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I usually end up as a divine support character of some sort. I'm by far the best optimizer in my groups, so I tend to play support characters to help make everyone else just a bit more awesome.
The only real constant for me seems to be filling whatever niche nobody else is interested in and then making it as awesome as I can.
No healer? Then I'll show you how much fun a starknife dual-wielding cleric with an eye for the ladies can be.
No bruiser? Meet my orc with dark goggles and a fondness for small animals as pets.
No offensive caster/blaster? Bring on the drunken lunacy of a Tesla-inspired alchemist or wizard.
And so forth.
I switch roles as I go, but usually seem content with casters, both arcane and divine. My first character in 3.5e was a Cleric of Pelor, and kind of the party's talker as my dump stat was Dex and not Cha.
I'm currently playing a Changeling Sorcerer, and my next character is going to be a Tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) Wizard. I do have other ideas I want to play, such as a Human Inquisitor of Norgorber, an Elf Monk and a Tiefling (Demon-Spawn) Paladin of Iomedae, who was born on the borders of Mendev and the Worldwound but had chosen to fight demons instead of joining them.
Anyway, yeah. Type of character isn't really important, since I seem to put more emphasis on WHO the character is.
It's a very rare character of mine that has no rogue levels... usually paired with Wizard, but I'll run rogue/cleric if the party needs someone with healing. Or rogue/druid... counterintuitive pairing, but damn effective.
What do you guys like playing over and over again?
All of my characters fit whatever concept I want to play at the time, but one thing is the same across all of them.
I can't play a character you'd describe as "dumb as a sack of hammers". Every character I play has to have at least a 13 on int. And it's not for the skills or anything like that. I just can't see myself playing an unintelligent character.
I am quite fond of manipulative, charismatic and intelligent (both at once; usually to my detriment in terms of point buys) spellcasters.
For me I'm either a LG divine caster, or a CN rogue. Ironic that if any of my characters met they's either love or loathe each other.
I usually end up as a divine support character of some sort. I'm by far the best optimizer in my groups, so I tend to play support characters to help make everyone else just a bit more awesome.
That is a good way to play. I'm fortunate the super optimiser in my group has a similar approach.
I tend to make up four or five characters for any game and then play the one that fits the obvious hole in the group when I see what everyone else has built.
The only real constant for me seems to be filling whatever niche nobody else is interested in and then making it as awesome as I can.
Something like that. I always have a few different rough character concepts up my sleeve that I can flesh out as needs be.
Alignment:
I usually enjoy playing CG. It seems to be the best fit for my type of hero play. The guy that will steal a horse to save the princess but will return it afterwards... that kind of think. LG usually annoys me. NG is ok. When playing evil I prefer LE... Evil masterminds are cool.
Race:
Human unless the idea requires me to play something else. Its easier for me to RP a human (cause you know... I am one) and that extra feat is hard to pass up. The fact you can add +2 to any stat really means they are good at everything.
Class:
I like casters. If it doesnt have some sort of casting then Im probably not interested. I LOVE all the new Hybrid classes that PF added to the game... Magus, Summoner, Alchemist, Inquisitor... all great stuff. Add in Ranger, Paladin, and Bard and you have your list of what I will probably play. If not that then a straight caster.
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Accidental tank. I usually pick a concept then build a class around it.
I was a masked luchador named the Mwangi Mauler fighter/barbarian mix
now I play a southern gentlemen jungle explorer named Jubal Jackson Harkness but you can just call him "Mwangi Jack" he is chaotic good but he calls it "Chaotic handsome", he has a rifle and a Rapier and he ends up being the tank even though I didn't design him to. he is a musket master 1 Lore warden 7
CG gender-confused teen catfolk Paladin of Asmodeus, someday
I love characters like that but it takes a certain campaign and certain group to make it work... like the druid who hated the moon and had a reindeer for a Animal Companion and was a Nihilist
Gorbacz, I think I'd be (arguably) kind enough to let you play that if I were DM, as long as everyone else at the table were fine with it.
Also, I liked Dragonamedrake's way of responding, so I shall do the same.
Alignment: Any Good alignment, but I especially enjoy being Neutral Good and Chaotic Good. I usually go Lawful Good only if I'm a Paladin. I just enjoy being a nice guy, except to people who don't deserve the kindness (the number of these people vary). If I have to play someone Evil, I'd go for Lawful or Neutral Evil (or even Chaotic Evil if it fits the concept), but even then it's more of the selfishness and ruthlessness than puppy drowning and daughter-raping evil.
Race: Anything that isn't Human is fine for me. I especially enjoy Aasimar, Tiefling and Changeling characters for some reason, and no matter what race I pick, I develop the character in detail from start till end. Some people play Humans while having this elitist illusion that "only those who play Humans put effort into the concept of the character, everyone else is unimaginative and lazy", and that really doesn't apply to me, though sadly they are right when it comes to other people at times.
Class: I'm up for taking any role if all the other ones are filled in a party, but so far I've only played casters in Pathfinder, both divine and arcane. I just like thinking things strategically while also playing it up in-character by the character having an Int score higher than 10, even if I'm playing a Sorcerer or a Paladin. Getting the right spells ready at the right time is always fun. My Rise of the Runelords character is going to be a Wizard, and if someone would run Carrion Crown, I could try out my Druid.
Often a wade-into-melee type. But I don't mind support characters.
I tend to play Wizards. On rare occasion I may go Cleric or Druid. I like to blast, which means I am kinda self balancing, since the only reason I ever liked d&d was blasting, and it has sucked since 3.0, and PF continues the tradition. So I never overshadow the other players. It works out well enough, I suppose. :)
As for personality, it varies based on character. However, in intense tactical situations, I have to be careful not to revert to "me" (vengeful, true neutral, mercenary).
Hey, just being honest. :)
I usually end up playing a role I didn't design the character for. ... My current bard in CC is a summoner.
Huh.
Castors are my favorite. I was playing a rogue, but he ended up using UMD to get the fix.
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Just for the heck of it (and because I have insomnia in summertime) I dabbled a little with this class combination for a level 20 character last night:
barbarian 1; Bard 1; Cleric 1; Druid 1; Fighter 1; Monk 1; Ranger 1; Rogue 1; Sorcerer 1 (Draconic Subtype); Wizard 3rd; Dragon disciple 3rd; Arcane archer 1 (finally got to +6 BaB); Assassin 1; Shadowdancer 1; Arcane trickster 2
The list of abilities and number of daily cantrips is ridiculous... Also has dragon claws and a breath weapon + bite, weak sauce death attack, 3d6 sneak attack, hide in plain sight, 2 nat armor... the list goes on. Feats taken on purpose with HD bonus feats: Dazzling display, shatter defenses; great fort; iron will; lightning reflex; improved all 3 of those also (for when he needs to re-roll... lol.. yeh.. ok)
BaB +7 (might have miscounted and it may be 8)
HP didn't calculate, but as many as a normal lvl 20, so let's say d8's + 2 con bonus
Stats - straight 14s (mod'd with +6 tomes and +6 wondrous items = 26s)
Saves:
18 Fort + 2 (feat) + 7 stat = 27
14 Reflex + 2 (feat) + 2 (familiar) + 7 stat = 25
16 Wil + 2 (feat) + 7 stat = 25
BMR 50 (barbarian and arcane school divination)
The idea was originally just to see what the Saves would turn out like. I think they came out pretty decent since the highest a normal player class has is 13 13 13 (monk I think) at level 20. The highest reflex roll needed in the core manual is a 27 (for a trap). So basically while he is not an offensive fighter, he will easily take half damage or avoid totally anything that he gets a save on.
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Wizard. Nearly every time we start a new game, I wait to see what everyone else builds, and I invariably end up playing the wizard. Did druids for a bit, but ultimately stuck with wizards.
I'm trying to ease myself out of that by playing a Magus next, and eventually a fighter-type.
But, yeah, wizards.
Paladins, fighters, rangers. Occasionally Barbarians.
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I usually come up with a concept and try to find a class that expresses that concept the best.
Admittedly the concepts usually involve martial type characters but they have to be effective outside of combat...
It's no surpise then that most of my characters end up being Rangers, Barbarians, or Rogues (with a touch of Ranger or Barbarian).
The exception is if I'm playing in a game that doesn't rely on a point-buy system - If I'm stuck with poor rolls I'll try and play a SAD class and if I get exceptional rolls I like to try Monks.
For a 20 point buy game it's tough to beat the Ranger for a 'skillful martial class', but I would like to give Lorewarden a shot...
Over the years I have had different faves right now I like rangers. I loved 3.0/3.5 clerics because with all the different Forgotten Realms dieties out there you could make any character type and call it a cleric. I also picked Clerics because we never had healers and I hated finding healing potions like they were candy it just felt too convienient. I also enjoy rogue types.
I always end up filling the troubleshooter/problem solver role, almost always CG and human or half-elf. I've played just about every class but find rogues and rangers fit the mold best.
Step 1 - Stats:
Always High Dex, Cha, Int
Wisdom/Str are usually the dump stats.
Step 2 - Alignment:
Usually Good, More often than not Chaotic. Never Evil. Seldom Neutral. Rarely Lawful.
Step 3 - Race:
Aasamar, Elf, Half-Elf, Human, I have difficulty playing the "ugly" races.
Step 4 - Class:
Varies. The only straight up combat character of mine was a Half Dragon Samurai (using one of the oriental dragons). I usually go Rogue, Cleric, Druid, Oracle, Alchemist, Sorcerer, right now I'm playing a Witch and I love it.
Step 5 - Role:
Face, healer, distraction (when I add fighter levels to Rogue). I end up being a hippie or a bookworm in concept a lot, and they usually end up turning into an unconventional freedom fighter.
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Stats: All over the board, but I hate playing low int (never less than 10). Low Con is also a no-no (never less than 10, preferably 12+), but that's just a survival mechanism.
Alignment: Non-evil. And the only reason I don't play evil is because it's hard to fit into a group as an evil, though I may try an LE with my next character.
Race: A mix, but I lean human a bit because its versatility makes it the easiest way to make strange builds (which I like to do).
Class & Role: Varies too much to be worth narrowing. I basically figure out a concept that sounds interesting (preferably one that wouldn't overlap with another player), then try to make that concept. My current character is a fencer with aspirations of becoming a noble (implemented as a Barbarian/Monk/Rogue, mostly barbarian).
One common thread between my characters is that they're never one trick ponies. If you entirely removed their main shtick, they would still be capable of meaningful contribution.
I generally do not like playing cleric, however. Any time I think of a character that might do well as a cleric, I usually think of another class that does it in a more interesting fashion. It's not that clerics are weak, just a tad boring. I do like Oracles, though.
Frontline or support melee.
Usually an anti-hero type.
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Game Master :P
I have a wide variety of characters, but most of them tend to be lawful good, I have noticed.
I am usually willing to play almost anything but a scout/rogue, bard, or the nature loving druid.
Other than trap finding the scout just doesn't seem to work for me. Either your with a clomping loud group that gives away your every action or your way off by yourself and one poor stealth roll away from dying. Or at least that is the way it has always seemed to work for me.
I've always hated the whole bard concept. I just can't get past the fighting while playing an instrument, dancing, singing bs. Even in a world of magic, it just doesn't make sense to me.
I also have a hard time figuring why a 'greennick' would go on an adventure. Or at least go with the typical group on the typical sort of missions. Very few of them have any real application to protecting nature. Now I'm ok with the reasoning of the power hungry druid that works with natural forces just for the power it provides.
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Step 1 - Stats:
High CHA, WIS, DEX
Low STR, INT, CON (Though I typically avoid extreme min-maxing)
Step 2 - Alignment:
Almost always some variant of neutral. My first character was a LN Tiefling Monk who had created a contract for himself to follow akin to Dexter Morgan's Code of Harry to prevent himself from giving in completely to his fiendishness. My last character was a TN Human Druid whose tribe believed in a very classical Greek concept of virtue that sought to find a balance between every extreme. His land didn't have laws and leaders so much as respected tribesman and suggestions to achieve contentment.
Step 3 - Race:
Human, the flexibility is usually necessary to build around a concept. If not human, then usually Gnome. I have a soft spot for Gnomes.
Step 4 - Class:
I love Bards. I love being the party face, I love the flavor, I love the party bonuses. Otherwise Monk for the opportunity to do a little of everything.
Step 5 - Role:
Out of combat, if I'm not the face, I play the Lancer. In combat, I am the Controller. I'm almost never a high DPR kind of guy. My Monk grapples, my Druid entangles, my Bard buffs/debuffs, etc etc.
...What about the druid that wants to stop the oncoming war so that they don't have 2 armies marching across the landscape killing everything they come across for food (that is how old armies did it and they left starvation and death as they fed on the land as they moved)
Or the druid trying to stop the undead lord from turning the land into a sickend corrupted hollow of death?
Both seem pretty classic to me
The fighting undead would be a great reason except that druids are usually a pretty poor choice at fighting undead.
The stopping a war is a classic of literature and would work for a druid. But I can't think of any module or AP, I've played or read that has that theme. Two homebrew campaigns did (but no one ran a druid).
Not saying that their can't be reasons, but whenever I've tried to reason one out it just seems stupidly contrived. A lot of the modules I've seen it actually feels like the druid should be working against the group.
I vary quite a bit, but i usually play characters with high intelligence and dexterity, often sorta skill-monkey. I love multiclassing, too.
Usually tend toward CG divine/martial hybrids. Anything that makes a decent healer and solid backup fighter while being very flexible.
My list of favorites
Greatsword wielding cleric of Gorum who often impersonated a paladin. Often tried to inspire the peasants to throw off their chains, and rise up in revolt(Chaotic for my war starting ways, good for trying to make the people free)
An Ebberon archer cleric of travel and trickery with travel dragonmarks. Oh god, so many teleport spells available I would dimension door across the tavern to get a beer because I could. Fully buffed I could outdamage everyone else by a longshot, too bad it took about 3 rounds. We had so many airship battles where I would teleport aboard the enemy ships alone or with a single ally and cause havoc, only to teleport away right as the enemy formed up for a counter assault.
Straight bard in forgotten realms. I was the ultimate 5th wheel. The other guys had the major roles covered, but I played backup in just about every role. So many times, the let me be in the right place at the right time.
I tend to play characters slightly unhinged in one way or another.
Such as the Illusionist who believes there illusions are real and trying to kill them.
Generally i fall into Bard or Rouge(int) playing a sudo diplomatic role or logistics guy. Always preferring a character who has interactive background motives, such as the pirate who would destroy the world to get his own galleon (and one who got damn close if it wasn't for that meddling wizard!).
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I prefer playing flashy "dodge tanks" that somersault and flip and tumble around, evading attacks and doing awesome martial arts moves and combat maneuvers. Most inspiration coming from anime, video games, and martial arts flicks.
Needless to say, I am not terribly happy with PF, which nerfed monk (already the worst class in 3E) even harder; managed to nerf rogues down from "decent for a noncaster" to monk-level awful; and nerfed the bejesus out of combat maneuvers and tumbling.
*pulls out catchers mitt for the flak I'm about to take*
I like my characters to be resourceful and as self-sufficient as possible and relying on their own skills and masteries rather than power from an outside source. So in D&D, where magic rules all, that usually means ranks in UMD.
All of my characters don't drink alcohol at all, unless being a drunken master or whatever is a major part of the concept, reflecting my own personal views. On the rare times I do play a drinker, I play it for laughs. Also, whenever allowed by RAW, my characters all know Auran. This is because my first time RPing D&D w/ my friend (I was running all four characters of the "party"!) I encountered a cool air elemental but had no means to talk to him, and...it just turned into a tradition. None of my characters are particularly religious because I'm not, part of the reason I shy away from playing clerics. I seldom play unintelligent characters, and utilizing Obfuscating Stupidity is a fairly common element my characters have. God, I love that trope.
I mostly try to stick to 3E when I can, but when PF is the only game in town, I usually just shelve my desires and play a caster. Or try to make it work as best I can w/ Viv. Alchemist or some sort of Bard archetype (like Archaeologist or Dawnflower Dervish) or something. I do also like archers, so that's been a common PF character for me, one of the few types of martial styles paizo didn't nerf.
Stats: - I tend to like dex and int builds, but only slightly. My current two PF characters both lack decent dex builds.
Alignment: - I tend to find myself playing some form of neutral alignment most, with lawful and/or good second. I've only played evil a few times but my oldest and one of my favorite characters is evil.
Race: I like custom races
Class: I wanna play 'em all
Role: I avoid healers, but otherwise anything is good.
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I tend to be play the taciturn pragmatist.
"What's the easiest way out of this situation?"
"Shoot the hostage."
Step 1: High primary stat, high Con, decent Will save.
Step 2: Neutral something.
Step 3: Human, 'cause I'm a feat junkie.
Step 4: Whatever. :)
Step 5: Front liner or artillery.
Unless I'm playing the Big Damn Hero, wherein Step 2 is "something Good."
I'd like to say I vary my playstyle, but to date I've only had two characters, and I'm building two more.
I really enjoy gnomes, and I really like the full bab characters. It's a pity they don't mesh better. I also really like having "buddies."
I like getting into combat and hitting things, and I like to be able to either have all the answers or talk well.
Gnome Summoner: First character. He's got a golem eidolon buddy to beat face while he's old as dust and knows everything.
Human Fighter/Stalwart Defender: He mostly hits things with sticks. He was going to have a animal buddy with the leadership feat but needs must and Iron Will had to happen instead. He could still take an animal pal.
Gnome Cowboy: Mysterious Stranger Gunslinger/Luring Cavalier hybrid. Only had one session so far.
Gnome Fighter: Replacement for the Stalwart if (more like when) he eventually dies.
I like optimization with self-imposed restrictions. The restrictions are usually in service to the flavour of a character.
Game Master :PWhat, like in the cartoon? :D
That's Dungeon Master. Kinda like him, but with a goatee. :P