Let me start this out by saying i love role-playing and character building. My favorite part of the game is interactions between not only the story characters, but party members as well. Having motivations and depth make this game more fun than it already is. With that said though, the party i've been playing with for a while have a different approach, and drastically different gut responses to situations.
Party consists of 5 players including me. All 4 of the PCs are pure combat, whether that be anvil, tactics oriented, or flat DPR. That's how there characters are built, and that's how they find enjoyment in the game. Every session has multiple, time consuming, combat encounters that make up the majority(if not the entirety) of play. GM himself has been more hack-n-slash oriented anyways, but i feel takes it even higher to try and please the combat junkies in the group. It's gotten to the point that players don't even talk in character ever anymore cause we're not used to it. We meta-game the entire session, because if we only talked in character, nothing would get done. It's not a conscious decision by anyone, but with so many session being this combat packed, it's developed and gotten really really bad.
Combat is fun, but it's not how i choose to play. As a build, my PC could go so many different directions, including pure DPR. I'm playing a crafting Wizard, and in the campaign i have access to a lot of time/money, so i'm able to utilize it to the fullest. But when i made the character i had a very specific image/idea behind it. Even further, to let our GM play a game i took over, and GMd my own one-shot. They didn't know till the end, but this was the back-story for my character, Jack. The game itself was very role-play focused and organic. There was a small scuffle i through in as a response to there actions, and then a final fight. The rest was story/environment.
short version of Jacks back-story from his POV
This was about 4-5 months ago, and even before then have been playing my character matching this personality. We've been taking a break from the main campaign for a while so i had the time to write this stuff out, and i showed both my GM and the player that my character connects with the most, thinking that if he was gonna tell anyone it'd be him.
I have some ideas, but how should i go about playing this character in a group that's so, for lack of a better word, violent? Any creative thoughts? He's a level 8 Wizard, a crafter, a silent pacifist, and is wholeheartedly devoted to a goal.