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I hope some of the new races open up. I couldn't be more bored of the same old tolkien races. I also don't play maybe so much as many people but I do not see so many teifling and aasimar PCs that break the game and I see no Tengus.
Please allow us to play something other than the 40 year old way of seeing fantasy!
This was pulled from the current 'open up new races' thread. Since not everyone is going to get a boon tomorrow, I thought it would be cool to post character concepts and advice to come up with interesting characters so that even if you don't have a new race, you don't have to play 'the 40 year old way of seeing fantasy!'.
Advice
1) Look at a 'day job' and relate it to your character.
For example, make a sorcerer. Use a skill point on Profession: painter. Then make most of your spells something that can be "painted", be it color sprays or summoned monsters which you 'paint and then come alive. When you have the cash, buy marvelous pigments.
Do the same thing with a Ranger, make him a nature artist in his spare time, someone who goes into extreme environments to paint tigers or owlbears, or whatever and live to tell about it.
2) Relate the character to a Scenario:
I have a Bone Oracle. Before she became a Bone Oracle she attended the opening performance of Among the Living where many Taldan Nobles got turned into zombies by the Cult of Zyphus. But Zyphus fell in love with her. He brought her brother back as a Zombie, he haunts her, twelve people in front of her for a title experience sudden accidental deaths (i.e. She bought the Taldan Nobility boon).
Note, you could play this many ways, from "I don't want to be a Bone Oracle harassed by a Death God" to "this is fun".
3) Use your Race as an important part of your character.
Half Elven Summoner kept seeing her friends outgrow her. Her best friend was her imaginary friend who eventually manifested as an Eidolon.
4) Where did you grow up?
I have a character who grew up in northern Andoran near the Five Kings Mountains on an isolated ranch. They learned dwarven because they were the closest neighbors. They have a no nonsense 'frontier' attitude and speaks with a twang. They find big cities a little threatening.
5) Combine some of these.
My Tiefling was raised by her parents who are clerics of Sheyln. She was taught to see the beauty in and of everything, sheltering her to some extent from prejudice, much like the model parent of an Autistic child works very hark to help their kid. This caring upbringing wars with her pit spawned urge to destroy things of beauty.
Hope this is helpful.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Focus on nationality.
Focus on religion.
Focus on faction.
Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
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- Give a basic behavier that comes out at every game session.
For example, my Tengu Monk says Ka after every sentence and considers it a speech impediment. I also have a quote for most characters that they utter at some point in the game, or does repeatably at points appropriate to the quote. (Like my new Sky Druid Sylph, who says "Interesting" when she sees something she has not encountered before)
- play up a character's attitude and demeanor. Grizzled old ranger or young naive girl, there is something to be said to expand beyond Class and Race, though those basics can be a part of why one would be as they are.
- think of a background for the character and have that be a part of their overall goals in the adventures he or she takes.
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I think its mildly insulting to suggest that people that want to try new races need help making a character.
I could use some help actually.
I am usually pretty good at creating fun, interesting characters, and I really like the core races. Recently, I've been having the urge to play a half-orc. That is a race that I generally shy away from, but now I want to play one. I just have not thought of a good concept that I like yet.
I don't really want anyone to give me a concept; I want to develop one myself. But I do enjoy reading threads like these, because they spark the imagination.
To pay it forward, here are some useful ideas that have helped me find that spark in the past:
Start with Class
I think this is how most of us start building characters. Either there is a class that is clearly lacking in the group we are playing with (I'm looking at you, Cleric), or there is a a new class in a book that we want to try.
I mention this one first only because it seems to be the most common. Personally, most characters that I create this way eventually bore me.
Start with Race
Another common method, and the one most relevant to this discussion. When I start a character based on their race, I try to think of what characters of that race are probably either really good at, or really bad at, and build one of those. I actually like halfling paladins much more than aasimar paladins, for example.
Start with Items
I know we usually buy items much later in the character creation process than first. However, I have sometimes built a character around a particular weapon before. It's fun. My favorite was built around the heavy repeating crossbow. From there, things were pretty easy: it seemed like a dwarf would be the most likely to use such a contraption (followed by gnome); Ranger seemed like the most obvious class; and my first-level feat was chosen by default (Exotic Weapon Proficiency).
Start with Culture
As mentioned above, use religion, culture, etc. to set the tone for your character. When I wanted to build a devotee of Calistria, it was pretty easy once I read up on her spheres of influence.
Start with Abilities
Sometimes it is fun to create a character built entirely around a particular ability array. Perhaps you want to try to build a high Int fighter, or maybe a character with a very flat array (14, 14, 13, 13, 12, 12). I have plans for a Tengu monk with Con 5 (only because I want to see how long he can survive).
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Don't forget your outfit! What's an fantasy adventure without fantastic fashion!
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I try to build a picture in my head of the person that the characters are. I've done the methods the Fox mentioned.
By Class. My gunslinger and tower shield specialist.
By Race. Cindrana my Tiefling wizard.
By item. I've toyed with a few but usually the other methods play a role. My Kitsune Magus with her black blade scimitar fits.
by culture: My cleric, lady Roasa Annarey Delphine del noire! lion Blade and baroness of Lower Zimar. I TRIED to build a falchata bearded noble man but she kept coming up.
Thing is that all these methods work if you think on it a bit.
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What does the fox say?
"Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!"
Silliness aside, (sorry, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up,) Humphrey appears to have been referring to how some PFS players are more assertively conservative in regards to the fluff and flavor of abilities. An example that has been discussed elsewhere is having a witch choose a cat familiar, but want to describe it as appearing like a cheetah. There are some who protest this "reskinning" even if it retains all of the normal statistics and size of a regular cat.
As for fun character concepts, add eccentricities to your character:
*Phobias
*Paranoia
*Addictions (cosmetic and role play only, no mechanical effects)
*Delusions
*Hallucinations
*Overreact to trifles and under-react to disasters
*Take a humdrum classic race-class setup and adapt them to do something unusual, like a paladin who doesn't attack, instead serving as a buffer. (I'm currently playing this right now and it is going swimmingly.)
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Venture-Captain, Missouri—Cape Girardeau
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I advise going "against the grain" for creating interesting characters, such as...
* A half-orc alchemist
* A tiefling paladin
* An aasimar rogue
Or, if you have characters close to retirement, make a Legacy character; one carrying on the traditions/family name of a previous character such as...
* A half/elf witch whose father was an elven Pathfinder wizard
* An apprentice to your retired character (right now, I am working on the next in line to take up the mantle of my Captain Andoran character when he retires from play... I call him the Irresen Soldier)
Enjoy!
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My friend and I created a tag-team pair called Brute Force, a pair of half-brotherd named Brut Mightman and Grim-grin Force. Both are from Qadria as official government workers with the title of "Civil Strongarms", a.k.a. Repomen. Their antics has created such an impact that when start a mission, every other party member gets all giddy inside as they want to see what will happen next.
As for their official position, they repossessed the following, as well as a few other things:
- A large boat
- A Blakros Princess
- An entire floor of Thornkeep
- A former Venture-Captain
- A Braid of a Hundred Masters
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Roleplay your character in such a way that your introduction isnt 'My character is [race x] and...'.
Done.
yeah, what he said.
figure out an introduction speech and practice it. If it makes someone laugh, if they remember your character, you've taken the first step.
For example:
In Giamo's french/italian accent, "I am Giamo Casanunda, Cleric of the god of Love. My card (hand out business cards). Tell me, are you currently in a long term relationship? No? Would you like to be?"
Everyone remembers me!
then, at the start of the final combat, when I am face to face with an imprisioned Demon, I look the Judge in the face and say "Tell me, are you currently in a long term relationship?"
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I have difficulty in finding a character 'boring' because of his or her race (species). A character is far more than its genome. There are differences in experience, even from before birth, and with magic in the mixture, most anything can happen.
In Pathfinder, races give mechanical benefits, and there are also broad stereotypes to give a little guidance to work towards, or also away-from, in building a character. Your elf can be from Kyonin, as a productive member of society, or could be an outsider, ostracized for beliefs or even poor socialization growing up. Or, the elf could be from any of the other settlements that aren't Kyonin, or could even be Forlorn, from another society altogether. There are traits you can use to bring this to life mechanically, but mechanics don't have to drive your roleplaying.
Upthread are some very interesting concepts that are things I would never even have contemplated. (a lawyer from Hell? Yikes! And, wonderful idea.) You can develop many a character without even using race as a defining characteristic.
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I have met quite a few Pathfinders who invent strange names for unbelievable histories or crippling phobias for themselves, all to cover up their own hollow personalities. A strong personality is much more memorable than an assumed quirk.
There is a reason why the actors are features as the stars of a play, not the makeup artists or costume designers, or even the playwrights in most cases. Uniqueness comes from the heart, not from the various costumes one assumes.
-Lady Gabrielle d'Apcher
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I have couple of characters where I went "hmm, what are characters of this race typically like, let's make something completely different". The dwarf ninja died in his first scenario (which was good because I had statted him completely wrong for the class). But the half-orc Merciful Healer Cleric of Sarenrae is my second highest-level character. The idea is that he is small, meek, speaks in a soft voice and is very concerned whether others are okay.
Sure, this is a very simplistic way to go and try to make an old race interesting, but I haven't played that long, so it feels fresh enough for me. Go against the grain. Make the race a focus, but not in the way everyone expects.
Or just decide other aspects of the character first. My Paladin of Iomedae could easily be of almost any race, the main concept was "a strong woman because was raised as boy, bit naive and stupid though". She just became an Ulfen Human because I made her in a hurry and humans are easy to make.
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Venture-Captain, West Virginia—Charleston
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I think I have some interesting characters. I'll walk through a few relevant ones:
Edwin LeBlanc, Baron of Taldor, Linnorm King of Jol: Edwin is a Taldan half-orc cleric of Shelyn. Abandoned on the doorstep of a Taldan monastery, he has struggled throughout his life to be accepted by the people of Oppara. Despite the fact that he can make beautiful art and is quite erudite, his half-orc heritage means that he is generally looked down upon by his fellow Taldans. He joined the Society both as a means to see the world's art and architecture and as a way to gain money to purchase influence, since he was unable to earn it.
Xangzhe: Xangzhe is a gnomish cleric of Sun Wukong. He's based loosely on Journey to the West, and I generally play him as a drunken lush who makes bad decisions. He tends to come out of his drunken stupor just long enough to have brief moments of inspiration or to turn the tide of a battle. A recent notable scene includes the following quote: "Stand back, I know Aquan. Blub blub, blub blub blub. Bluuuub." (He doesn't know Aquan).
Isaac Quinn: Isaac is a human gunslinger who runs a detective agency in Absalom. He's been through a lot in his quest for truth, but most of it changed when the Paracountess hired him to do some work for her in the Society. He's stuck around even when not working for the Paracountess, since the money's good and the jobs are usually interesting. He tends to run an internal monologue during adventures and gets very disappointed if people won't talk their way through things.
Teldarn: Teldarn is a gnomish oracle, eventually Mystery Cultist. He has a rather...spurious connection to reality, thanks to the psychocilibin mushrooms and continuous use of illusion spells. He tends to hang dreamcatchers off of everybody and everything.
I recently made a new half-elf PC. I don't see many half-elves around, but when I was thinking up a Slayer, somehow the mental image of a half-elf with a katana seemed really cool, so I went with it.
Shadowrun beat you to it. We might have cyborg options soon too... Cmon, you know you want a street Sammy!
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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I recently made a new half-elf PC. I don't see many half-elves around, but when I was thinking up a Slayer, somehow the mental image of a half-elf with a katana seemed really cool, so I went with it.Shadowrun beat you to it. We might have cyborg options soon too... Cmon, you know you want a street Sammy!
I ran him through a Shadowrun game last Christmas, but he was overshadowed by our other brother, who was playing a ridiculously hyper-optimized knife thrower, who could kill anyone but a troll in one shot. I think he repressed those memories.
Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?Assuming you're not asking for reasons of snark, the answer are.
1. That's not all it does.
2. For a lot of people PFS offers the only option to play on anything approaching a regular basis. Not everyone has the luxury of having a home game they can depend on. Although there are folks who do both PFS and homeplay.
3. It's a great way to meet other gamers and eperience other GMing styles.
The restrictions of PFS largely result from the fact that it's not your home game of one GM and a few close friends. It's a huge game with a player base in the five digits or so, and certain conventions are put into place to ensure a more uniform experience that isn't any more of an organisational nightmare than it has to be.
and then there's the short answer...
"'Cause it's fun."
;)
Would be more fun with less arbitrary limitations though!
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While going against the grain CAN be an interesting concept, I find it the easy way out personally. I find character concept lies in the character more than what they are. I have seen a good deal of tiefling paladins, and chaotic neutral aasimars.
There is nothing saying tieflings are inherently evil, or aasimar inherently good. They are humans with mutation basically.
A character with a good concept and interest I find far more engageing. I will find a human fighter born in Andoran, who is baker, and travels with pathfinder society, trading recipes, spices, and techniques with local populations and protecting them under the ideals of that nation far more intrigueing than a tiefling paladin of Sarenrea who does it because hes a tiefling paladin of Sarenrea, and no one would expect that.
I have seen VERY good tiefling paladin concepts, but that is because they delved into their character rather than leaning on the fact they are a tiefling.
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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* An apprentice to your retired character (right now, I am working on the next in line to take up the mantle of my Captain Andoran character when he retires from play... I call him the Irresen Soldier)Enjoy!
This is great! I've had several players do this, often taking random, non story-critical NPCs in scenarios that are given life by GMs and convincing them to join the society. The players then make their next character that NPC, with backstories like "well, I used to run around working for these Shadow Lodge people, then I met this one Pathfinder..."
We even had a dwarven barbarian befriend one of the refugee NPCs in Dalsine Affair and, after his barbarian died later in the same scenario, he rolled up the NPC as an oracle!
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Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?
1. It is not really all that more restrictive than a home game. Races are limited yes, but that is about all that they took the hatchet to. MOST archtypes are available, and all classes are available.
2. It fits with a busy schedule. I work usually 45 hours a week in web services, 8-5 every day. Most nights I do not want to game except friday through saturday, and on those days I need ot make sur eI have time to catch up cleaning, and running errands. I do not have time for a campaign. PFS fits that VERY well.
3. Unlike a campaign, you are not rooted to one location of the map for months on end (real time). PFS sends you to so many different areas of Golarion, which really grows the interest in the world. Especially since I add knowledge checks for areas they are in in general (Geography/Local) so my players can learn about the world.
Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?One of the reasons that I play PFS is because it is LESS limiting than home games.
Yeah, you get to use all that 3PP and play whatever race and class combo you want and you can work out with your GM any houserules and custom class stuffs you want. Building your own archetypes is fun, glad PFS lets me exorcise my creativity like that.
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Yeah, you get to use all that 3PP and play whatever race and class combo you want and you can work out with your GM any houserules and custom class stuffs you want. Building your own archetypes is fun, glad PFS lets me exorcise my creativity like that.Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?One of the reasons that I play PFS is because it is LESS limiting than home games.
If you have a GM who allows that, you are lucky. I have had excellent GMs over the years, and I've never experienced anything close to what you are describing.
With Pathfinder, it is usually, "core races only; any classes from any Paizo hard cover book, except gunslinger or summoner; feats from any Paizo book; no 3pp."
With 3.5, it was, "phb, phb2, and (with DM permission) any complete book."
If you have a GM who allows that, you are lucky. I have had excellent GMs over the years, and I've never experienced anything close to what you are describing.Yeah, you get to use all that 3PP and play whatever race and class combo you want and you can work out with your GM any houserules and custom class stuffs you want. Building your own archetypes is fun, glad PFS lets me exorcise my creativity like that.Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?One of the reasons that I play PFS is because it is LESS limiting than home games.
I like doing it, and I've met a few who do. Homegames can be much more flexible or restrictive, but with PFS your guaranteed to be restricted to certain things. Your definitely not going to see psionics in PFS for instance.
I don't know, I don't think the core races are played out. Axebeard the Pseudo-Scottish Dwarf may be played out, but that's far from the only way to play a dwarf, for example.
Just imagine... a male dwarf without a beard. And who stays clean-shaven.
Or... a human who lived with dwarves. Axebeard the Human.
It's easy to mix things up by scratching the surface of the cultures.
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Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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Would be more fun with less arbitrary limitations though!
Why would anyone play Pathfinder Society if all it does is limit the options you have?Assuming you're not asking for reasons of snark, the answer are.
1. That's not all it does.
2. For a lot of people PFS offers the only option to play on anything approaching a regular basis. Not everyone has the luxury of having a home game they can depend on. Although there are folks who do both PFS and homeplay.
3. It's a great way to meet other gamers and eperience other GMing styles.
The restrictions of PFS largely result from the fact that it's not your home game of one GM and a few close friends. It's a huge game with a player base in the five digits or so, and certain conventions are put into place to ensure a more uniform experience that isn't any more of an organisational nightmare than it has to be.
and then there's the short answer...
"'Cause it's fun."
;)
I don't think so.
The limitations imposed by PFS are a whole lot less 'arbitrary' than the house-rule-du-jour nightmare you would run into if GMs were allowed to introduce their own table rules.
While that might be more fun for the GM, it's not a lot of fun for the players. I don't want to spend the first 20 minutes of a scenario making sure that everybody is playing from the same rulebook, and I don't want to find that my character has suddenly been nerfed because the GM doesn't happen to like one or other game mechanic.
That's fine in a home game, where the variations in rules only need to be explained once; in PFS you're generally going to have different people at the table from week to week.
Almost all the bad experiences I have come across in Pathfinder games have had one root cause - the GM changing the rules. This is done with the best of intentions - to make it 'more fun' for everybody at the table. Unfortunately you need to be a very good GM to get that right every time, and most GMs aren't quite as good as they believe they are. (And if they are that good, there's still quite a bit of leeway, even under the constraints of the PFS run-as-written mandate).
Or... a human who lived with dwarves. Axebeard the Human.
You mean officer Carrot Ironfounderson right?
Just imagine... a male dwarf without a beard. And who stays clean-shaven.
No. just no. Dwarves lifestyle is surrounded by beards. Next thing you know you'll want a dwarf lass without a beard or to wear a skirt instead of a kilt!
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-Valivarre "Val" Karillian- Elven Bladebound Magus. He was born in Kyonin and his family had a strong tradition of military service and was being trained to effectively be an elven "knight". During his training he ran into some Eagle Knights and learned about the ideals of freedom and liberty. The problems started when he started expressing his new beliefs with questions like "Why do we need a Queen? Why do we need nobles?
-Anakris Azram- Human Barbarian/Cleric. He is a Shoanti tribesman who got a message that one day his brother had been killed in service to the society. There were no answers so he went looking for them and the search led him to Grandmaster Torch. Torch saw that he had more insight and will than the towering brute he appears to be. Anakris has been livid at Torch's betrayal and thirsts to be the one to end him. As a Gorumite he wears heavy spiked full plate. He has no ranks in Diplomacy because he doesn't talk his way out of fights. Nor any ranks in Bluff because we doesn't lie his way out of fights. Lastly he has no ranks in Stealth, he does not sneak away from a fight. He now works for the Sczarni, who given his background don't really trust him (they think he's a spy for the Grand Lodge).
-Kaeril Adon- She is an Aasimar Life Oracle who was found in the woods as a baby by a group of traveling knights. She was found with the body of a dead female dwarven warrior who died defending her (from my Everquest days, the character name for a guild member who passed away). No one knows why she was there with the child, just her name which was passed to the child in remembrance. She was raised at an orphanage in Magnimar that is run by the Church of Pharasma and as she got older started caring for the sick and elderly there. At that point her powers manifested which made her a living conduit for positive energy. She is a pretty, serene pacifist that abhors violence. She does not wield weapons and acts only in self defense. This does not extend to the undead or evil outsiders which she will burn with holy fire without a seconds hesitation.
-Vladius Soluzar- A forlorn elven evoker who's family was wiped out by some unnamed evil. He was absconded to the city of Restov in Brevoy and was raised there(he speaks in a thick Brevik accent). Red is his color, his robes and his hair. He is brash and mercurial and is as chaotic as the energies he wields. Joining the society was a means of finding out about his past.
-Rook- A mysterious man with Chelish features wearing all black. Even stranger is that he wields the holy power of Iomedae as a paladin. He travels the land righting the wrongs he once did.
Dr. Lommath Crane- An albino from the land of Ustalav. He is an old man and has an intimidating presence seeming to prefer the company of the dead to the living. When not adventuring he acts as a mortician and anatomical researcher. He is a devout follower of Pharasma. (Just thought this one up can't decide if he's an Investigator or a Alchemist (Churgeon).
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I think its mildly insulting to suggest that people that want to try new races need help making a character.I could use some help actually.
I am usually pretty good at creating fun, interesting characters, and I really like the core races. Recently, I've been having the urge to play a half-orc. That is a race that I generally shy away from, but now I want to play one. I just have not thought of a good concept that I like yet.
One concept my friend and I were considering for Half-Orc was to create bards with craft: puppets and have perform: manipulator (which is a person that controls a marionette), and have puppets made from the dead bodies of the last enemies you defeated (perhaps profession taxidermy would be more appropriate). So in battle you'd being performing with your dead goblin puppets and running up to the enemies with your bite attack, all while inspiring courage (or horror) with your party members. :-) I would hope the GM would give a small bonus to intimidate with that.
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Do not be afraid to be stupid.
Characters with low Intelligence and/or Wisdom can create entertainment for everyone out of the simple things. Just make sure your timing is appropriate, (don't do anything that will knowingly cause harm to others, a TPK, confusion/distortion of important plot details, or an inappropriate breaking of tension/suspense). This doesn't mean be random, rather, it means that such a character should embrace the downtime as an opportunity to role play with the rest of the party. In my experience, the lull between the description & questions regarding your mission and the actual start of the mission itself. It can help to give your GM a heads-up before game for any planned particularly fantastic stunts of absurdity so that they may have a reaction prepared for any present NPC's or the opportunity to tell you if that stunt is not appropriate for that adventure.
I don't want to derail the thread, but I can provide plenty of examples, clarifications, elaborations, and tips on this subject upon request.
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... characters so that even if you don't have a new race, you don't have to play 'the 40 year old way of seeing fantasy!'.
...
Hmmm... how about 80 years of television, 100 or so years of film, 400 years of shakespeare.
How do CSI & Law & Order keep coming up with new series? How do those writers continually come up with new characters. All they have are humans! Granted many of them are not 'new' and especially not good characters, but every year we get a whole slew of characters that are and we want to read/watch about them. Look to the pros is the only suggestion I have.
Holy crap, I just did the math and realized in only 17 months Shakespeare is 400!
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Trenton G. Merryweather is an Evangelist Cleric of Hembad, the Empyreal Lord of relationships and synergy. Trenton's a recovering Pesh addict and life coach. When not adventuring, he can be found in the puddles district leading workshops and lending emotional support to those in need.
He's a big fan of icebreaker games, team building exercises, mind mapping, visualizing positive results, and effusive compliments. He also suffers night terrors and has difficulty discussing his youth spent working the streets of Khatapesh.
Is a trust fall still an effective exercise if someone casts feather fall?
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I don't know, I don't think the core races are played out. Axebeard the Pseudo-Scottish Dwarf may be played out, but that's far from the only way to play a dwarf, for example.
Just imagine... a male dwarf without a beard. And who stays clean-shaven.
Got one of those. Cleric of Shelyn. Preoccupied with beauty and thinks the beard makes him somewhat unkempt.