I want to play a character based on Minakami Mai (which basically is a troll that likes to provoke reactions from people for her own amusement), but without disrupting the game, obstructing the progress of the story, making the game un-fun to anyone or actively hindering the rest of the PCs. Any ideas on how could I do it? What methods to use? Of course no maliciousness is intended. It would just be a funny quirk of my character.
I'd probably play a caster of some sort, because this concept will need power to be able to get away with his trolling. Good or Neutral aligned (definitely not Evil). I play 3.P.
If anything is unclear, let me know, I'll try to explain more in-dept (although I don't know what more can I say).
Prestidigitation is a good way of doing things. NPC's reaction's to, say, a pink haired half orc Barbarian could be funny, especially if the Half Orc has no access to a mirror.
Tension can be defused by making yourself as much as others a target of your own pranks.
I'll prank myself only if there's no one else around and I'm bored.
It can be funny for everyone as long as you don't do it too often. Just every once in awhile to remind everyone that you have the 'troublemaker trait.' Like 1 or at most 2 times in a playing session.
The problem is with the players who try to do it constantly, to every NPC that is encountered, and for no reason at all. Then it just becomes tedious, time consuming, contrary, and spotlight hogging.
Sorry, I don't recognize the name and the link is blocked at work.
She's a main character from Nichijou. She's troll and a good one at that.
Part of her personality description:
Quote: Her biggest personality trait is her love for playing pranks on people (Mostly Yuuko, but many other people as well) just to annoy them. Examples of these include deliberately putting her glasses on top of a card tower that Yuuko and Mio made, staring at her friends for a very long time during a game of "Red light, green light", and even faking to be in love with Yuuko just to embarass her and see her reaction. She will even play pranks on her dogs (For example by shooting a frisbee she threw at them just before they catch it), and will go as far as to play pranks on herself when she is bored and no one is around.
She somehow understands Yuuko's selamat pagi greeting, which means good morning in Malay or Indonesian, although she responded incorrectly with selamat malam which means goodnight in Malay or Indonesian.
Although she loves to play pranks on other people, she still likes her friends, as shown when she smiled after a heated argument between Yuuko and Mio ended with a handshake and a hug. She will also never play pranks on children intentionally.
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Honestly, talk to the other players. This idea seems similar in play to Dragonlance Kender. They were hilariously fun for the player, but quickly became tedious for the party. If you keep your "pranks" to nonharmful and merely inconveniencing it might go over a little better, especially if its only once or twice a session. Also, if you can make it advance the story, even better. Trying to negotiate with a lord, give the half-orc barbarian pink hair and send him in to negotiate. He might not like it, but it will sure get some people's attention.
You as a player need to create a barrier between the player and the character. It is okay for the character to have this quirk, but not for the player. Try to use your player knowledge to modify when the character does actions.
For example, maybe you see another character trying to talk past a guard and flub his roll. Your character could just happen to use that moment to move some sticks behind him to spell a crude word, or slightly life a bucket that shouldn't be moving.
Just my thoughts, hope they make sense.
That is not relevant to this topic.
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Honestly, I think the warning about Kender is very relevant. Some people are going to have severely negative reactions to this kind of character. Temperance is a wise choice if you don't know your group well enough to gauge when a prank is appropriate.
The fact that kender was mentioned just ruined my wonderful envisioning of this character.
As a side note, I was given the nickname troll before the internet, because I at one time slept under a bridge.
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I'm sorry that you find my post not relevant. I feel that we can give you the best advice in the world, with pages and pages of ideas, but if the other players don't respond well, it will not work out. If you have already talked to the other players and they can enjoy this idea, then go for it.
Hey, if you don't want to contribute to this topic because you assume that I'm going to be a dick (when I actually did say in the OP that I mean no harm, which means that I do think about my actions, heck, I even asked for harmless suggestions) then just don't post. It's that simple.
LankyOgre wrote: I'm sorry that you find my post not relevant. I feel that we can give you the best advice in the world, with pages and pages of ideas, but if the other players don't respond well, it will not work out. If you have already talked to the other players and they can enjoy this idea, then go for it. That isn't relevant. you can give me advice. Or not. But I don't ask for or need moral lessons. just trust me when I say that I mean NO harm to anyone.
Who's talking to who now?
I'm talking to you, as in the posters who judge my motives when I'm not asking them to do so.
Is someone trolling the OP of a thread about trolling?
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Wait, it's a troll thread, about trolling, in which the OP is accusing posters of trolling?
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I think I'll have to bow out.
Suffice to say, there are people who would say that there is no such thing as innocent trolling.
I'll assume you're just trying to be funny, BBT. Well, stop, because you're not. Now please get back to the topic or not post here at all.
And the biggest advice for not being a dick to your teammates and DM is "talk to your teammates and DM."
for the sake of this thread assume I did that.
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Well don't jump down people's throats when you ask for advice and get it. No one was speaking to your motives, as opposed to the possible outcomes of this sort of in-character behavior.
/good day
PS--Have you thought about having your character slip a note to another character asking for advice and then...
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ImperatorK wrote: ... Any ideas on how could I do it? What methods to use? ... I would say were were all very much on topic. Many people try to make a character like this. Probably because it is very common in everything from cartoons, fables, novels, to movies. However, very often it comes across as an unintended annoyance. I don't think I've ever seen anyone try to do this just to be a jerk. I didn't see any of us moralizing.
We were giving IDEAS on what you could do to not be seen as a hinderance to the group. A potential METHOD is to limit yourself to 1 or 2 times a session. Another IDEA is to use your metagame knowledge to avoid the activity when it will just get in the way.
If what you really wanted was what kind of pranks to pull, you should have asked for that specifically. But we would probably need more details about the character, the group, and/or the campaign.
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Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Maps Subscriber
Yes, the topic is in-game trolling but Imperator's question is not about whether he SHOULD troll or not, because it will be a resounding "no" from the boards. I think at this point, anyone who has read some of the similar threads will see where going down that road will take us. Let's not devolve this thread into another one of those please?
I believe his question is HOW should he go about it. At this point, if we're not going to answer the man's question, let's just walk away from this thread silently?
@ Kydeem
*sigh*
Yes, I was obviously asking for ideas on roleplaying such a character and possible pranks.
And as I already said, I do indeed know it can come out bad, that's why I specified "without disrupting the game, obstructing the progress of the story, making the game un-fun to anyone or actively hindering the rest of the PCs" and "no maliciousness is intended". Yet the irrelevant posts about not being a jerk continue. I even added a sentence "If anything is unclear, let me know, I'll try to explain more in-dept (although I don't know what more can I say)", but no one is asking, only judging.
So basically I won't get help, instead I'll get judged and branded a troll based on wrong assumptions that you guys made, despite the fact that the OP was pretty clear (and for those that had doubts there was the disclaimer "Ask if it's unclear")?
Wow.
You do realize at one point, people were just joking, then you pissed them off.
I warned you.
Yeah, I am sorry. I am turning into the overreactive one. I hope you find your answers man.
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You want to know what pranks you should pull?
You have a prankster character in mind.
Why not write down a list of the pranks they have pulled in the anime and figure out how to adapt them to the setting that you are playing in?
You can use dancing lights and ghost sounds to make apparitions appear during someone's watch.
I highly support the dropping of wash basins on NPC heads.
TriOmegaZero wrote: I highly support the dropping of wash basins on NPC heads. That's too drastic. As I noted before, I don't want to harm anyone.
ImperatorK wrote: @ Kydeem
*sigh*
Yes, I was obviously asking for ideas on roleplaying such a character and possible pranks.
And as I already said, I do indeed know it can come out bad, that's why I specified "without disrupting the game, obstructing the progress of the story, making the game un-fun to anyone or actively hindering the rest of the PCs" and "no maliciousness is intended". Yet the irrelevant posts about not being a jerk continue. I even added a sentence "If anything is unclear, let me know, I'll try to explain more in-dept (although I don't know what more can I say)", but no one is asking, only judging.
So basically I won't get help, instead I'll get judged and branded a troll based on wrong assumptions that you guys made, despite the fact that the OP was pretty clear (and for those that had doubts there was the disclaimer "Ask if it's unclear")?
Wow.
I would say that it is patently not obvious if almost everyone misunderstood you. I have re-read the OP several times. What I see is "I want to do this without being a problem. How do I do that?" That is the question we were trying to answer. I do not see "What would be some clever harmless pranks?"
I don't see that anyone was judging or branding you until you over reacted to the first few posts. They were trying to answer the question you actually asked, not what you apparently wanted.
When I finally understood what you wanted was sample pranks, I did ask for more details. I got no additional details. I could propose potential pranks if I knew more about the targets of the pranks. Either the types of NPC's encountered (courtly intrigue or a tribal shaman) or the other PC's (I would try different things for a tiefling sorc or a celestial paladin). Also, what capabilites does the PC have (bard spells, slieght of hand, tentacles, etc...).
Quote: I would say that it is patently not obvious if almost everyone misunderstood you. There's a difference between misunderstanding and choosing to misunderstand. If this topic wasn't about trolling, there would be no misunderstanding. But trolling is the evilz, so of course everyone will just assume the worst and act on it, even though it's none of their business what I do and why I do it.
Tell me, how different is this thread from blackbloodtroll's thread about killing his fellow PC? Hm? I just want some ideas for pranks and how to roleplay a prankster who's based on a character from an anime, and yet I'm treated like I'm a jerk who's out to spite his group even though that's almost completely opposite from what I stated in the OP.
Quote: "I want to do this without being a problem. How do I do that?" The sentence "Ask if something is unclear" is there for a reason. Posting under wrong assumptions was unjustified.
Quote: I don't see that anyone was judging or branding you until you over reacted to the first few posts. They were trying to answer the question you actually asked, not what you apparently wanted. You see, the bolded part is what irritates me. You guys simply assumed that you know better than me what I want, and when I pointed out that you were wrong, accusations of, err, sorry, "jokes" about trolling ensued.
Quote: When I finally understood what you wanted was sample pranks, I did ask for more details. I got no additional details. Well, if you re-read the OP just one more time, you'll notice that I posted a detail that answers all your questions: "I'd probably play a caster of some sort, because this concept will need power to be able to get away with his trolling. Good or Neutral aligned (definitely not Evil). I play 3.P."
What does that mean? It means that I probably will play a caster, and also that I don't have any details beyond that. So really, I didn't ignore your questions, because they already were answered.
Quote: I could propose potential pranks if I knew more about the targets of the pranks. Either the types of NPC's encountered (courtly intrigue or a tribal shaman) or the other PC's (I would try different things for a tiefling sorc or a celestial paladin). Also, what capabilites does the PC have (bard spells, slieght of hand, tentacles, etc...). And posting some general ideas is out of the question if there's no such details?
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Judging by this exchanges in this post I'm going to go ahead and suggest you don't play a prankster character.
And the advice given was actually pretty good.
Talk to your group about it. this is the biggest and best way to avoid the issues you asked abouut in the original post. Vet your idea(s) to the group, make sure that kind of character personality is something they want to deal with. Honestly- if they aren't into that kind of thing then *there is no way to do it* without causing a problem. And causing a problem is what you said you were trying to avoid in the first post.
The first best and most effective way to make sure it isn't
"without disrupting the game, obstructing the progress of the story, making the game un-fun to anyone or actively hindering the rest of the PCs"
is to talk to the other players before you ever put pencil to paper and make sure it isn't a problem.
As for ideas for the pranks themselves- I'd say wing it. Rather than pre planned things, just do what seems amusing based on what everyone else is doing.. food coloring to their wash basin, something slightly sticky in their soap bucket or whatever seems amusing at the moment.
I'd avoid a list because by and large you want to do original things each time.
Make a list of things the group does on a regular basis and come up with ways to throw little wrenches in it.
-S
ImperatorK wrote: ... There's a difference between misunderstanding and choosing to misunderstand. If this topic wasn't about trolling, there would be no misunderstanding. But trolling is the evilz, so of course everyone will just assume the worst and act on it ... I did not deliberately misunderstand you. I did not assume the worst about you. I thought the 'trolling' in the title was clever and humerous. It's why opened the thread in the first place.
ImperatorK wrote: ... Tell me, how different is this thread from blackbloodtroll's thread about killing his fellow PC? Hm? ... Never read it because the title didn't appeal to me.
ImperatorK wrote: ... I just want some ideas for pranks ... I do not see this request until your 9th post. Before that you just got mad at people for not being 'on topic' when we thought we were on topic.
ImperatorK wrote: ... yet I'm treated like I'm a jerk who's out to spite his group even though that's almost completely opposite from what I stated in the OP ... I appoligize if what we said sounded that way to you. That was certainly not my intention. I was trying to be helpful. The question it initially appeared you were asking was how do I do this without upsetting people. So I tried to answer that question.
ImperatorK wrote: ... You see, the bolded part is what irritates me. You guys simply assumed that you know better than me what I want ... No, I don't think I know better than you what you want. But all I've got to go on is what I understood from what you posted. Apparently we misunderstood what you posted. I just asked the asked the guy sitting next to me to read the inital post. He does not play PF but he interpreted it basically the same way I did.
ImperatorK wrote: ... if you re-read the OP just one more time, you'll notice that I posted a detail that answers all your questions: "I'd probably play a caster of some sort, because this concept will need power to be able to get away with his trolling. Good or Neutral aligned (definitely not Evil). I play 3.P."
What does that mean? It means that I probably will play a caster, and also that I don't have any details beyond that. So really, I didn't ignore your questions, because they already were answered ... And posting some general ideas is out of the question if there's no such details?
Well, actually no that doesn't really answer any of my questions. I guess you are saying there is no answer. But I've never made a character for a campaign without at least some general description of it from the GM. The other players are usually talking ad-nauseum about what PC's they will be playing.
So am I now to understand your question to be: "What harmless pranks are possible for some type of spell caster?"
That is fairly wide open and non-specific. I will try to think what could be done by anybody, but not too many of the spells are on all the spell lists.
Mage hand a wet willy of sorts, rock to mud the ground under someone while they are sleeping, have an unseen servent follow someone around and do strange things, with GM approval use permanency and alarm on some item a group member uses(a smoking pipe or something used out of combat), polymorph someone into sloth(granted the save will make it harder and more threatening), grease the floor on them. There are all sorts of "pranks" you can do.
I had a lot of fun pranking our party rogue with my oracle for a while. At almost any request of "removing" something (them implying spell debuffs, ability damage, etc), I'd try with Create Water first, because you never know what a little soap and water can do. 20 gallons of water plummeting down on your entire body tends to encourage you to be a little more cautious and stop treating your oracle as merely a traveling first aid kit.
I had also thought about casting Continual Light on something inside of his backpack so when he was off doing sneaky rogue things and opened it up to grab his picks, a potion, or whatever rogue tools he might need, he'd be in the middle of an untimely spotlight.
I've also thought about swapping out one of his many potions with an elixir of love.
There's also the idea of popping out one of the lenses in his Eyes of the Eagle with a plain lens. I figured that one wouldn't be too dangerous (the stun) considering I assume he'd put them on just before we set out for the day's adventure, then we could always replace the correct lens after we've all laughed at him.
That all being said, it's way easier to pull off the prankster character if you're the "designated healer" character. Just use the "hey, all I do is heal, I hafta have my fun somehow" line. :)
Quote: Talk to your group about it. I already explained why it is irrelevant. Even if the OP can be misunderstood because I failed to word it properly, my later posts are quite clear: It's non-important. and if that answer doesn't satisfy you for some reason, then assume that I did talk with them. now can you please stop posting things that I said are not important for this thread at least a couple of times?
Quote: this is the biggest and best way to avoid the issues you asked abouut in the original post. Vet your idea(s) to the group, make sure that kind of character personality is something they want to deal with. Honestly- if they aren't into that kind of thing then *there is no way to do it* without causing a problem. And causing a problem is what you said you were trying to avoid in the first post.
The first best and most effective way to make sure it isn't
"without disrupting the game, obstructing the progress of the story, making the game un-fun to anyone or actively hindering the rest of the PCs"
It was already established that this interpretation of the OP is wrong. I'm asking for ideas and suggestions for pranks and maybe also some pointers on how to roleplay such a character. Nothing else.
Quote: As for ideas for the pranks themselves- I'd say wing it. Rather than pre planned things, just do what seems amusing based on what everyone else is doing.. food coloring to their wash basin, something slightly sticky in their soap bucket or whatever seems amusing at the moment.
I'd avoid a list because by and large you want to do original things each time.
Make a list of things the group does on a regular basis and come up with ways to throw little wrenches in it.
If it were so easy I wouldn't be asking for suggestions on the internet. I'm not exactly a prankster. I need some suggestions for inspiration.
Quote: I did not deliberately misunderstand you. I did not assume the worst about you. I'm not talking specifically about you. Although it was you who explained to me what you all thought the OP meant.
Quote: Never read it because the title didn't appeal to me. Well, he asked for ideas on how to kill his fellow PC.
And now he's here, talking to me about not being a jerk, even though he was in the same exact position in his thread. Kinda ironic.
Quote: I do not see this request until your 9th post. Before that you just got mad at people for not being 'on topic' when we thought we were on topic. Well, when the OP is saying that you're off-topic in his thread, then you're probably are and it's smart to ask what exactly would be on-topic. Unless you think that the OP is a retard who already forgot his own OP.
Quote: The question it initially appeared you were asking was how do I do this without upsetting people. So I tried to answer that question. Yes. But when I said that it's not what I'm asking for, this posts continued, and they still do (see Selgards post).
Quote: He does not play PF but he interpreted it basically the same way I did. But he also missed the disclaimer.
Quote: I guess you are saying there is no answer. But I've never made a character for a campaign without at least some general description of it from the GM. The other players are usually talking ad-nauseum about what PC's they will be playing. But I don't have this information. And does it really matter why?
Quote: I will try to think what could be done by anybody, but not too many of the spells are on all the spell lists. Pranks don't really have to be limited to spell-based pranks. you'll notice that when talking about playing a caster I was more concerned about power than his usefulness to pranking.
Oh, I forgot the "dollop of Sovereign Glue on the doorknob" routine. That one can work for nearly any item. It just takes a good read on the other character, and being able to predict their next move.
Google practicle jokes or pranks.
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