Characters based on pre-existing figures in fantasy?

[harp_on_this]

So while i've been preparing multiple possible character builds for the campaign i'm planning for after I get home from Afghanistan later this year, I've been reading a lot more in depth on the rules and spending time analyzing them and reading up on the Pathfinder Campaign Setting.

One thing struck me in particular: it appears that Pathfinder is built for classic fantasy gameplay, and is rather customizable.

Many of the character builds I've made so far are partly based on my favorite characters from movies, books, and video games. I love the characters and the ideas I've come up with, but I'm worried about how well they'll mesh with the Pathfinder Campaign Setting (which I've come to love as well). I mean, they work with the rules most of the time, but should I be worried about that as well?

Also, if anyone has experience with things like this, do tell of them.

[cranewings]

Conan the Barbarian
Barbarian 1 / Rogue 2 / Ranger 2 / Fighter 1

Str +5 Dex +2 Con +4 Int +1 Wis +1 Cha +2
Hit Points 72 /

Feats: Power Attack, Sunder, Improved Unarmed, Improved Grapple
Post Level 6 Feats: Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Spirited Charge, Skill Focus - Diplomacy

Barbarian: Fast Movement, Rage
Rogue: Sneak Attack +1d6, Trap Finding +1, Evasion, Dirty Trick
Ranger: Favored Enemy - Human, Track, Wild Empathy, Point Blank Shot
Fighter: Step Up

Attack: Two Handed Sword +10 Strike, 2d6 +7 Damage

Fortitude +11, Ref +8, Will +3

Kahm the Protector
Monk 6

Str +2 Dex +4 Con +4 Int +0 Wis +2 Cha +0
Hitpoints: 69

Feats: Power Attack, Furious Assault, Dodge, Nimble Moves, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, Toughness

Abilities:...

I usually play only to level 6, and then add feats for every so many experience points. A big reason is because I love modeling characters I like and I think doing it with 6 levels, if 6 is the max level for the game world, usually gets across the character's power level just right. Plus, there are a lot of ways you can imagine someone like Conan the Barbarian - and it is kind of fun to interpret him with just six levels and some feats.

I think the biggest thing you run into is scale. Who beats who? How much of what? Can they still be who they are and make the decisions they would make with 20 levels? To be who they are and run from what they do, should they be lower level? Then should some other character be able to beat them? That's my only issue with the campaign setting. The campaign setting assumes the black smith and mayor are 10th level and the common prostitute has a level of expert AND a level of rogue, complete with SA damage. You really need to jack up the level of these people to compete with that.

[Deadmanwalking]

MrHankinson wrote:

Many of the character builds I've made so far are partly based on my favorite characters from movies, books, and video games. I love the characters and the ideas I've come up with, but I'm worried about how well they'll mesh with the Pathfinder Campaign Setting (which I've come to love as well). I mean, they work with the rules most of the time, but should I be worried about that as well?

You should indeed worry about this, but not so much you don't play such characters. Just think over the world the character is originally from, and their backstory withing that world, and...adjust things so they are appropriate to Golarion. The less adaptation is necessary, the better they probably fit in.

Give some examples of such characters and this advice can get more specific. Conan, for example, fits perfectly as an Ulfen warrior and mercenary with little if any real changes. Riddick, from Pitch Black, meanwhile is quite a bit harder to adapt, and any character based on him is likely to be much more loosely based than one based on Conan.

I also very much reccomend distinguishing the character in at least one profound, fundamental, way from their inspiration. It helps to make them your own, and keeps everyone else from viewing them as 'just another Conan-clone' or anything like that.

[cranewings]

Deadman is right on. If you just say, "this is Conan," then players will scrutinize it or loose their emersion, but if you play on instantly recognizable stereotypes, like black hair, blue eyed barbarians who fear aberrations and don't see whats wrong with killing town guards, players can be more involved because their imaginations can fill in the gaps.