaign which actually follows basic fantasy traits, and doesn't try too hard to become something heart-string pulling or dark and gritty, because those always take away from the excitement of going down into a dungeon and punching a dragon (I've never gotten a chance to go old school).
Someone else DMing a Golarion game who actually knows about the setting...
I could go on
The one concept I jumped on recently and am so glad I did was playing a small child with the wishsong(defined as the wish spell at will with only a verbal component) in a Shannara setting game my friend is running. It’s awesome, to get around having the wish just solving every problem our party has I’m playing my character as a coward (he is 8, what do you want?) who doesn’t know the full extent of what his powers are capable of. Currently we are being chased by Mwell-rets through a cave system and I was momentarily separated from the party when, after wishing to be invisible they lost track of me and I fell down a hole. Cornered by a pair of the shapeshifters I wished a grizzly bear I met awhile ago would appear and save me, he did, it’s fun.
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I love playing non-traditional alignment/class combinations. IE: Lawful Rogues, Evil Bards, Neutral Cleric.
I went for Evil Bard before, though I ended up retooling him into a Chaotic Evil Fey Sorcerer. Which relates to the character I like to play:
I like to play characters with alignments and personalities contrary to the typical expectations.
Case in point, I make my Chaotic Evil character a brilliant manipulator who has never killed another sapient creature. Nor would he. It's much more amusing to make them suffer by ripping away the last shreds of their dignity, identity, and humanity and leaving them a sniveling animal whose own parents would avert their eyes. It's amazing how much darker and unsettling the things you do with that sort of character are than your typical CE Int 8 Fighter killing random innocents. I almost felt dirty after last session.
My Lawful Good Paladin is a hard-ass cynic. He's mean, he's angry, and if you screw up he'll call you every dirty, foul name in the book before beating you to a pulp. He compliments very rarely, and when he does, it means something. Anybody who has ever been to boot camp would be immediately reminded of their drill instructor.
My True Neutral Druid was world weary and found the customs of 'society' quaint and old-fashioned. He went on a Theraeu-esque journey to live life closest to the marrow and when he came back everybody assumed he was some wide-eyed innocent (20 Wisdom---not so wide-eyed.). He's a womanizer and a bit of a sarcastic jerk.
i'm a total whore for high level arcane magic.
Gestlat is fun
Anything where I get to create a fortress.
I like to play characters with alignments and personalities contrary to the typical expectations.
I take this route myself. Evil/Lawful non-Drow Elves, Chaotic Dwarves, Lawful Gnomes, etc.
Of course I normally DM so I get to do this sort of thing regularly with NPCs. The BBEG of my first campaign was an evil Silver Dragon who had made herself a vessel for Tiamat.
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I like to play characters with alignments and personalities contrary to the typical expectations.I take this route myself, and raise you to "creatures of alignments or worldviews contrary to the norm for their race." Evil/Lawful non-Drow Elves, Chaotic Dwarves, Lawful Gnomes, etc.
Of course I normally DM so I get to do this sort of thing regularly with NPCs. The BBEG of my first campaign was an evil Silver Dragon who had made herself a vessel for Tiamat.
One of my favorite things as a DM is to make Big "Bads" who are actually good or neutral on the opposing side of some issue. Last time it was a lawful good king whose actions were going to accidentally awaken a magically slumbering Ancient Red Dragon.
I prefer the solution to be a lot more complex than simply 'kill that guy'.
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I like to play characters with alignments and personalities contrary to the typical expectations.I take this route myself, and raise you to "creatures of alignments or worldviews contrary to the norm for their race." Evil/Lawful non-Drow Elves, Chaotic Dwarves, Lawful Gnomes, etc.
Of course I normally DM so I get to do this sort of thing regularly with NPCs. The BBEG of my first campaign was an evil Silver Dragon who had made herself a vessel for Tiamat.
One of my favorite things as a DM is to make Big "Bads" who are actually good or neutral on the opposing side of some issue. Last time it was a lawful good king whose actions were going to accidentally awaken a magically slumbering Ancient Red Dragon.
I prefer the solution to be a lot more complex than simply 'kill that guy'.
I'm actually doing that right now in one of the two games I'm running. This here is my current antagonist. She happens to be CG and extremely friendly with the party... and will be very sad that they want to get in her way and cause "harm" (by prevention of her plans) to the people she wants to help when push comes to shove.
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The character that is the 'everyday Joe' type that gets pulled into events beyond what he has ever experienced - such as Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit or Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings (as he evolved in the books not the movie).
I really enjoy more cosmopolitan adventures where ARRGH SMASH! is not necessarily the best way to resolve a situation. Playing a bard or some sort of operative in a political intrigue campaign, or exploring different belief systems via a monk or cleric are right up my alley.
Likewise I'm a sucker for games where I get to play a noble or one of their retainers — so long as it's believable and there actual social challenges rather that just 24/7 combat.
That said, it can be fun to play a tramp or vagabond who is loyal and lovable but just really doesn't have a clue when it comes to being prim and proper. Mix in a bit of naivety with a bit of mischief and that's a fun combination.
A campaign which actually follows basic fantasy traits, and doesn't try too hard to become something heart-string pulling or dark and gritty, because those always take away from the excitement of going down into a dungeon and punching a dragon (I've never gotten a chance to go old school).
You aren't alone, compadre.
The character that is the 'everyday Joe' type that gets pulled into events beyond what he has ever experienced - such as Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit or Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings (as he evolved in the books not the movie).My favorite part of gaming is taking a character like this from 1st level up to 5th or so. After that, he (or she) stops being interesting.
I heartily disagree with this post. It's nice to see I'm not the only one that likes to play the Bilbo, though.
I took this question to be about campaign or system type. I jump at the opportunity to play steampunk or horror. I love the whole Space 1889 type stuff as a change of pace from "traditional medieval" fantasy.
Here here.
In that vein, I prefer games with strong plot. I can enjoy the sandbox-style "you're just a bunch of wandering adventurers" for a while or as a one-shot but if I'm going to play in a long-standing campaign I want some story to it.
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I like playing that guy. Yes, that guy.
You know that guy who always narrates what he does just because he wants to? I like playing that guy.
You know that guy who always says the dumbeest things and then tries to get away with it? I play that guy.
You know that Paladin/Wizard/Fighter/Cavalier/whatnot that thinks its fun fighting his only weakness, and possibly looses. I like playing that guy.
You know that guy who never buys a wand of CLW because, and I quote, "I'm not the healer." I like playing that guy.
A child Alchemist who makes his elixirs, mutagens, and bombs out of various candy. I actually had a shape, color, and flavor written out for each of them once too.
Well, for those of you who want to play your concepts, The Avalon Chronicles is a play-by-post that is always open to new players and just about whatever character they can think of.
That's a crazy looking game. Advice as to where to start?
Just about anywhere you want. Are you already at Avalon or going there? Why? For how long? Just think of an idea and go for it.
A weasel witch with a human familiar.
Check out the Noble Wild. It has rules for Humanoid Familiars and Animal Characters.
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I have to admit I loves the small characters, especially if i can convince the GM to let me play more then one. Goblins, Gnomes and Ewoks (hey! no laughing) are great to play just because you don't have to worry about common sense getting in the way sometimes. My True Primitive goblin barbarian was priceless as was my gnomish titan mauler barbarian (just so he could use medium size weapons lol), My gnomish cavalier, goblin alchemist, my short lived goblin cavalier, a CE halfing fighter (decked out in demon armour)and the Ewok twins in Star Wars.
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Mad Scientists: The kind that have a penchant for bubbling beakers, and arcs of electrical energy. Usually the itch is scratched by Alchemist, Artificer or Wizard variants.
Pirates! I usually only like to play pirates in games where boats and aquatic adventures are likely to abound, complete with treasure hunts and wenching! Usually the itch is scratched by Bards, Fighters, Gunslingers, Rangers, Rogues or combinations thereof.
Beard: When I can't think of something to play I start with a beard and work outwards from there, because Beards can fill all sorts of niches. Usually fill this with Dwarf, but Wizards, Sorcerers, Monk Senseis, Thor Worshipping Clerics and Vikings can fill the beard shaped hole in the universe.
Pet Characters A PC with a pet is just irresistable to me. In Legacy of Fire I have a summoner with a genie familiar. My first PC was a pirate with a monkey pet. One of my favorite PCs was a 3.5 necromancer with skeletal companion variant named Hollow Graves (now an NPC in Kingmaker). I love having a second set of actions, plus mounts make halflings awesome melee combatants.
Little Guys: Halfling, gnome, dwarf, kobold, grippli, goblin the idea of playing a small character in a BIG world and coming out on top is always satisfying. I had a halfling paladin named Jet Shepherd who rode his big sheep dog into battle, had a cowboy hat and favored the lasso (had his dog Aid Another to help bring down big targets).
Archaeologists: I love Indiana Jones, (okay, maybe not the Crystal Skull so much). Still the thing that got me hooked into Pathfinder was the idea I could play a character with a bullwhip and hat and yell: "That belongs in a museum". Can be filled via Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue or Wizard.
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A spirit medium/detective who combines investigative skills and spiritualism to act as an advocate for the dead and lay them to rest (oracle or inquisitor most likely here).
Have you checked out the Shaman class in Kobold Quarterly 21?
A white or gray-hat necromancer who animates the undead non-evilly.
Have you checked out the White Necromancer class in Kobold Quarterly 19? Actually, a White Necromancer might even fit better with the concept above :)