I'm contemplating a kineticist as my next dude, but I find myself a little stuck on the old originality problem. Pokémon, The Fifth Element, Magic: The Gathering, The Wheel of Time, Fantastic Four… There's a wide wide world of elementally-aligned super powers out there, and I'm not sure how to distinguish myself among them. There's a lot of inspiration to draw on, and I guess that represents an opportunity in terms of character building (I want to be a fire guy!). Unfortunately, it's got in my head as more of a challenge (oh man, not another Human Torch ripoff!).
So here's my question: How do you go about building an elemental themed character without feeling like a retread? Is the secret to just not obsess over it? To embrace the pop culture reference? Or is there some secret alchemy for producing a new take on "I shoot fire and ice at people?"
The secret is to not obsess over it and simply do what you want.
My players love playing character from pop culture. my wife is currently playing a kineticist as a Thor/Raiden merger... and loving it. (and admit it, there's probably nothing you can come up with that hasn't already been done)
One thing I want to do is make a pair and subvert expectations. One guy is brazen, hot headed, dresses in reds and blacks. Second guy is calm, calculating, dressing in blues and whites. Hide their elemental abilities as long as possible. When combat inevitably breaks out, first guy is the ice user and second guy is the fire user.
Alternatively, you can always use a different set of elements.
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You can always do some variation along the lines of coloration, smell, sound, touch, ...:
For example you could have your fire be purple and feel like cold bites (touch/pain perception can't tell the difference between cold & hot burns); you could choose green fire that always leaves an acidic stench/smell in the air; it could be glowing orange that feels like hot embers and smells like a nice BBQ.
Add some quirks and a backstory about it, e.g. never eat anything but meat due to a combustible flatulence accident as a teenager, or always using strong perfume/tobacco because you can't get the smell of brimstone out of your nose.
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Don't worry. It doesn't matter how generic your PC starts out, over the course of a good campaign there will be numerous events to take part, decisions to make and relationships to develop, turning your PC into someone unique.
I mean, I started Pathfinder with a generic pickpocketing halfling rogue. The only twist was that he was unusually smart (Int 15, thanks to rolled stats). As he was mostly generic, it was easy to play him - and easy to modify him over the course of years.
In another campaign I played a Gnome illusionist with a rat familiar, armor crafting as profession and a whole page of background. That was more unique from the beginning, but I had a hard time to keep all the details in mind while playing - and if I would have been forced to adapt due to the campaign or my fellow players, it would have been even harder.
Or play the warlock vigilante. You can have several elements in nice combinations. Plus being a good skillmonkey and a medium spellcaster.
Riffing off something isn't necessarily bad. Made a generic wizard that pulled from Aes Sedai's Three Oaths (no lying; no offensive magic unless my character was specifically in danger---which prompted the habit of getting closer to foes than was generally wise, etc). It was less about the magic and more about adding constraints that developed the character.
If you need more help to distinguish the character (either for yourself or the party) consider other aspects of the character you can "theme" with or against the fire.
I dig this idea. In the same way that traps are more interesting when paired with combat rather than appearing in an empty corridor, the elemental theme becomes more interesting when paired with another theme. Cheers!
I dig this idea. In the same way that traps are more interesting when paired with combat rather than appearing in an empty corridor, the elemental theme becomes more interesting when paired with another theme. Cheers!
I mean. Traps are a terrible element of the game unless you allow player choice to somehow affect them, so. There's that.
But at any rate yes, an effective, engaging character is more than just one descriptor. "Person who controls the element of X" is not a character any more than "person who hits enemies with a Y" or "person who casts Z spells."A fighter who's as concerned with tonight's cookfire as he is with collecting the reward. A sorcerer who hates mosquitoes and cobwebs and dust. A rogue who's never without a slab of lye soup to bathe themselves in the next spring. Even a minor, mundane detail can breathe a lot of life into a character. I would even go as far to say that you need a minor, mundane detail or two. To humanize your burgeoning hero, etc. Sure, you're a mystic warrior who wields strange and wondrous power, who overthrew the Dragon King and brought an end to the Black Demon of Ka'war-Itlan... but who ARE you, really?