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Generally speaking, in my experience, for what it's worth, etc...
From a mechanical perspective:
Any role that contributes to a party's success is welcome, whether it's damage, healing, tanking (hard to do effectively in PF, tho), buffing, debuffing, skill-checking, arcane utility, condition clearing, etc...
...unless you're doing it better than me.
You might show up with a character whose only purpose is to make everyone else's character shine in the hopes of not stepping on any toes, only to find out that you're overriding the lesser buffs of a less mechanically efficient bard.
As in all things RPG, remember to share the spotlight. Just because you can end an encounter before anyone else can act doesn't mean you have to.
From a role-playing/social perspective:
Any character with a strong point of view will be more interesting and fun to be around...
...unless you're being obnoxiously one-dimensional, uncomfortably obscene, unsettlingly creepy, or gratingly screechy.
"I am a paladin" is not a character. Neither is "I am a thief." Good characters can rarely be summed up in one word.
People have varying amounts of comfort with sexuality, language and violence. Read the room before engaging in more "mature" material.
Voices are great, but please be mindful of everyone else's ears.
On humor:
The safest humor with strangers is to make fun of yourself. Save the attacks and insults for friends (and make sure they're comfortable with it, too).
It is a fine line between "annoyingly funny" and "annoying." If you notice diminishing returns every time you interrupt a conversation with your signature catch phrase, maybe dial it back.
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I try to keep a fair selection of utility scrolls on my martial PCs that suit a variety of spell lists, so I can hand them out to party spellcasters.
On full spellcasters I'll prepare communal buff spells (coordinated with other PC spellcasters when time permits). Communal Resist Energy and/or Protection from Energy are fan favorites. Barkskin's filled a lot of my druid's slots since he got 2nd level spells.
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Oh this?
Oh, that is my, errum, menagerie. It will accompany us. Yes, the slaves as well. Pay it no mind. If you need anything, you can borrow it, of course.
In the mean time, please, visit the temple, the cafeteria, arena, or brothel; we pathfinders mustn't forget the pleasures of home while abroad!
Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I like pulling out alchemical remedies that people never knew existed. Did that mean monster just Sunder your bow? I can make it better again in a minute. Stinking cloud got you coughing? Try a new save at +5. Got hit with something mind-affecting? Don't be afraid of the doctor's needle.
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Venture-Agent, Netherlands—Utrecht
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Would like to confirm Ascalaphus's awesome Alchemist. He does what an Alchemist does best, but also has a remedy for every situation. I love being in a party with him, just to see what he whips out next.
Most of my characters are pretty selfish, but my Cleric is a buff monster. He hasn't damaged a person with his weapons in a few levels (hell, he'l almost level 11, and he still only carries a masterwork weapon), because I'm too busy keeping everyone else upright and giving out boosts to everyone. It kinda sucks when there's a situation I'm not prepared for, because that means I don't have a lot to do, but at least I can still channel.
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Venture-Lieutenant, Netherlands—Leiden
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I do like support clerics a lot. I mean, everyone can pull their weight and it's nice enough if a barbarian beats up a baddy, but someone who takes away the pain of a really nasty negative condition, that I really appreciate.
Remove Paralysis, Remove Blindness, Daylight...
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I play a nagaji oracle of life in our Emerald Spire. At the start of each level of the dungeon, extended communal resist energy gets cast. He then takes ten in Perception for a result of 33 vs traps(or 38 with find traps) and, should a Disable bonus of +26-28 not be enough, bears their brunt himself.
Once combat starts, which is all the time, he brings forth either blessing of fervor or communal align weapon and then wades into the front to support. There's usually so many buffs running with a magus and a skald in tow he always two-hand Power Attacks with his adamantine rantai batangan. He prioritizes constructs, swarms(swarmbane clasp!) and things that energy body can take care of. His ac is the highest in the party so dropping spells mid-melee is no problem should there be a need, like dispelling a wall spell or web or giving the dwarf fighter a leg up. After each battle he alternates cure spells and channels(7d6 with a phylactery).
Come next payday he'll bring a party palanquin with him to boot.
I also play a totally unco-operative demoralizing order of the Cockatrice tiefling merc. It balances out in the end!
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Pip: Humor, by being even more confusing to enemies than to his own party, plus the occasional airborne diving Spirited Charge lance crit :) Having perfect flight and sufficient carrying capacity to air-lift the entire party has been useful as well - my favorite trick is now having everyone hang on the end of a rope tied around Pip's Eidolon, use Invisibility Sphere, and then do a helicopter style commando insertion into enemy facilities (think Blackhawk Down).
Venture-Lieutenant, Indiana—Martinsville
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Oh... Oh!! I know!
I bring the most memorable character to the table, the one that the others point at and say "Well, that guy/girl was fun to run with."
My character introductions set the bar for the character, giving an inside look into how he interacts with those around him.
Examples...
"Hi!. I am Lemtwist Bratham Mallentwine Flannelfoot Smyth Olgen Jeebs Nathers Bingham the Third. I'm a sparker."
An elven lady comes into the room holding a halfling in the air by the scruff of his neck, walks up to the table and deposits him onto the table. "He is your problem now, DEAL WITH IT!" She turns around and leaves. The Halfling has Green grease paint on his hands and face, and looks at everyone with wild eyes and says... "I'M A GOBLIN!!"
"Why, Hello. I am Paaaaaaauuuuulll MooOOOoondoor!." and the character procedes to describe himself in a radio DJ voice. At one point, he notes his oversized belt buckle big enough to have the words Paaaaaaauuuuull MoooOOOOoonoor written on it.
"Hello, ka, my name is Kraford, Ka. I joined the Pathfinder Society to further my training, ka, and to see the world. ... ... Ka." (Tengu with a speech impediment)
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Marv Brings Orcish BBQ. He is king of Orcish Barbacue. He has sister he is trying to find a husband for who run his resturaunts when he's on pathfinder missions(She is the pretty popular one, the ugly one he married off in Nesting Swallow...far away from him).
Ari has an Eidolon, Bertie, who will try to convince you he should be able to join the eagle knights.
Strenella Alesia Lywellyn will let you know that Sheyln loves you and wants to bring out you inner beauty. If you don't find your inner beauty, she will flail you and let her little sister make a fashion friendly handbag that's beautiful. She finds being a pit spawned teifling in the church of Sheyln (The nuture vs nature thing) is frustrating.
Shem El Hazaar knows that Groetus does not love you but still finds you useful. If you accept this he will guide you onto the path of enlightenment.
Elinee Thesalaki Kalamendes gives very warm hugs, particularly if you helped her uncle with his sleepwalking problem. Since she has unearthly beauty and is charming and wears these really tight sweaters, must people like her hugs.
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Arthus: Battlerager of Gorum (Barbarian/Fighter) that loves to make things horrible. This includes rubbing various goo and liquids of foes on himself after they have died, starting riots and finishing them quickly, and making the people realize that everything can be hugged. Everything.
Auriea: He's been getting better at the whole flirting thing, but still loves liberal use of Unnatural Lust if he deems the situation humorous. He may also love free flowing clothing and sometimes disguises as a woman, just for funsies.
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Yeah, my main thing is that certain characters get boring if I don't have a fun way to express their personality. Even those with detailed back stories.
That's why I've got 4 or 5 PCs that I'm not really interested in playing any more, out of my 16 in PFS (plus one that I haven't actually created yet due to a rules ambiguity that could kill the idea).
The ones I have the most fun playing are the ones where I've come up with some sort of distinctive personality quirks that come up during play.
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It wasn't until my 4th character that I started creating personality concepts.
However, people did enjoy playing with my first born, Validorn, a crane style monk, that was difficult to hit, had difficulty hitting, but climbed, leapt, and ran about everywhere. Think of really flashy movement like wire-fu going on all over the place. In fact, a buddy I game with said early on, "Crouching Pathfinder, hidden destruction."
Yoshimitsu "the Batosai", gets some comments when I say he's grinning behind an oni mask that covers his face. He is my multi-class stoic scary tiefling samurai that hates humans (favored enemy), is only interested in himself (Order of the Cockatrice), and occasionally displays his full anger/hatred (enters bloodrage and wreathes his sword in flame). A memorable moment was Yoshimitsu silently waiting for the rest of the party to diplomatically persuade a rural village shaman not to renege on their trade deal; when diplomacy failed everyone slowly and cautiously turned to Yoshi who stepped forward and intimidated him into nearly wetting himself. (After which Yoshi recruited the shaman to the Dark Archives :) )
Borris the Butcher (for Goodness), half-orc Sacred Huntsmaster. He was a lost soul, leading an empty life filled with drunken murderous tomfoolery. But, after being befriended by a group of wandering gnomes, he has found the light of Serenrae and, empowered by his new therapy pet/animal companion, Natasha, he helps 'redeem' evil-doers for goodness. At GenCon another player was admittedly transfixed on my Russian accent during Out of Anarchy... I hope that was a good thing?
Jack Garrett, the Gentleman Caller. Creepy strangler. Silver tongued (has the human racial trait), prefers to handle things diplomatically but has no moral qualms about 'wet work' on behalf of the exchange. I haven't finalized the voice, somewhere between a Southern gentleman and Mr. Manners from Wastland 2. Game plan is, when strangling/grappling, I would whisper something into the victim's ear that the party cannot easily hear. OOC, I would hand a card from a small deck to the GM with Jack's signature on one side and some quote or poem on the other about death, eternal slumber, futility, submission etc. In his last game, some table mates took to calling him "Jack the Gripper".
Hot off the press, Brutus Minsc. As it has already come up, some of you will likely recognize the second name. Half-orc Arcane/Abyssal Bloodrager. Reach, anti-magic, control build. Grew up in the Mana Wastes and is very paranoid of magic users, thinking voices are constantly trying to take him over. He even wears some type of 'foiled metallic helmet' to protect his mind. And yes, the goal is to have him speak with a miniature giant space hamster that others will not see.
Sorry for the long post. :)
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For my high level group I bring an important party role, I am the one they send first through the door.
My grippli priest of Irori (Sensei/Qinggong/Drunken Master) brings his endless flask of sake and hands out buffs as best he can while trying to stay on as many of his limbs as possible (3 because one holds the bottle) Each priest must find his own path to enlightenment, his is at the bottom of the flask.
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Apparently I'm at the sweet spot in my character's career that I can murder any one thing in one round of combat with my standard action from setting off a chain of AoOs. So far I make it more fun for people that aren't combat focused and less fun for people that are. The cleric loved it last game because he kept getting grappled and I'd just murder whatever grabbed onto him. The snakebite brawler rogue guy that couldn't roll higher than a 5 on initiative all night not so much. By the end of the night I did lay off a bit and I ended my attack prematurely on the BBEG and let others come in and finish him off.
We completely broke the last encounter. There's a big door and as soon as the dude sees us he starts setting off a bunch of traps. The entire party basically maxed out their stealth rolls and the lowest was a 25. The BBEG had a perception of +1 so he couldn't possibly see us. The cleric didn't have stealth, but he did have a potion of invisibility so obviously that +20 helped. The whole area is difficult terrain and insanely trapped. But he has to activate the traps. So he just stood there talking to his mother about wondering why the door opened while we snuck up. About 2/3 the way up the room the rogue tried to disable some trap looking thing and set it off which let the GM know something was going on. The difficult terrain didn't really stop me at that point as I was on a mount with a 60' move speed so I double moved and held back from killing him. He was prone and on the ground and as a spellcaster he failed at his concentration check to cast defensively because he rolled extremely poorly and the rest of the group moved up and finished him off.
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Let's see...
There's Hellknight Delani Saletore, owner of the Saletore trading company, chosen of Iomedae, and Mistrix of the Saletore Estate of Korvosa.
She brings her commanding aura of authority (she famously ended an ambush by demanding the bandits explain themselves and pay reparations), her intimate knowledge of chelish political women (Para Countess Zarta Dralnen and Field-Maralictor Elixia Makorios have both paid personal visits to her country estate) and the divine vengeance of Iomedae. Also a strong disdain for fey.
Yoshiko Kitsu brings the love and understanding of Shelyn everywhere she goes. Her training as a sensei of the sacred lotus and her fervor as an inquisitor of Shelyn and her tactical expertise gained from the order of the dragon in mendev make her a valued asset to every team, making sure that no one faces pharasma before their time. She has taken a strict vow of nonviolence which she has never broken despite her 18 deployments by her less peaceful venture captains. She also brings her wooden glaive, her silk kimono and her masterwork calligraphy set.
Lastly, Krystal Leah Gavix brings a whole host of excitement and wonder. Maybe you've heard of her sister Janira? Well they aren't really sisters, Janira is actually her second cousin thrice removed on her mom's side, or rather well it was her mom's stepdad's side, but he was a really nice guy and so her mom took his name and so he's really like her grandfather, so Janira is like blood you know?
Anyway she was super excited when she found out that Janira had become and field agent and then when she saw that two years ago Janira was published in the Pathfinder Chronicles, well that was it, she had to go congratulate her sister and try and become a new pathfinder herself. She's not quite as good at remembering things as Janira, but then again Janira has been a field agent for years and that's not really a fair comparison when you really think about it.
She loves the motto of the Grand Lodge, you know, explore report cooperate? That's just great it's like everyone is on the same team going on a giant field trip to learn exciting things and meet new people. Krystal was at the top of her confirmation class you know, ok well not at the tippy top, but she was like in the top twenty two and that's pretty much the top, or at least not at the bottom.
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Lady Gragra, the famous half-orc singer, brings entertainment to a new level. Listening to her hit-list, with legendary songs like Dockerface, Just Pounce or Bad Performance will enlighten anyone's day.
The fact that she brings neat melee buffs to the party is just icing on the cake.
(Half-Orc Spell Warrior Skald)
I can personally attest to Lady Gragra's moving and forceful tunes. There was recently a mission to a particular *redacted* that was helped immeasurably by her intense vocal talent and expertise with Long Pokey Stick. Her bodyguard is no slouch, either.
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Many thanks for this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G feedback my little monsters, can't wait to perform again for you guys !
Don't hesitate to visit my brand new Concert Hall in Absalom !
And for those interested in joining the OFFICIAL Lady Gragra's Fan-Club please contact my manager Mr Nuck Chorris, this kind man is in charge of collecting the admission fee.
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Since I remembered this thread, might as well contribute. Like so:
My Ulfen(originally from Whitethrone) Barb/Bard/Dragon Disciple is a major asset to most parties. Her flag and singing just about level up damage-based characters(+4 to hit and 1d6+4 to dam) by two and allow even the weakest members to shine. She's so supportive that I refuse to play with archers because no challenge would be enough. When she entered The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, I had her delay for the most part since there was very little reason to join the fray!
Beyond this, she is a highly experienced diplomat, hits like a truck and shares her buff spells with the rest of the party. And her haughty and aggressive nature's very fun to play. All cold shoulders and calculated edges until there's a victory at hand. I was pretty big into viking-themed metal way back when so there's this nostalgic bent to playing her and I find myself humming Blood on Ice or Ormurin Langi when rolling the dice, hehheh.
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From my current backpack full of characters:
Personality: DRUGS. OH GODS, THE DRUGS.
Personality: "Have you considered getting married? Marriage is the foundation of society and fosters a good work ethic. I happen to be ordained in Old Deadeye's church, should you want someone to perform the ceremony. I would be glad to bless your marriage and hope for many healthy, strong children to help with your work.
Don't mind me tearing up. I just miss my own family. It is hard being so far away, but my work with the Society will get a new farmstead soon, I'm sure."
Personality: "I explore, I cooperate, you report." Artanthos has 7 INT and a hard streak about making sure that there is consensus in the group before doing major things. This has led to some significant conflict within the party in the past. I've sundered friendly weapons (with player/GM consent), disarmed people, ki thrown folks across rooms, etc. to keep individuals from taking actions that the rest of the group doesn't agree with. This has led to some particularly memorable tables, to say the least.
Personality, though! This is a character that I basically treat as NC-17 rated - I keep it clean enough for the stores, but I won't play him with kids present, even if they're not at my table. I get a few very interesting looks from folks when I talk about his Profession: Child Care day job checks. Children in a scenario? Ozrik is on the case, helping them stay safe and develop interspecies tolerance and relations. It's also not uncommon to have him babbling like a Malkavian at times, with occasional outbursts that make life significantly more interesting. Team player through and through.
Ozrik has saved more NPC lives than he's taken. I think his kill count is actually zero, but I've purposefully stabilized NPCs and kept other players from killing them. His most notable in-alignment action was erasing a docking chart from a chalkboard with Create Water in Hydra's Fang Incident - purely chaotic, absolutely harmless.
Just thinking about him makes me want to rebuild him in standard campaign so I can play him again. Despite in-character friction due to his deity, the players at the table almost universally enjoy the character.
There are other folders of characters, but they're 90% retired.
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Chakarak is a Gnome Oracle of Lore whom the Gods speak to in his head, all of them, all the time. He frequently likes to let religious characters know what there God thinks, though the constant arguments in his head, especially between Shelyn and Zon-kuthon about "the damned stick" come up frequently.
His responses to knowledge checks are usually, Nethys says this about magical beasts and Urgathoa mentioned that that type of undead doesn't like clubs, not sure which kind, that's what I got.
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Dear Lady Gragra,
I'm a singer and percussionist starting off with work for the Society. Would it be possible to borrow the use of your concert hall at some point to practice some of my more involved and boisterous tunes?
I'm concerned that the barracks for the Society might not be the best place to practice, and I felt a little bit rusty after a recent run to *redacted* for their *redacted*?
Thank you very much for your time in advance,
Rae Alain Paight
Icebreaker of the Jadwiga
Hero of Magnimar
What do I bring? Two words: Mythic. Haste.
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What do I bring? Two words: Mythic. Haste.
"I just bring regular Haste. And my bright shining personality! And the air of respectability from having a Baron of Taldor along. Oh, and I can use any magic wand now, with no possibility of messing it up, even if it's not a spell a sorcerer like me could usually cast. And there's also my awesome hats! Every gnome should have lots of nice hats..."
The gnome continues to ramble until interrupted.
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What do I bring? Two words: Mythic. Haste."I just bring regular Haste. And my bright shining personality! And the air of respectability from having a Baron of Taldor along. Oh, and I can use any magic wand now, with no possibility of messing it up, even if it's not a spell a sorcerer like me could usually cast. And there's also my awesome hats! Every gnome should have lots of nice hats..."
The gnome continues to ramble until interrupted.
And I bring color spray. And none of that jerk bully magic. I am a trade prince, and I bring awesome prince-i-nesses, you know the trade kind! Every pathsearcher team needs a gnome to keep them alive....
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Tabris Nyx, my warpriest of Urgathoa, was instrumental in providing a distraction for the party sneak to infiltrate a ship. He marched up to who he thought was the captain and asked if his schedule would allow the Church of Urgathoa passage to Geb. He expressed exasperation that no ship in the harbor would say yes.
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The door opens. In its frame stands a small armored figure, covered head to toe in soot and wielding a chimney broom. As the miniature knight steps forward, it becomes clear that she is a halfling. Her jet-black locks, tightly braided and bound, are only slightly darker in hue than the charcoal soot and ash smudging her cheeks.
She steps forward with a bright and cheerful smile. "Hi! I'm Juniper. Juniper Berrythw—OOMPH!" She trips over her much-too-long cloak, a cloud of soot exploding off her armor as she falls face first onto the floor and her chimney broom skitters across the room.
As she stands, Juniper removes the blindfold that was covering her eyes and attempts to dust herself off, but her small soot-covered hands merely smear the soot across her mithral armor.
"Sorry about that. Here, let me get that for you. Oh, look I've gone and smudged your floor. Don't worry, it's good clean soot, it'll come right out in a jiffy.
"As I was saying, I'm Juniper Berrythwaite, of the Westcrown Berrythwaites. I'm pleased to meet ya." She flashes a big grin and extends her soot-covered hand in greeting.
"I just got back from the Ironbound Archipelago. I met some great folks on that trip. Before that was the Ruins of Bonekeep. It was very scary, but I made sure no one got hurt. Six months ago, I was sent deep into the Mwangi Expanse in search of a lost Venture Captain. That was quite exciting.
"Enough chatting, where is this chimney that needs sweeping?" she asks as she retrieves her broom and puts her blindfold back on.
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SO to para-phrase the title of this, "How does your character make the game more fun for the other people there?"Usually by talking in a ridiculous voice and having a warped worldview.
+1
I've enjoyed playing with others, including the GM, who used some awesome voices to add flavor to a character.
My latest creation is a half-orc skald named Rufus Morgenborgenjorgensson who just level-dipped to pick up a dino familiar named "Station". His voice is a crude Scandinavian Marvin the Martian. :) The guy is focused on support, grabbing amplified rage only to pump greater skald's vigor down the line along with Guarded Life (+Greater) and maybe some other goodies.