I'm not sure if this fits better in Advice or Gamer Talk, but I'm asking for advice so I guess advice.
So, I was invited to play in what's supposed to be a roleplaying-heavy, character- and plot-centric campaign with very little combat, where things like character backstory, mundane gear, rations and such will all be important. (I love the idea of it.) I didn't have much info about the campaign setting or anything like that, but I started brainstorming for character ideas, and I happened upon what I think would be an amazing concept for a character in a roleplaying-heavy campaign. I spent all day thinking about this concept and working it out in my head, making mental pictures of how the character will look, and so on.
...But the trouble is, I found out what sort of a campaign it's going to be, and I don't think it fits the character concept at all.
What should I do? Should I try to alter my character concept (somewhat drastically) to fit the campaign, or should I just come up with a new concept and use my old one in a campaign that fits it better?
Firstly, would you mind elaborating on your situation? There's usually no one correct answer for situations like these, so giving advice would be a little difficult.
From what you've said so far, you might be able to do both - use your heavily altered concept in this game, and the genuine article in another.
What is your concept, and why don't you think it fits?
I'm not sure if this fits better in Advice or Gamer Talk, but I'm asking for advice so I guess advice.
Talk to the GM.
The character might be able to work with tweaks or the campaign could have a minor tweak to help the concept work.
Your character is "a mysterious stranger from a foreign land."
If that's too jarring for the campaign (which it might be if you're going heavy RP), then I default to asking your GM. Always good to be on the same page.
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Change character concept or change campaign?
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Oh ok, fiiiiiiiine - talk to your GM. They may like your character concept and proceed to incorporate them into the campaign
Suggestion in order of priority:
1) Talk to the GM, see if you can work it out with out too much change.
2) Shelve it, and use it later.
3) Go home and don't play. (j/k)
In all seriousness, how far away from fitting are you? What's the hang up?
*edit: as a GM I am pretty excited when players come with a backstory more elaborate than, "I'm an orphan"
GNOME
In all seriousness, how far away from fitting are you? What's the hang up?
GNOME
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Made of plastic.
Isn't that fantastic?
Come on Barbie, let's-go-meet-the character party...
Alright, my DM explained his campaign setting idea a bit more thoroughly, and I've decided that it may not be too hard of a fit after all (with some minor tweaks). Here's my character idea (though keep in mind I haven't hammered out all of the details):
My character is an orphan.
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Just kidding. Well, she IS an orphan, but that's not all. Esprit was orphaned when she was just an infant, but because her parents were very wealthy, she was taken to a far-away foster home until she was old enough to take over her parents' estate. She was a very troubled child, and often took to talking to her imaginary friend- even blaming her mischievous nature on this unseen companion. Knock over a vase while roughhousing? "Konmon did it." Somehow find a way to climb on top of the house with no way down? "Konmon helped me up and then ran away!" There were rumors of her foster parents abusing her, but when in public she was always so well-behaved that nobody paid any attention to it. Until one night, just a few days before she was deemed old enough to inherit her parents' estate, the foster home was attacked by an unknown assailant. The parents were found dead, bludgeoned to death- but Esprit was found, unharmed (and in fact, unperturbed by the fact that someone had just brutally murdered her foster parents). There was an investigation, of course, but with no apparent murder weapon, no forced entry, and no witnesses other than this adolescent girl, who saw and heard nothing. After being released, she hired a bodyguard and began the long journey to her parents' estate, in hopes of reclaiming what was hers and making a life for herself.
In reality, Esprit's parents were part of a cabal of demon-worshippers that were killed during a complex ritual that should have resulted in Esprit being sacrificed, and a powerful demon being bound to their leader. However, something went wrong, and instead that demon was bound to the child sacrifice, and everyone else was killed. She was found by a group of adventurers sent to stop the ritual, and, unknowing of the demon bound to the child, they dropped her off at an orphanage, who then shipped her away to the foster home. As she grew, she began to realize the power she had to call this demon, though her control over it was minimal- at first it only manifested as a weak invisible force that only Esprit could communicate with, but once she hit adolescence, she was able to summon this demon in a full corporeal form, which she used to get revenge on her abusive foster parents. Once she was out on her own, she began keeping her bound demon out with her at all times, as a friend and a guardian. The demon's current form appears as a hulking humanoid form made almost entirely of black and blue mist, but by covering up with a heavy cloak and bandages on its face, it's able to pass inconspicuously.
So, that's my character concept. (That was long. Sorry.) The problem with the setting is that the DM set the campaign on a jungle island, which I personally don't like. (I've never liked jungle settings. Call it just a quirk of mine.) After talking to him further, though, it turns out the island actually has lots of different climates, and all of them will be used at some point. So I'm probably going to stick with this concept.
As a GM, the reason I love backgrounds is they give me pre-designed plot hooks I know my players will be interested in. This is why the orphan background is so dreaded. It does its best to rob a GM of any kind of hook at all. I am afraid you stumbled into the same trap.
Instead of making your character more interesting, your background relegates her to sidekick. A good background should offer some insight into what your character cares about and why. What obstacles has she overcome to get where she is? What drives her? Where is she going?
I would urge some tweaking. The foster parents were bad, o.k. Surely someone has shown her some kindness. She must have friends. Does she still hold her parents up on a pedal stool unwilling to face the truth? Has she sworn her life to eliminating the very demons that took her parents? Does she know what the demon that is bound to her is or does she see it as a guardian spirit? Does she seek control because she never had any as a child?
Dig into your character. See things through her eyes. That is how you build a compelling character.
I agree with CourtFool. Your background is good at setting up yourself as a Summoner, but I have a hard time gauging how your character will act and what motivates her.
You do have Intimidate, right? This character screams intimidate to me.
I don’t know. The eidolon is concealing its identity and trying to pass inconspicuously. It’s hard to say without more information on her personality and motivations.
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Looking in from the outside, this is a Crazy Loner Girl who's so completely bonkers that she can make her "Imaginary Friend" become real. That's not what she is, but it's how she appears to others who don't know better.
I can see here looking at some poor bloke, smiling all creepy, and saying "would you like to play with me?" Cue panicked screaming from the entire party.
As a GM, the reason I love backgrounds is they give me pre-designed plot hooks I know my players will be interested in. This is why the orphan background is so dreaded. It does its best to rob a GM of any kind of hook at all. I am afraid you stumbled into the same trap.
Instead of making your character more interesting, your background relegates her to sidekick. A good background should offer some insight into what your character cares about and why. What obstacles has she overcome to get where she is? What drives her? Where is she going?
I would urge some tweaking. The foster parents were bad, o.k. Surely someone has shown her some kindness. She must have friends. Does she still hold her parents up on a pedal stool unwilling to face the truth? Has she sworn her life to eliminating the very demons that took her parents? Does she know what the demon that is bound to her is or does she see it as a guardian spirit? Does she seek control because she never had any as a child?
Dig into your character. See things through her eyes. That is how you build a compelling character.
Definitely valid points all around. I had originally planned on her parents still being alive, and being nobles in whatever kingdom the campaign was set in, but decided to change that since it's not set in anything I'm familiar with. Another idea I was kicking around would be to have her foster parents, rather than being abusive and eventually killed by her pet demon, instead are members of the same cabal raising her to bring about the potential that they know she has. As in, they know that she was unintentionally infused with this demon, so they're trying to raise her to make good use of it. Would any of those make a more interesting character? The main obstacle that I was seeing with the backstory as written is that I want her to know exactly what her demon is, and I want her to have a large amount of knowledge about magic and demons and whatnot. She keeps the fact that she has a pet demon a secret, but mostly because the general public would freak out if they saw a hulking demon walking around town.
Another thing is I don't want her to be super-evil. Yes, she's inherently got some evil influencing her (considering she's housing a demon) but she sees it more as a tool to make her life easier. It's more like she has an expendable butler/servant/bodyguard that she can summon or dismiss at will. (In fact, I was considering the entire cabal of demon-worshipers aren't necessarily evil themselves, as they're trying to enslave the demons to do their bidding rather than doing the demon's bidding.)
Any thoughts?
Looking in from the outside, this is a Crazy Loner Girl who's so completely bonkers that she can make her "Imaginary Friend" become real. That's not what she is, but it's how she appears to others who don't know better.
I can see here looking at some poor bloke, smiling all creepy, and saying "would you like to play with me?" Cue panicked screaming from the entire party.
I suppose it depends on how much weight one puts on the first paragraph given the way the second one starts. I’d mostly ignored it, treating it as how people viewed her growing up rather than reflecting who she actually was.
I suppose it depends on how much weight one puts on the first paragraph given the way the second one starts. I’d mostly ignored it, treating it as how people viewed her growing up rather than reflecting who she actually was.
Right. The first paragraph was what the average person would see looking at her life, with no knowledge of what's actually going on.
I do not really see a need for foster parents. An uncle or aunt moves in with her until she is age of majority. The uncle or aunt can be abusive/non-abusive as needed. I would go with non-abusive as you already have dead parents. We do not want to heap on the misery too thick.
So maybe her Father's sister, Aunt Lilith moves in. Aunt Lilith is a member of the Cabal and takes Esprit under her wing. She teaches Esprit how to better control this demon and reminds her that demons are not things to take lightly. After all, they are responsible for her parent's deaths.
Aunt Lilith is not abusive, but she is a stern and demanding care giver. Esprit begins to feel like nothing she ever does is good enough because there is no room for error. There is no time for 'fun'. Only countless hours spent studying ancient texts and learning the binding rituals. Esprit either adopts this steel discipline herself or she rebels and seeks to escape it. I am sure there are other possibilities, these are just the first two that popped into my head.
From here, use the personality she develops to create some event that forces her out of the house. Perhaps she lets her guard down for one minute and the demon does something she regrets (kills her aunt) thus re-enforcing the stern disciplinarian or she runs away to escape all the discipline and joins a theive's guild only to be betrayed and sold for her 'gift'. She escapes, but feels too guilty to face her aunt and listen to the lectures of 'I told you so'.
Now she is in the world trying to prove herself and live up to her parents (and maybe Aunt's ) expectations. She will never let another demon take something from her that she cares about and sees them as little but slaves to do her bidding.
Interesting concept! I think that you have a wonderful start to a very cool character but I agree with some others. You need to find what motivates your character.
Does she have any brothers or sisters?
Does she resent being offered up as a sacrifice?
Does she have any irrational fears or desires?
Is there something as a child she always dreamed of?
How much influence does the demon have over her... has it been whispering promises to her for years?
Did she have any friends as a child?
Best of luck and remember above all have fun
I didn't have much info about the campaign setting or anything like that, but I started brainstorming for character ideas, and I happened upon what I think would be an amazing concept for a character in a roleplaying-heavy campaign. I spent all day thinking about this concept and working it out in my head, making mental pictures of how the character will look, and so on.
You should scrap that character concept entirely, and think up one that will work in the campaign you intend to play it in.
I've run quite a few games over the years, and when I invite the players I always seem to have one person who shows up with a character completely built in their head before they even find out the setting or themes of the campaign. That player always ends up being both disruptive and disappointed.
Players say they'll adapt the character to fit the game, but they can never really adapt the image they have in their head. They usually end up acting out the original character idea instead of the adaptation, which means their character just doesn't fit in the game. Sometimes they do behave like the adapted version, but then they're unhappy with the way their character turns out, because it's not the one they're really attached to.
Make a new character.
Make a new character.
So, in short, are you saying to never use this character, since it's too-thought-out (particularly without a campaign setting in mind)?
Make a new character.So, in short, are you saying to never use this character, since it's too-thought-out (particularly without a campaign setting in mind)?
I think he is still using it if you think it will fit into another campaign better you could still use it then it still would work if the setting worked. Also if you decide to GM you could always use her as an npc if you wanted to.
I do not see anything about a jungle setting which makes the character mentioned not fit. Unless there is something more to it.
I do not see anything about a jungle setting which makes the character mentioned not fit. Unless there is something more to it.
+1
While the orphan/loner character can be pain to deal with it can be done. I think you really need to sit down with the GM and discuss ways in which you could modify your character to fit the campaign.
Make a new character.So, in short, are you saying to never use this character, since it's too-thought-out (particularly without a campaign setting in mind)?
Feel free to use the character in some other campaign that you think it will fit into. What I'm saying is, don't use this character in a game you don't feel it fits into very well. If you do, you'll be disappointed, and you're GM and co-players probably will too.
I do not see anything about a jungle setting which makes the character mentioned not fit. Unless there is something more to it.
Yeah, it was more an issue of me not liking jungles. Jungle settings are hard for me to imagine- I get an image of untamed wilderness with monkeys and tribal nomads, whereas I envisioned this character used in a more rural and temperate setting. It was more of a block of my own than anything else.
The campaign isn't due to start for a while, so I'll see if I can come up with any other character concepts that jump out at me. Thanks for the help, everyone!
As a GM, the reason I love backgrounds is they give me pre-designed plot hooks I know my players will be interested in. This is why the orphan background is so dreaded. It does its best to rob a GM of any kind of hook at all.
Really? 'Cause I tend to see "orphan" as like giving the DM a note the says "Dearest Game Master- Please do whatever the hell you want with my character. Smoochy Kisses, Player."
Yeah, it was more an issue of me not liking jungles. Jungle settings are hard for me to imagine- I get an image of untamed wilderness with monkeys and tribal nomads, whereas I envisioned this character used in a more rural and temperate setting. It was more of a block of my own than anything else.
Actually I think it works just fine. Her parents estate is in a city adjacent to the jungle. She grew up in a temperate environment far away.
Think English colonial kids visiting family in 1800's India.
Actually I think it works just fine. Her parents estate is in a city adjacent to the jungle. She grew up in a temperate environment far away.
That's probably what I'll be doing. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes for her to have grown up with an aunt who taught her how to control her eidolon, taught her all about magic and such, and so on. I mentioned my idea to the DM, and he said that her parents' estate is in a small village on the island (the campaign is beginning with us traveling to the island, so she was going home to reclaim her parents' manor).
Just two questions come to mind. 1. Should her aunt be dead, or still be alive? And 2. Should her aunt have had an eidolon as well?
Really? 'Cause I tend to see "orphan" as like giving the DM a note the says "Dearest Game Master- Please do whatever the hell you want with my character. Smoochy Kisses, Player."
You can certainly take that perspective. The problem I have with it is that if you do something the player does not like, "Well you did not give me a background to work with" is often of little consolation. Player buy-in is optimal in my opinion.
Just two questions come to mind. 1. Should her aunt be dead, or still be alive? And 2. Should her aunt have had an eidolon as well?
I think this question really should go to your GM. Does your GM want to use the aunt to involve your character in future plots? If your GM does want to use her, then does he want her to have an eidolon?
I played in a lot of systems where you got extra points for having enemies. So a lot of my character had enemies. I thought it was an easy plot hook for my GM. Anytime he wanted random bad guys to show up, he could use my enemies.
Some GMs have their own plans though and do not want to be bothered with whatever villains I had fashioned.
So while I think it is always good to try and make a character with built in plot hooks, it is probably best to talk to your GM and find out what kind of things he would be interested in using.
Thanks for the help, everyone! I'll definitely be talking this all over with my DM to work out the specific details.
On the topic of giving your DM hooks to work with, I love adding interesting bits to my backstories for that exact reason, though not every DM has the opportunity to run with those. I once made a Rogue character that had a pet rat, but I knew that having a pet rat (especially one that isn't a familiar) meant that it would surely die at some point, unless the DM specifically tries to keep that from happening (which I didn't want to force). So, after okaying it with the DM, I had it so that my pet rat had actually died before- in fact, he'd died many, many times. Every time he'd die, he'd show up again the next day, perfectly fine. And my character didn't really seem bothered by this. The campaign didn't get very far, but it gave the DM the opportunity to come up with whatever magical or horrible twist he wanted to to explain why this rat was immortal.