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I read so many threads on the forums about optimization and or why this or that build won't work. However, for myself, I have always enjoyed playing a character based on story/concept over numbers and this sometimes means that they are less than ideal in combat, but fun to play none the less.
So I'm interested in other characters that are purely for story/fluff/fun and still you enjoyed playing them and the people at your table at the very least didn't hate you for them...
I mentioned him in another thread..but
Bastion Slipfoot - halfling rogue (insane)
This guy reguarly reverse pickpockets party members to put grasshoppers in thier pockets. Attacks low CR monsters with improvised weapons (see chickens) and in general demonstrates high levels of insanity. He would frequently sneack up on an enemy and yell BOO instead of SA. Tons of fun to play and though I kept the flavor of the character in tact, he did dial it back a bit at tougher encounters...still he was a ton of fun.
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Brother Holk, of the Order of the New World, Tetori Monk
Holk calls everyone 'brother', plays his belt of giant's strength air-lute-style, and gets his 24-inch pythons on his foes while asking them 'whatcha gonna do, brother?!"
There are a couple of characters I'd try out in a lower optimization setting.
An Ifrit Wishcrafter, whose human mother bedded an efreet and had two Ifrit children. Both are being raised as her servants, with the elder kept at her side at all times, while the younger, who is more expendable, is sent out to adventure and unlock his powers more swiftly through dangerous experiences. The wishcrafter would be used to a life of subservience and need a real effort of will to not mindlessly obey any order.
Part of the challenge is that Wishbound Arcana isn't really that good. It would be far more interesting if at a higher level they could cast a wished for spell out of turn.
A Gulch Gunner ratfolk. I don't have a concepted backstory for this one, as it's pretty much a suicidal exercise given the playstyle of the Gulch Gunner archetype. It fits into the Paranoia quote (paraphrased) "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes? I don't shoot until I can see their tears."
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I want to play a half-orc barbarian/alchemist devoted to Cayden Cailean, where all his potions and extracts are booze.
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I played a human cleric that was an undead lord type. Buuuut only because he was huge, and fat, and lazy, so he didn't want to do anything. Eventually, he had skeletons carry him around on palanquins and had other undead servants do pretty much every task for him. It was fun, but sometimes pretty rough, as he often was stuck in some awful situations, ha.
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I want to play a bard who becomes a lich and uses an admantine vuvuzela as his phylactery
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A Dhampir Barbarian, after listening to lots of Type O Negative. Basically, the love of his life died of old age, she can't be rezzed through any typical means(She died via Plot, which is stronger than any Wizard), but he doesn't care. He adventures purely to find a way to bring her back. Of course, this opens up lots of different adventure possibilities. You know, going into Hell, people being Brought Back Wrong, etc etc.
I had another idea for a Barbarian, who's actually a very esteemed Professor. And his 'Rage' is actually his Hyper Intellect being applied to a combat situation, in such an extreme method that it exhausts him after. I was proud of the idea.
Vamptastic...
Hyper Intellect, kind of like the fight planning used in the Sherlock Holmes movies? I always thought that was a cool twist they added in the films.
Yeah, basically that.
Man, now I'm thinking about that Dhampir.
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you need to build that, Vamptastic
but only if the plothooks revolve around his girlfriend's girlfriend
Ha! You're alright, Lamontius. You're alright.
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I have a gnome prankster bard whose "go to" move in combat is to intimidate enemies to demoralize them, using Perform: Comedy with Versatile Performance. He's a great party face and bardic knowledge expert, so he's more of an out of combat guy than in combat, and it's loads of fun to play up his personality. He's not useless in battle, but he's not much of a damage dealer. In fact, he's up to level 3, and I've only rolled an attack for him once - he killed a skeleton with a wand of cure light wounds.
My other fun new one is Green Beard the Pirate. He's a half orc cleric of Besmara, the pirate queen, who talks like a typical pirate, and wants to "a-raidin' in tombs 'n stuff, 'stead 'o raidin' ships like ah used ta". He's a "bad touch" cleric with the Trickery and Chaos (Protean) domains. Dumped charisma and went negative channeling for the spontaneous inflict spells. Also took the alternate racial trait that gives whip proficiency, just to try the occasional trip attack from 10-15 feet away when I'm trying to conserve my daily magic. He's not actually any good with the whip, but it's something he can do occasionally just for variety.
I want to play a bard who becomes a lich and uses an admantine vuvuzela as his phylacteryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8JGhoVybkM
eeeexactly
see the 2nd post of this thread
I once played an hedonistic elf who was cursed with immortality through a mask. I had decided that by the time that campaign had started he had started, he had completely abandoned the idea of sobriety. Constantly high past the point of knowing where he was or what he was doing.I had several conversations with NPCs where everything is going great until i suddenly forget who and what im talking about and go into extreme aggression mode. He was a lot of fun to play but ultimately was too volatile to keep in the campaign we were running at the time. He has now become a consultant in our drug network.
Another character of mine was an alcoholic sorcerer who specialised in fire spells (back in 3.5). Many an accident happened involving... yes fire.
But my favorite flavor character was a dwarf Cleric/Fighter who became a cleric only due to the shortage of clerics his people had during a long war with goblins from below. He was on a quest to find a mountain suitable to host a new city for his clan. They had to blow up the caverns to stop the invasion, effectively collapsing the ceiling unto the city. He had a story for every situation (that reminds when I went to .... to .... ) Most talkative dwarf ever.
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So many things... a vanilla bard, human like Felix Jaeger, um a mystic theurge just because I like the idea, same with Eldritch Knight and Loremaster. Many of my ideas (and I've read character building tips lately that are actually how I "used" to do it) was to make a character at 1st and let the campaign events combine with backstory shape the character progression naturally and not worry about taking x feat at y level to
gain Z bonus. At least three of my favorite characters that I played long term were built this way, with a basic concept to begin and taking shape over time with me not seeing the final result until the end! It Was Magnificent!
I built a free hand fighter / duelist solely around Lightning Stance. Do I win?
One I've liked the idea of playing around with.
Tiefling Paladin. Lots of feats to push the Teifling side of the character. The character actually considers using racial abilities evil (as they are from the lower planes) - but still does if he has to. Tends to go to confession when he does.
So he is gimped a little by not wanted to use the resources at his command. The idea is that the player wants that stuff, but the character doesn't so he wouldn't be all that effective.
Many of my ideas (and I've read character building tips lately that are actually how I "used" to do it) was to make a character at 1st and let the campaign events combine with backstory shape the character progression naturally and not worry about taking x feat at y level to
gain Z bonus.
Can I just say: this is one of my biggest pet peeves as a GM? I'm glad it worked for you D and many players do this and it turns out ok, but over the years I've been saddled with just as many players who have literally NO idea where the character should go, even WITH a backstory.
For example I asked one player in my current campaign at 3rd level what item he'd like enhanced by an environmental effect. My goal was to turn one item of the character's into a legacy item. He responded "I don't know; YOU decide."
No joke, and this isn't the first time I've seen such responses. "I don't know what kind of power/element/feat I'd want the item to have/give; I don't really know what'd go with my character"; "I really don't know WHAT feat I'll take - what would help the party the most?"; "I have no IDEA what my guy would do during downtime, I guess he just hangs around and waits..."
So to define it, my pet peeve is players who just leave their character's details to the GM. Its a pet peeve b/cause then if I choose an Ice-Power focus in their sword they shrug and say "I'd have gone with something COOL, but that's fine I guess..." or when you suggest a dozen combat-oriented feats since the party's really lacking some melee coverage and instead the ranger goes with 1 rank in their new skill Perform - stringed instrument and then takes skill focus in it...and then the next fight is a near TPK and it's all the GM's fault; THAT's when it's a pet peeve.
Very sorry to derail.
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Marv half orc alchemist, "King of Orcish Barbacue" and that is what his alchemy is built upon, making the best Orcich barbacue. Has a code which includes--
"Never eat anything you talk to, for it is bad hospitality."
"Anything is better with sauce"
"Deep fry while alive, for it packs in the flavor."
"Always know what plane the creature came from so you get the preperation right."
His parents were a loving interacial couple, who were lynched in Kaer Magna for moral degeneracy. He has worked hard as a chef and a adventerer to take care of his younger sisters (who run the shop when he is out adventering. His is always offering to marry them off to his fellow adventerers.
Sounds like Marv would be fun to play with and I could see this popping up in a game with him; "Marv if you get us out of this I swear I'll marry your sister(odds get even more stacked against the party)... you know what I'll marry them both."
For a fun character concept what about a Tetori Monk that uses wrestling moves and acts like an over the top Luchador wearing a mask, naming attacks, and working up and charming the crowds when there is one.
For a fun character concept what about a Tetori Monk that uses wrestling moves and acts like an over the top Luchador wearing a mask, naming attacks, and working up and charming the crowds when there is one.
I had one of those in one of my D&D 3.5 games, a half-orc Monk who was dumb as a rock and ugly as a curse. It's worth noting that he tried to charm the crowd even when there is NO crowd...
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My brother has a penchant for playing oddball characters. He has no interest whatsoever in min/maxing or power gaming.
A few that spring to mind are:
Pebbles, the flamboyantly gay Dwarf assassin who's day job is a city works inspector.
Hop Sing (using a 3.5 version of Birthright's "Magician" class), the ship's cook in a maritime campaign we ran. Terribly politically incorrect name aside, this was my favorite character he's ever played.
A Dwarf cleric, whose name I can't recall, who would flee screaming from the undead, or just fall into a catatonic state at the sight of them.
rage prophet. river tam from firefly. the original "come and get me" barbarian.
holy vindicator, masocist. she has a secret only her god knows about.
From the 3.5 Dragonlance/Homebrew campaigns I've played so far:
-"Knots". A half-orc ranger who took the TWF Combat Style to fight with battleaxes and throwing axes (even took the Oversized TWF for 2 battleaxes) and hates undead... but when he burst into battle, drops the TWF and fights with a Battleaxe two-handed. Needless to say, he got maxed Use Rope and really loved to make knots... even to roleplay the learning of new types of knots.
-A dwarf rogue with so poor personal hygiene that, after getting way past drunk, he threws up and clean himself... with his own beard. Getting him to take a bath was itself a side quest in its own right!
-Jack. A human fighter who aspire to learn the ways of bushido... while having a serious booze problem. His reason for getting into adventure always was "community service" imposed by the government.
-Hannibal. A halberd-wielding human fighter who always was took for a paladin, despite all his attempts to deny it. A LG character played too good...
Now, from our Pathfinder games:
-A (male) elf monk who like to pimp himself with fine clothes and jewerly, with ocasional delving into "sacred" prostitution. He was infamous for having a "will of steel... and feets of butter".
-Icarus. A f%+!ing awesome halfling rouge that dubs himself as a "honest merchant" and always tried to accomplish the "Matrix maneuver": run on a wall shooting 2 crossbows simultaneously. He is totally awesome 'cause he actually did it, along with other crazy deeds.
-Valf Sarchen: A gnome paladin of Iomedae, who was reincarnated into a half-orc and fights wielding a elven curved blade. His HPs were a rollercoaster in every encounter.
And surely there are others, but these are the ones from the top of my head.
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In a 3.5 Forgotten Realms game I ran, one of my players decided to play a goblin. I warned him that a goblin would be persecuted by civilized society and he would be unable to enter towns. He promptly declared his goblin to be a paladin of Torm and clad him in full plate armor, complete with helmet. He then stated that, when going into town, he would keep his visor down and pretend to be a gnome. He even took gnome as one of his starting languages to complete the process.
This was all from a player who had never role-played before in his life taking part in his first game ever. It was so bloody brilliant I allowed it, and even helped him round it out. He played it to the hilt, and it was easily one of the most entertaining characters I have ever seen.
I love it, some of these sound so fun to play with. I remember the first time I DMed my little brother (9) and his buddies...they spent 2 hours of real time setting up camp in game -they dug holes for sleeping in, cut down trees for cover, and set elaborate battle plans...it accomplished nothing but was tons of fun to be a part of.
Marv half orc alchemist, "King of Orcish Barbacue" and that is what his alchemy is built upon, making the best Orcich barbacue. Has a code which includes--
"Never eat anything you talk to, for it is bad hospitality."
"Anything is better with sauce"
"Deep fry while alive, for it packs in the flavor."
"Always know what plane the creature came from so you get the preperation right."His parents were a loving interacial couple, who were lynched in Kaer Magna for moral degeneracy. He has worked hard as a chef and a adventerer to take care of his younger sisters (who run the shop when he is out adventering. His is always offering to marry them off to his fellow adventerers.
I would love for this character to meet one I whipped up: Paul Prudelven, the Fattest Elf on Golarion, an elf Urban Druid snobby chef.
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In one game, my friend played a goblin bard, with like STR 5, who only used a blowgun as a weapon. He used Perform (dance) in every situation. So, in complex diplomacy situations, he would be right beside us doing the Charleston. Or he would moonwalk through the middle of a battle to Inspire Courage. Or he would do the Macarena to help the rogue disable a trap.
He refused to use regular armor, and only cobbled together pieces of scrap we found along the way... pots and pans, pieces of wood, someone's curtains, etc...
It was so entertaining that neither he, nor the group, cared that in truth he was almost useless in every situation. =)
A very old gunslinger who thinks he is a wizard, and dresses the part to a cliche (stars and moon robe and hat, long white beard, etc). He just thinks he only knows one spell "But oh boy is it a good spell".
"Abracadabra!" *BANG*
I have a character type I've wanted to try for some time. Its a gunslinger/necromancer called Grimm West. I dont have much of a backstory worked out but I think Grimm West just has a cool ring to it. Only gotten into pathfinder in the last few months (And alas, I'm the GM of my group) but it seems quite possible but certainly not a optimal character.
Other then that I'd like to try an undead antipaladin/undead lord and the story would be the undead lord raised the antipaladin and is now using the corpse like a puppet/vessel.
Yorta Sweordbrekkan- Half-orc ranger and/or barbarian
Yorta comes from a small village of half-orcs who rely entirely upon their own bare hands and teeth for dealing with their enemies and have a complete hatred of swords. Her community can respect the use of knives and axes, since they can serve a utilitarian purpose, and they also respect the bow and spear, since somethings are better left to a 10 foot pole. Swords on the otherhand only serve as weapons for rich nobles unwilling to handle fight like real men (or women).
Yorta left her village in order to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, Jozeph Sweordbrekkan, who made a name for himself by breaking 100 swords and bringing their ends back home to be made into knives in use to this day. As such, she seeks to face every swordwielder she comes accross in single combat and sunder their weapon before they fall to their knees.
Someone I know is running a sort of Multiverse game that's started at ninth level, and in case he has openings in the future, I've got two different character ideas lined up:
One, is a Dhampir Fighter who is very cultured, elegant, he's all about High Society. But, you know, the more debauched version of nobility. You know, powdered wigs, wine and orgies, plays and operas mocking prim and proper things, etc etc. And, while of 'Good' alignment technically, he is not a pleasant person to talk to. He's a meticulous neat freak, he talks down to locals and peasants, strongly encourages the caning and smacking of children who get smart, and is generally the sort to find the silver lining in other peoples' misfortune. (But unfortunately for him, he can't actually let them -continue- suffering, even when he often wants to.) Uses a Bastard Sword, and actually rocks a Dracula-esque cape with his adventuring gear. All about fashion and living large for this guy, when not traipsing through dungeons.
Now, I really love the above character, but I understand that some people don't enjoy minor party conflict(Even though I think it makes an adventuring group feel a little more organic.), so my next character:
A squat little Asian guy who's portly, aging, and generally looks harmless. He works as an Inspector for the city, and generally gets his job done with kindness and a sort of 'friendly old man' kind of charm. He's very gracious to people, innocent, suspected or guilty, and tries to be fair. However, his base class is 'Barbarian', because in dire situations, he can go into a Zen, tranquil state in which he draws his sword from that cane, and slashes threats down. When he is in this state, an attacker approaching with a weapon and an enemy approaching with a white flag are treated all the same; bloodily and ruthlessly.
I like both ideas.
A squat little Asian guy who's portly, aging, and generally looks harmless. He works as an Inspector for the city, and generally gets his job done with kindness and a sort of 'friendly old man' kind of charm. He's very gracious to people, innocent, suspected or guilty, and tries to be fair. However, his base class is 'Barbarian', because in dire situations, he can go into a Zen, tranquil state in which he draws his sword from that cane, and slashes threats down. When he is in this state, an attacker approaching with a weapon and an enemy approaching with a white flag are treated all the same; bloodily and ruthlessly.
I am actually doing something similar right now with a PFS character, at least in the idea of a polite and quiet character who in situations where deadly violence is impossible to avoid, strikes out of nowhere with blindingly fast high-damage attacks before settling back into his polite state
but my base build (excluding a minor dip)? Sword-Saint Samurai
Oh man, that's great. :D I wanted to be parts Shogun Assassin and parts Zatoichi.
You know, I haven't looked at the 'Sword Saint' yet, I was just gonna go with an Urban Ranger/Barbarian combo(You know, so he can actually be an inspector).
Maybe I should check it out.
I made a Forlorn elven alchemist who grew up on the streets and was used as an urchin spy for an assassin who nicknamed him Selruil (High Noble in Elven). He eventually learned to be an assassin himself. Getting free longsword and long bow proficiency was a bonus.
I only got to use him in one session, but I used the Witcher as inspiration and when he used mutagens, I roleplayed out the physical changes and got some great reactions.
My most flavorful and fun while being mostly useless character needs a little explanation, because he became even more fun and more useless after he died.
In one homebrew campaign way back when, my character had just died and I didn't know what I wanted to play next. The group had 7 players so there was no obvious void to fill. The DM offered that if I didn't have any ideas, maybe I could help him out and be the next plot hook. The Fey Goddess had an interest in seeing the world saved from demonic incursions, so a character that worked with the Fey would be ideal. He also offered a Half-Fey race with a +2 level adjustment that would make for the greatest sorcerer ever--but where's the fun in that?
So Lubrissius the half-fey bard was born! When travelling in human lands, however, he used his father's surname and became Sir Thomas Easterling, mighty paladin! (As a divine champion of a Fey Goddess, I didn't even think of this as lying) So I joined the party as a paladin and fought (very badly) with a longsword. By calling my abilities different things (special fey paladin stuff, cure spells as lay on hands, etc) it was 3 sessions before the other players figured out that I was just a bard with a 10 STR and no ability to kill anything--although with his obscenely high social skills he did his best to avoid fights in the first place. Good guys are never the aggressors, after all.
He took much more credit than deserved for the party's victories, since as characters died he began replacing them in the songs and tales with himself to further his reputation. Also, in a group with some bloodthirsty players, he managed to leave one survivor in every fight and made certain that they knew the name Sir Thomas Easterling!
Despite all of the shenanigans, he was a truly good character who never ignored a call of distress, and the DM let him be exalted and get a nimbus, which isn't very good, but I thought was really cool.
At the climax of the campaign, he was in a position to save the world with the caveat of certain death and took it without hesitation. The GM gave him the saint template as he was vaporized.
Two real world years later the high level sequel campaign was starting up, and Lubrissius returned as a Risen Martyr who was immune to his own bardic abilities and unable to advance as a bard ever again. Although his list of immunities and resistances was an entire page... Saint Thomas Easterling was back!
Grandpa lich.
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A ratfolk vanilla barbarian, whose entire life-philosophy is "you fight as you can, not as you should." He fights using a random motley of attacks, using claws, bite attacks, dirty tricks, and pretty much anything unconventional, with the sole purpose being to surprise the enemy. And then I'd put all ranks into Intimidate, with only a smattering of points into other skills, simply so that he can attempt to terrify foes. Not because of his size, because that wouldn't work, but because he's utterly insane and has no boundaries when it comes to fighting. I feel like after seeing this little ratling rip out an NPC's throat with his teeth, most people wouldn't really want to get too close to him.
I have it in my head to roll up a dervish dance ranger-bard. Sort of a throwback to the 1E bards (illusions + nature spells). Bardic performance + hunter's bond would make for interesting party buffs. After buffing, he'd use a bow before diving into melee. The two classes would give him a broad range of skills even with an average intelligence. 1st favored enemy: undead; first favored terrain: urban. A character who always has something do.