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We had a conversation the other day about the types of characters that people play. One of the guys I was talking with almost always plays a wizard who specializes down to the point where he is very nearly a sorcerer. I know “life takes all kinds” and yes it would be boring if we were all the same. Some of the concepts I can see the attraction (even if it is not my thing), but others I have a hard time figuring out why someone would want to do that. {shrug} They like it , so it’s all good as far as I’m concerned. As long as they aren’t cutting into my game, I don’t mind at all. It makes things interesting.
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That’s one of the reasons I like PFS. I see a bunch of different players, what they are running, and how they play their characters. Some are absolutely amazing.
I’ve seen a couple in action that my immediate reaction is “Hey I’ve got to try that next time!” Tengu cavalier riding an axebeak.
Some have been pretty kool, but I wouldn’t want to do it with one of my PC’s. A super effective Aasimar life oracle heal/buff bot.
(( A couple have been so annoying to the other members of the party that it was a “WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS!” in flashing neon lights. The noskills / front line Oread tank passifist.))
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Personally, I tend to not like purely damage dealing builds. (At least for long term play, they are perfectly fine in a short one-shot adventure.) They feel like they don’t change at all. Yes, I now get 15 arrows a round. But the monsters have umpteen times as many hit points. Yes, my sword now does ~75 pt of damage per hit. But the monsters now have about 300 hit points. Yes, my fireball now does 12d6 of damage and the reflex save DC is up to 25. But now lots of monster have more hit points, higher save bonus, and SR. So I still wipe out the mooks and do some damage to the tough guys. It just feels the same at 12th level that it did at 5th level. I want to feel like I can now provide something that I couldn’t before.
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A part of that is just the way that the majority of the games are played. For some odd reason everyone around you gets better at approximately the same rate you do. If you were really a 12th level flame blasty sorcerer, the town guards that bullied you as a novice would quake in fear at your passing. In most games, there is probably a new sherrif (or the old one has been learning fast) that is still a threat to you. That is just a thing most groups do to keep the game from getting boring. I understand that, but it keeps me from enjoying those characters quite as much.
I also don’t like buff or heal bots. Yes I know they can actually be tremendous force multipliers, but I find them boring to play.
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What DO I like?
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For these and other reasons, my favorite character types have been gish martial/sorcerers (but mostly caster). I pick a variety of spells that have differing and hopefully multiple effects. (Glitterdust to blind and reveal. Ear Piercing Scream for difficult to resist damage and stun. Chain of Perdition to trip and tie up.)
Lately I have been finding I can do most anything I want with an inquisitor. And they have the whole ‘not exactly following the mainstream congregation’ thing built right in. With the skill points, domains/inquisitions, judgments, teamwork feats, and other abilities I can get almost any kind of effect I want.
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So what do you like and why?
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I am always surprised by threads that talk about "having" to play a Rogue. I think Rogues are way underrated, and I love showing off what a skill-based character can really achieve. (see also: Batman kicking Superman's butt!)
I am always surprised by threads that talk about "having" to play a Rogue. I think Rogues are way underrated, and I love showing off what a skill-based character can really achieve. (see also: Batman kicking Superman's butt!)
Shame that rogues have less skill points than alchemist, wizards, and bards.
1. Spontaneous Arcane Casters/Psionics. Prep casting in no way represents how I think magic should work. You might run out of magical/psionic energy to power your stuff, but you didn't forget how to do it.
2. High-DEX/Light Armor characters. Heavy Armor ACP/move penalties suck so much. Weapon Finesse is on my sheets all the time.
3. Theme casters ... the kind who might introduce themselves as a 'X Mage' where X is Fire, or Ice, or Mind, or whatever.
4. Non-religious characters. I don't get religion, so I can't play a religious character without coming off as a potentially offensive caricature.
5. Artificial characters - Warforged/Androids and such. Having an incurable disease, I find great appeal in playing characters who are immune to many forms of human frailty.
Anti-heroes. Paladins.
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I prefer characters that have something to contribute in all situations and support characters, and for this reason, I like bards and clerics the best. both are quite capable of doing well in combat if you build them right, and out of combat, there are plenty of things both characters can do. With some good role playing, you can get around the cleric's lack of skill points either through some clever uses of profession or just know how and who to talk to (for example, another member of your religion might be willing to help you getting past an obstacle if the request is reasonable without needing to jump through hoops with difficult skill checks, helping the sick and injured getting you some small favors, etc.)
I also like playing more alien, exotic characters. For this reason, I love playing the native outsider races or fairy races, like gnomes or gathlain. I like exploring their more foreign mindsets of these characters, and thinking about what kind of faults and virtues a creature who isn't human might have.
... With some good role playing, you can get around the cleric's lack of skill points either through some clever uses of profession or just know how and who to talk to (for example, another member of your religion might be willing to help you getting past an obstacle if the request is reasonable without needing to jump through hoops with difficult skill checks, helping the sick and injured getting you some small favors, etc.)...
I can agree with this. But it does require a fairly cooperative GM. Some feel that the "good role playing" just gets you to the point of being able to use the skill check with maybe a +2 if you did a real good job. (I have to admit, I used to be that kind of GM.)
... With some good role playing, you can get around the cleric's lack of skill points either through some clever uses of profession or just know how and who to talk to (for example, another member of your religion might be willing to help you getting past an obstacle if the request is reasonable without needing to jump through hoops with difficult skill checks, helping the sick and injured getting you some small favors, etc.)...I can agree with this. But it does require a fairly cooperative GM. Some feel that the "good role playing" just gets you to the point of being able to use the skill check with maybe a +2 if you did a real good job. (I have to admit, I used to be that kind of GM.)
Well, circumstance bonuses are a pretty good way of rewarding role playing without letting people bypass rolls if the DM is uncomfortable with just giving something like that away to a player. Usually when I do stuff like that, I end up doing something like paying a reasonable donation to the church or a charity if I was approaching local clergy, or exchanging favors (curing someone's sick grandmother and getting a helpful rumor or information in return). A diplomacy check to get a favor from someone who's friendly towards you shouldn't be too hard anyways, so bonuses are still pretty helpful
I like playing everyone's friend. This is best accomplished with a divine caster being the buffer or healer, or with a bard and some specialized wizards.
This is useful because I die often, no matter how optimized I am or carefully I play.
Being the berserk button in a party of otherwise "neutral, not-my-problem" kinda characters means that I get to be important despite my "crit-me" sign.
It's also led to hilarity and Kuririn/Krillin references... and Kenny, of course.
I like all kinds. Class-wise, I like
Sorcerers: It speaks to me as a class. They are born with gifts, but this doesn't mean they're handed the world on a platter. What they do with this gift, not the gift itself, will define them, and a sorcerer has the force of personality needed to make a huge impact in the world and its people. Also, the system with them is easier to handle than wizards.
Alchemists: Aside from being magical Walter Whites, alchemists have a unique approach not found in other classes. Swords? Magic? Try SCIENCE! MUTATION! It's a new source of power that is different from the rest. True, it does have magic in it, but... well, I like to flavor it differently.
Barbarian: Smash. Heehee. Sometimes, simple is better.
I like villains and tragic heroes, though I'll tend to think outside the box now and then, flirting with anti-villains, straight-up heroes, underdogs, etc., but at the end of the day I always look forward to my main protagonists facing the horrors of the world with grit and determination rather than naive bravado and my villains scheming to spread a deathly plague over a city so they can claim it for their own.
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I like my wizards, with all the options they come with (prepared full caster), and clerics for the same reason, though I don't get as excited about most of their spells. Inquisitor is turning into my new favorite class, with 6 levels of casting, plenty of skills, and a slew of interesting class abilities. I also like bards, just for the skills. I tend to build alot of concept fighters, due to the ability to explore frequently ignored feat chains, though if I play a full BAB character I prefer rangers.
For the TL;DR people: I like prepared full casters and lots of skills.
Edit: On a more role play note, I like characters that are neutral to good, and neutral to lawful. I don't feel at all burdened by a paladin's code, since I tend to play alot of characters that way anyway. The sort of guy who is friendly, generous, dependable, and fair. I'm finding LN is my favorite alignment. I like to be a leader type, though not really giving orders, just gathering opinions and collecting a decision. About 1/4th of the time I like to switch gender and play a female character. I like elves and orcs, both for all of the reasons that make them opposites of each other in many ways, though I like to flavor my elves lawful (I leave orcs chaotic).
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My number one first choice is bard. I simply love playing bards. Every bard I play tends to take on a life of their own as they adapt to the party, and campaign where they live. One bard started a theatre in an existing country's capital, and became well known, and liked. Another became a gypsy and traveled around the world. Another became an advisor to a queen, and another a caravan master. On and on ...
My second choice is a fighter. I love getting in close to my foes, and mixing things up in battle. I like being in the thick of the action.
My third choice is usually a sorcerer. I play sorcerors when I want to relax, and play more casual. I follow the party lead, use spells as necessary, sometimes even when not necessary. I also play very quiet shy sorcerors.
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I like playing everyone's friend. This is best accomplished with a divine caster being the buffer or healer, or with a bard and some specialized wizards.
This is useful because I die often, no matter how optimized I am or carefully I play.
Being the berserk button in a party of otherwise "neutral, not-my-problem" kinda characters means that I get to be important despite my "crit-me" sign.It's also led to hilarity and Kuririn/Krillin references... and Kenny, of course.
Oh, being the group berserk button is one of the greatest feelings in the world for me in PF. It's so cinematic when the group's got their back to the wall, and I drop a few buffs to turn the tides and let my parties righteous justice crash over whatever we're facing.
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Oh, being the group berserk button is one of the greatest feelings in the world for me in PF. It's so cinematic when the group's got their back to the wall, and I drop a few buffs to turn the tides and let my parties righteous justice crash over whatever we're facing.I like playing everyone's friend. This is best accomplished with a divine caster being the buffer or healer, or with a bard and some specialized wizards.
This is useful because I die often, no matter how optimized I am or carefully I play.
Being the berserk button in a party of otherwise "neutral, not-my-problem" kinda characters means that I get to be important despite my "crit-me" sign.It's also led to hilarity and Kuririn/Krillin references... and Kenny, of course.
Yay! Kindred spirit!
... Inquisitor is turning into my new favorite class, with 6 levels of casting, plenty of skills, and a slew of interesting class abilities. ...
In talking with friends lately, I've been finding that almost any conceptual role the person wants to fill can be done very well by an inquisitor. (Except a primary offensive caster or pure healbot.)
Scout, melee dpr, skill monkey, tank, gish, ...
It may not be quite the best way to do it. But it seems to almost always be pretty good.
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I like playing characters where I ensure as much as possible they are never totally useless
I've always believed in the "d*** good reason rule" as in if you go out adventuring, you better have a d*** good reason you think you can survive it (or a similar extent of lack of choice) so I always try to give my characters something they can do other than swing a sword, and if I play a caster I play a dang good caster, or one that has something for when his spells inevitably fail him, whether by running out or facing a foe that is strong to magic, I have several times played a str 16 sorcerer with a bastard sword.
my martial characters always have alternate means of movement (such as flight or climb speed) and a ranged weapon, they always have either a gun or a sling (to counter fickle winds/wind wall) and if I can afford it weapons of several different materials
I don't like playing characters with no magic at all, because I'm always thinking "in a universe where magic exist, why would anyone not dabble"
I like playing characters with high Cha, Str and Int
my favorite classes are sorcerer, bard, paladin, alchemist, magus, oracle, soulknife and monk
I realize that's 8 classes but that's still less than half of the available classes
I play characters who are power hungry and/or paranoid, either for their own sake or because they have something to protect or save,
when I have a character I always give them things like wrist sheaths with daggers in them or blade boots and things of that nature
I love gestalt because it gives me so many options it's insane
and in gestalt my characters are never useless, there are times where they are hindered but never useless
For some reason I really like to play characters that are religious, whether that grants them abilities or not.
I like to play PCs that have decent skill points, can stand their own in melee and have some aces in their sleeves. To get that I can multiclass or I play one of Magus, Ranger, Bard, Druid, Alchemist
But sometimes I just play what comes to mind ignoring those ideals. Two PCs I played recently were both light on skillpoints, being a scarred witchdoctor and a stonelord.
For some reason I really like to play characters that are religious, whether that grants them abilities or not.
Long ago I played a guy that thought he was a cleric. He could never understand why all his prayers didn't work.
I usually am the GM of the group I play with.
But, the longuest I've played a character was way back in AD&D, it was a dual-classed (I was the first person to play such a character in my group) Fighter/Magic-User who was specialized with the bastard sword. I fell in love with what I called the "Jedi" style: lightly or non-armored effective hitter with a bag of tricks so that he's not just a one-trick pony.
I guess that, in Pathfinder, my favorite character would be the Magus. In fact I just built a Kensai Magus as an NPC for the next campaign I am GMing because one of our regular players might not make it.
The other type of character I like to play are rogues. I guess for the same reason: when they land a sneak attack, they can hit pretty hard, and have a useful range of abilities and skills.
In general, I prefer spontaneous casters (Sorcerer, Oracle) to casters that have to prepare their spells (that is one thing I would like to change to the Magus to make it perfect).
I prefer warriors who rely on skill over brute strength.
I could never accept in my mind the concept that Rangers can cast spells (the Skirmisher or Trapper archetype represent well what a Ranger should be to me), or the whole Performance ability of Bards.
I don't think I ever played a religious character (Paladin, Cleric, Druid, etc.), thought I would like to try the Inquisitor someday (Solomon Kane is my favorite R.E.H. character), and I've build a swashbuckly Cayden Cailean as a suggestion for one of my player that I would have liked to play (he went for the obvious Sarenrae-Kyra style instead)
When I play a caster, I prefer spontaneous casters. So I will usually choose sorcerer and oracle.
I prefer melee over ranged, and like the more Strength based bashers in heavy armor over the lightly armored Dex-based.
My go-to races when it is restricted to "core only" are the Dwarf and Half-orc. Always felt drawn to these core races over the others. That, and darkvision is always a bonus. And you can't go wrong with beards.
If non-core are allowed, I may choose one of the planetouched, or one of the more rare races (always wanted to try a kitsune, but have never been able to).
I also try going for the more primitive-type characterizations. Barbarian and druid are typical choices, despite preferring spontaneous casters.
I usually go for Good-aligned characters over Neutral ones. Never played Evil and never intend to. I also refuse to play Chaotic Neutral anymore, mostly due to the way the majority of people I have come across portray that alignment (I call it the ***hole alignment). My characters are typically Neutral Good, and believe in "Good above all".
My characters, when on Golarion, typically have Sarenrae as their chosen deity of worship. But typically, they worship Good deities. Sometimes they won't worship anything.
Also, if I play a divine caster (typically oracle), I like to go the healer route. I really wish that they would make a dual-Revelation archetype (similar to cross-blooded sorcerer), or give channel energy to more than just the Life mystery. I do enjoy playing healers.
I prefer to play a character that has a memorable RP hook; something that my fellow players will remember long after the campaign is over.
Sometimes this can be a hyper-stereotypical Dwarf with the bad accent and penchant for drinking. Other times it could be a barbarian who is a bookworm and a scholar.
Mechanical and/or combat effectiveness is usually far down on the list for desired character traits.
My favorite characters all have animal companions. There's something incredibly fun about having a bear tear out the throats of my enemies.
I like martial characters with a few tricks thrown in like you get from a few levels of cleric. That way you can fight but occasionally pull out the trump like travel domain freedom of movement when that grapple monster thinks he has you.
I tend to enjoy the "intellectual warrior" type. The guy who can handle combat but still has enough brains up their sleeve to be more than a smasher.
I also like sneaky types.
I dont like to feel meaningless in one aspect or another of the game, and I love versatile characters.
I havent played much though. I very much dislike being an utlra-speialized character, it gets boring.
I tend to prefer arcane over divine magic. Divine has to many philosophical implications, despite being (in my opinion) mechanically superior.
I"m speaking from playing 2nd edition, hopefully soon getting into a Pathfinder game. I'm sure there are classes somewhat like the ones below.
My three favorite classes:
Elementalist from "Tome of Magic". I'd take water/earth/air (fire was barred from casting)
Specialty Priest. Various ones to choose from depending on Campaign world playing in.
Assassin from Al-Qadim
Alignment: Neutral Evil (never harmed nor stole from a party member)
I end up playing 1/2 to 3/4 casters, or full casters who can hold their own with a weapon (like Oracles or Reach Clerics), mostly because I like martial characters, flavor wise, but I can't stand how simplistic and one-trick-ponyesque they can be, so I have to add in some sort of magic to complement it.
Fighters can work in a pinch, especially if I know the campaign won't be a long one, since you can go a lot of different directions with a fighter, given their number of feats, but even so, most of the variety in a fighter is in building them, and in combat, they still fall into the one-trick-pony concept, even if their one trick is slightly different.
In terms of RP, I tend to go with Good characters, and either Neutral or Lawful on the ethics axis. I think part of it is that I just got tired from playing more chaotic characters in my youth, so I tend to shy away from them unless the concept requires it. In terms of characterization, I tend to latch onto a character in either literature or some other medium, that I tend to base their character off of, and then let it evolve organically as the story progresses.
There's a lot of fine details when it comes to classes, races, and even roles in the party and what I might prefer from each, but above all else what I really love is a nice, likeable, imperfect person.
The epitome of virtue gets boring fast, whereas the good person who has faults, but tries hard in spite of them is generally a lot more fun to play, watch, and interact with, regardless of what form they might come in.
This avatar is a crazy gnome currently being played in a new PbP campaign. This is probably my favorite character in a long time.
I know the crazy gnome is kinda overdone in the genre, but I personally haven't played one since I was a teenager many moons ago. So a large part of the enjoyment is probably remembered nostalgia from when I was a kid. But I am still having a blast with his paranoia, misinterpretations, misunderstandings, overweening self confidence, and slightly schizo conversations with his scorpion familiar.
The only special thing about the build is that he is taking all the hero point feats to represent how he is just plain a lucky fellow.
Other than that it is a pretty standard build with a single level of lore warden to fit the back story.
This is a departure for me. Normally I build for a specific role(s) and a large part of my enjoyment is seeing how the build performs (or doesn't and how I will compensate) in use. This time I am still trying to make sure the character performs well enough to be a contribution and not drag on the party. But he has not yet staked out a specific role. He will try to pick his spells and skills to do what needs doing as it comes up. More of the enjoyment this time will be coming from how he approaches a problem and his attitude while doing it.
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Gnomes. Gnomes! GNOOOOOOMES! Can't get enough of the buggers. Had a gnome wizard that remains my favorite, a gnome alchemist that was also my favorite, and I've got a gnome cavalier lined up that I'm pretty sure is going to be my favorite.
Ironically, despite my real life atheism, I love playing religious characters. Earnestly religious characters, for good or ill. I try very hard not to stray into caricature.
Extreme alignments. Be a force for righteousness and good - this doesn't mean you can't be flawed, but the intentions should always be pure. Or go all out and be deliciously, wickedly evil. Spare me your glass-is-half-empty, crapsack, everything is shades of gray, morally dubious bullsh--er--shins. Let the GM make the world dark and twisted and be the shining beacon of hope. (Or alternatively be the wrench that upturns his perfect little utopia.) But morally gray characters just strike me as kind of flat in the sort of epic fantasy that the Pathfinder system works best for. OF course, part of this might be an extreme aversion to how many 'grizzled antihero who is only in it for the coin' characters I've shared a table with.
Characters with lots of skills. Bards, Wizards, Alchemists, etc. I've tried to roll up a couple of characters with low skills but I always get frustrated sooner than later.
I try not to play the same type of character twice in a row.
But I really like people who punch things. Martial arts master race.
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I love size-changing. Expansion/Compression, Large/Huge size evolutions, the like.
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I used to love characters that changed over their career. The 3.5 system used to have several PrC's that slowly changed you into a Yuan-Ti, Half-Dragon, Lycanthrope, Beholderkin, etc...
Sadly, those aren't around much any more... {sigh}
I like my characters smart. Not always uber-geniuses, but to have some brains at least, regardless of class. I also like my characters to be versatile. Ranger is my preferred martial, wizard my preferred caster. After that, variety is the spice of life. I also like bards, though I haven't played one in like 14 years. Got several ideas though, waiting in the wings :)
I enjoy playing characters with a lot of out-of-combat utility. That means I tend to play more skill-oriented characters and spellcasters that big, strong fighter types. I just hate being useless when there's nothing to hit. When there IS a potential fight, I usually want to avoid it or at least deal with it in a creative manner.
Regardless of what kind of character I play, DEX, INT and CHA seem to be high more often than not. Lots of social and knowledge skills. Jack-of-all-trades rather than specialists. (As a curiosity, I've noticed Weapon Finesse also seems to creep its way into my character sheets A LOT more than any other feat... :D)
As for alignment, I've had more Chaotic Neutral characters than any other. The role of a spontaneous, go-with-the-flow kind of personality comes very naturally to me. That said, I always make a conscious effort to make all my characters, even the ones who fall into this model, distinguishable and unique in some manner.
Of the core races, I often gravitate towards half-elves and halflings, probably because of their independent mindsets. Outside of the core races, I have always loved tieflings. All the different heritages introduced in the Blood of Fiends make them even more appealing than they were before. (Yay for variety!)
Looking at all of the above, it seems that out of all the different classes and class cominations bards and arcane tricksters might best epitomize the kind of characters I tend to play.
I am always surprised by threads that talk about "having" to play a Rogue. I think Rogues are way underrated, and I love showing off what a skill-based character can really achieve. (see also: Batman kicking Superman's butt!)Shame that rogues have less skill points than alchemist, wizards, and bards.
That is untrue. Any character can invest in Intelligence.
That is untrue. Any character can invest in Intelligence.I am always surprised by threads that talk about "having" to play a Rogue. I think Rogues are way underrated, and I love showing off what a skill-based character can really achieve. (see also: Batman kicking Superman's butt!)Shame that rogues have less skill points than alchemist, wizards, and bards.
Technically yes but since the Rogue is de-incentivized to invest in Int to prevent him from sucking worse at everything besides skills than he ALREADY does...
Even then a Rogue and a Bard of equal Int scores will have different effective SP totals because the Bard's Versatile Performance gives him an edge there.
That is untrue. Any character can invest in Intelligence.I am always surprised by threads that talk about "having" to play a Rogue. I think Rogues are way underrated, and I love showing off what a skill-based character can really achieve. (see also: Batman kicking Superman's butt!)Shame that rogues have less skill points than alchemist, wizards, and bards.Technically yes but since the Rogue is de-incentivized to invest in Int to prevent him from sucking worse at everything besides skills than he ALREADY does...
Even then a Rogue and a Bard of equal Int scores will have different effective SP totals because the Bard's Versatile Performance gives him an edge there.
Then add spells to that, which can render much of the skill system obsolete.
Any kind of mage that fights. Magus, a wizard that specializes in ray spells, a bard that throws cards, etc.
I prefer martials to casters and I prefer blaster casters to toolbox casters.
When I play a material character, I'm a sucker for multiclassing because I love to build characters who are uniquely mine. I think that's often lost on prepared arcane spellcasters and martial characters.