Characters from media in your games?

[Anarchy_Kanya]

Do you ever use characters from films, comics, anime, literature, etc. in your games? And I don't mean an NPC or monster that's inspired by some character, but actually are that character (name, personality, powers, included) (of course after some minor adaptation to PF rules and your setting).
How did it go? What are the pros and cons of such a practice?
Just to be clear, I'm talking mostly about characters that already more-or-less fit the fantasy genre that PF tries to emulate.

[Caius]

Immersion would be an issue. Having characters from other media being present would break immersion pretty hard for me if I weren't paying in that setting. The cast from LOTR just showing up to be there in a campaign would just be strange to me and really add nothing more than fanservice. Such a thing would torpedo a lot of interest I'd have in continuing a game.

[Duiker]

No. I second everything Caius said.

[Set]

I've heard stories of Drizzt or Legolas ports to various D&D-type games, but not for years and years, and I'm sure at least some of them were apocryphal.

Now, in *superhero* games, I've seen terribly frustrated players attempt to play Wolverine, and *been* a terribly frustrated player attempting to play Gambit, in a mad bit of fanboy-ism (neither character being much fun to play, lacking meaningful defenses or any form of transportation, or, in the case of Wolverine, an attack that can hurt anyone who doesn't stand right in front of him and let themselves get stabbed).

Many media characters tend to have built in 'plot armor' and seem like a recipe for frustration in RPGs not specifically designed to cater to them, or scenarios designed to play to their strengths (armies of disposable ninja attacking Wolverine, for instance).

Legolas, for instance, in any sort of D&D/PF game will never be like a Tolkien elf, stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, more magical-er, etc. than any human, and so the over-the-top aspects that make him so amazing in Lord of the Rings don't convert well to a game system where elves and humans and dwarves and halflings are more or less balanced against each other.

[Anarchy_Kanya]

Set wrote:

Legolas, for instance, in any sort of D&D/PF game will never be like a Tolkien elf, stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, more magical-er, etc. than any human, and so the over-the-top aspects that make him so amazing in Lord of the Rings don't convert well to a game system where elves and humans and dwarves and halflings are more or less balanced against each other.

That's because PF's elves aren't Tolkien elves. You'd need to homebrew a new elf race, use templates or simply make Legolas be higher level.

[PossibleCabbage]

I get ideas for things from other things, but I like to think that I delve a little deeper in terms of "what is it that makes this character compelling, and how can I make that work in this different context" than just straight porting a character.

But I fully confess to playing a Paladin based heavily on Cactoid Jim.

[Bard of Ages]

Yes, but only because the Worldscape Comics presented an amazing planar playground.

To date I have used:

Ash from The Evil Dead/Army of Darkness
Red Sonja
Conan
Tarzan
John Carter of Mars (and his crew)
the Green Hornet (fun statting him up as a vigilante)
Vampirella
Cave Girl
(and because technically the Reanimator was in a comic with Ash, and Ash was in Marvel Zombies, and I'm a follower of Tommy Westfall Theory and weird continuity) Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage along with Doctor Strange and Constantine. (using 3rd party vigilante archetypes)

[TriOmegaZero]

I don't. But I am fine with other players doing that if it is what they need to do in order to play, so long as it doesn't disrupt the group. The NPCs mostly treat that character as delusional or at best act clueless when the character speaks of things outside the campaign setting.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

I haven't used characters that don't fit the game as complete outsiders.

However, some of my characters are *heavily* inspired by outside sources, and are the best adaptation I can come up with within the rules framework and setting information.

[The Sideromancer]

I haven't yet, but considering how much I like doing conversions and the fact that I have loaned that service out to another friend GMing implies it's only a matter of time.

[UnArcaneElection]

Probably not exactly what you have in mind, but I have had thoughts of several varieties of Capitol Steps meets Pathfinder . . . .

[Rub-Eta]

I don't like using NPCs that are exact copies from other media characters, unless I'm pulling a prank at my players... They feel out-of-place and they're not my characters and I don't want to be restricted to someone else's cannon.
I do, however, very often use NPCs (with alterations to fit my specific story/scenario) greatly inspired by other characters from other media. Simply to have a basic frame of reference when I role-play them.

[AaronUnicorn]

Generally speaking, unless I'm playing in the setting where the NPC comes from, I wouldn't bring in a character from the media.

It's one thing if you're playing in a superhero RPG set in the Marvel Universe if Captain America comes by to talk to your team - or you fight alongside Spider-Man to take down the Sinister Six. If I were playing a game in Middle-Earth, and our team set out from Rivendell at the same time the Fellowship did as we engaged in our own mission aimed at thwarting Sauron, that would be cool as well.

But if I'm playing in a regular Pathfinder game set in Golarion and we run into Conan the Barbarian, then yeah, it tends to break the immersion for me. A barbarian character inspired by Conan? Sure. But not the actual Cimmerian.

[Meraki]

AaronUnicorn wrote:

Generally speaking, unless I'm playing in the setting where the NPC comes from, I wouldn't bring in a character from the media.

Same. Though I often take inspiration from fictional characters for PCs and NPCs, a direct port over would be distracting for me if the character isn't from the setting.

Though it might be fun for a one-shot involving wacky planar adventures.

[Sauce987654321]

Anarchy_Kanya wrote:

Set wrote:

Legolas, for instance, in any sort of D&D/PF game will never be like a Tolkien elf, stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, more magical-er, etc. than any human, and so the over-the-top aspects that make him so amazing in Lord of the Rings don't convert well to a game system where elves and humans and dwarves and halflings are more or less balanced against each other.

That's because PF's elves aren't Tolkien elves. You'd need to homebrew a new elf race, use templates or simply make Legolas be higher level.

What is it about Tolkien elves that can't be translated well? Sounds like a setting where elves may get free class levels.

[Zhayne]

Sauce987654321 wrote:

Anarchy_Kanya wrote:

Set wrote:

Legolas, for instance, in any sort of D&D/PF game will never be like a Tolkien elf, stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, more magical-er, etc. than any human, and so the over-the-top aspects that make him so amazing in Lord of the Rings don't convert well to a game system where elves and humans and dwarves and halflings are more or less balanced against each other.

That's because PF's elves aren't Tolkien elves. You'd need to homebrew a new elf race, use templates or simply make Legolas be higher level.

What is it about Tolkien elves that can't be translated well? Sounds like a setting where elves may get free class levels.

That's precisely why it doesn't translate well.

[UnArcaneElection]

For one thing, while Tolkien Elves are capable of behaving flighty, but when push comes to shove, they are impressively disciplined. Definitely not fully Chaotic. They also seem to have absolutely no deficit in Constitution.

[Sauce987654321]

Zhayne wrote:

Sauce987654321 wrote:

Anarchy_Kanya wrote:

Set wrote:

Legolas, for instance, in any sort of D&D/PF game will never be like a Tolkien elf, stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, more magical-er, etc. than any human, and so the over-the-top aspects that make him so amazing in Lord of the Rings don't convert well to a game system where elves and humans and dwarves and halflings are more or less balanced against each other.

That's because PF's elves aren't Tolkien elves. You'd need to homebrew a new elf race, use templates or simply make Legolas be higher level.

What is it about Tolkien elves that can't be translated well? Sounds like a setting where elves may get free class levels.

That's precisely why it doesn't translate well.

They may or may not, but what makes every single elf necessarily need multiple class levels? I've seen the movies, but that's about it.

[Wildfire Witch]

...I will admit I have shamelessly ripped the Maheswaran family from Steven Universe, put them in a sci fi campaign I'm running, and made them complete badasses.

I also included a quick reference to Schlock Mercenary, but the two merc companies share nothing in common except a kinda similar name.

[Lord Mhoram]

I did it once. I was playing in one Champions game and GMing another in the same group. So the two of us planned out a "cross company crossover" and had characters from the two campaigns mix, and as long as we were crossing over, I brought in characters from published comics - And the players rotated between three characters over the 3 months it took to run that plot - the character from the other DMs game, the character from My game, and the superhero from comic books.

Other than that - no. I tend to have immersion issues.

[Klorox]

Will I admit that Wolverine likes are a standard template of mine of superhero games?

[RayOfLight]

There was one one-shot that I played in as Quentin Tarantino. Not one of his characters, the man himself. It was an intentionally silly game.

Other than that, no. Dragging characters in wholesale breaks a lot of the immersion, for both myself and my fellow players.

[Kerney]

I am against it wholesale. However, inspiration is cool. For example, I'm building a whimsy oracle based off twisted Disney Princess tropes and describing it a bugs bunny meets snow white. I'm using Whimsical Prank i.e. magical dirty tricks, and describing it as birds flying in with a pie each round, dropping a pie on opponenets heads, and flying off.

[THUNDER_Jeffro]

So, I generally find that it generally would break immersion. I am a fan of characters who are heavily inspired by some other form of media. The only time I can think of where I have deliberately lifted character a character and made a direct conversion was a character from Naruto. The amusing twist here is that the character one shot a huge Naruto fan during a surprise round and was upset, but then was immediately okay with it when I revealed which character did it ("Oh well. Yeah, that totally makes sense now, no wonder I got cut in two. That guy is awesome".)

[pjrogers]

There's my ratfolk wizard, Rodent Duke, and his sprite familiar/attorney, Dr. Gonzo.

[Wei Ji the Learner]

pj, that's more 'inspired by' than 'actual' media characters, imo?

Well... unless you insist the campaign happens in Vegas?

[Jason Wedel]

If the campaign world is there world then yes

When I ran Star Wars for instance the party was a group of Rebel "troubleshooters" who took orders from Wedge Antilies. They ran into Luke, Chewie, 3PO and the Falcon. The stories always revolved around the players

Same when I ran a Dragonlance, DC Universe and a Marvel Universe game. In my own Superhero setting they have ran into some "mythical" characters (Various legends like Hercules), and some classic lit characters (Ishmail, Sherlock Holmes, and Dracula)

[Volkard Abendroth]

I once did the paladin from The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

[pjrogers]

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:

pj, that's more 'inspired by' than 'actual' media characters, imo?

Well... unless you insist the campaign happens in Vegas?

Yes, though Rodent Duke does carry a pair of golf shoes (aka cleats) in case things get a bit too bloody and messy.