Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nathreet 04-21-07, 12:15 AM	Ok, I originally posted here, when creating my character (no need to read, but it could help): http://boards1.wizards.com/wotc_archive/index.php/t-707648 I decided on obsessive compulsive / racist for our fairly light R. I've made a few small efforts to roleplay the two aspects of my character but practicality or downright weirdness has always gotten in the way. For example I have this rag intended for frequently wiping off my axe. During the first encounter I used it to pick up a dangerous token which immediately froze and shattered the rag. And in general I've had no time to play out the over-zealous weapon cleaning. When I meet the rare hobgoblin my "unfriendly" reaction is either typical of any adventurer or to rush in alone would be suicidal (after finally saying "screw it" to my ranged weapon, and finally dashing from cover, I got knocked out and did nearly die, btw). Now I'm level 2, so deaths won't be as quick. I'm thinking I can play out the ob comp / racist in spite of danger. For example I recently had the chance to handle body-cleanup while the party ran off to rescue a kidnapped party member. The idea was to join up once the unconcious bodies were tied up and all the bodies were looted. I could have spent the extra time arranging all the bodies in a neat line... then sorting dead from unconcious... then sorting from weakest to toughest... then placing the arms of all corpses on their sides and legs straight. But I didn't. Instead I rushed to catch up with the party, especially amidst the screams of those who fell into a rather nasty trap. Or I could find a more minor and less suicidal way to RP it, which I think would be less annoying to the party as well (party annoyance and the desire to live are the reasons why I've failed to RP so far). Maybe make snide comments at the elf or note that I clean, sharpen and oil my weapon after combat is fully resolved and danger has passed, etc. I'm also quite a weaponsmith & armorsmith, btw. My Forgotten Realms regional feat places me in a clan of especially good dwarven smithies and provides a couple minor bonuses, even. So I'm looking for opinions on which route to take and maybe some good ob-comp / mildly racist actions I could try out.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 04-22-07, 02:00 AM	OCD can have some weird effects. Cleaning is amongst them but try counting. It's easier to roleplay without hurting the rest of the group. Count off the enemies and then fight them in the order you counted them off in if you can without putting yourself into huge danger. Also make sure if you do go for cleanliness that you are always immaculatly groomed and cleaned in RP situations. You may even want to go so far as to up your inn price to stay in the cleanest in town. It's a minor sacrifice in silver so keep it practical if yer still at 2nd lvl. Bigotry is rarely against one group and one group alone but if you have a special hatred for hobgoblins trying insulting others by calling them or comparing them to Hobs. "I've seen a hobgoblin with more discipline!" isn't really that insulting but you probably consider it so.
Hideous Phidias 04-22-07, 11:51 AM	As a fighter your role in the party is limited but that does not have to be the end of roleplay. You maybe a fighter but not 24/7. I would pick a profession, something you could do in your spare time. Put some ranks in it and on your down time work it in to your roleplay. You could also pick up a feat or two that give you other uses then just a fighter. Track is one of these feats, be a ranger with out multiclassing.
Jacob_Crowe 04-22-07, 09:47 PM	Track is one of these feats, be a ranger with out multiclassing. you know having track as an OCD could be interesting. brings to mind a particular OCD quirk in a book i once read... when this girl would have an attack she'd trace the grains of the wood, only stopping when she got from one wall to the other withough stopping or skipping to another board. but really, make comments like how you're randomly combing your beard and hair as your group sits in the tavern planning, of turn your plate so the meat is facing away from you and re-arrange the silverware. hell, you have ranks in smithing, make your own silverware, cause you are afraid that that made by others might be cursed, or dirty, or bent, or w/e. flip the matress when you check into an inn. have a compass (or ranks in survival) so you can make sure you never sit facing south. when it's your turn for watch, be sure to tell your comrads that thier weapons are all freshly sharpened and cleaned. even the arrowheads. even the MAGE'S arrowheads. touch your holy symbol and say a quick prayer every time you get healed, for accepting another (less worthy god's) power to aid you. etc. i'm sure there's psyactric texts you could look up for OCD behavior examples. if you're not looking for that much research, jsut pick little, almost un noticable things like i've mentioned and run with it. ... ... damn now i wanna play an OCD character :-P
Terjon of the Blue Rose 04-23-07, 02:15 AM	damn now i wanna play an OCD character :-P NO!! And the book is by Orson Scott Card. It is Children of the Mind I think but I'm not certain. I know its later on in the Ender series.
Nathreet 04-26-07, 10:30 PM	Update, and on cleanliness: So, after my first rag shattered from magical cold I picked up 3 more. Haha! Right? Okay, so our party is off to raid a den of thieves... where we run into a gelatinous cube. Oskar (my dwarf) gets engulfed and then rolls a nat 1 on his fort save. He's out for a while, and later emerges covered in goop. All 3 rags dissolve. Chances of cleanliness are looking pretty slim. I suppose Oskar could use the opportunity to vent a great deal of frustration, but wouldn't a real OCD person just crack? Phidias: Oskar is a smithy, mostly with armor but also weapons. He has identified crossbow bolts as being hobgoblin in origin before. He could start taking interest in any weapons/armor we find. We already have a ranger for tracking, and next level I'm gonna focus most all of Oskar's skill points into spot. Racist was meant more to be against goblonoids, orcs and giants, but we haven't seen many in play. The one giant we met turned out to be friendly... and a bard. Go figure. I'm thinking of taking a cue from a WotC article and playing Oskar as honorable and crude but not brash (hasty). The gelatinous cube has shown that sometimes you just gotta walk up and hit it with tah axe, while rushing out to try fancy stuff can get you in trouble. Honorable comes from being an LG dwarf from a rather honorable clan. Maybe charge in yelling, "For the Azerkyns!" But beyond that I'm at a loss.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 04-27-07, 01:58 AM	A real OCD would most likely scrub clean till they bled and beyond in that situation not stopping until restrained. Severe cases of OCD occasionally injure themselves and if your character is that bad he would most likely have used anything available, from others' clothing to nearby stones, to get himself clean. OCD, like most mental diseases, does come in varying strengths though so it is likely your more like a borderline. As for the racist bit I'm sticking with my last bit of advice. If you're not playing against a hated foe compare the ones you are fighting to them.
CrimsonDeath 04-27-07, 02:35 AM	I have some OC tendencies, and numbers are very important to me. I tend to favor the number 17, for example (it's prime, and one greater than an exponent of 2)-- occasionally, I'll feel the urge to blink seventeen times in rapid succession. You might try picking a number (probably something lower than 17) and try doing things in multiples of that number-- knocking on doors, strokes with a whetstone before turning your blade over, tapping flatware on a plate before starting a meal. When I'm prevented from indulging one of my compulsions, I tend to get irritable and distracted. Once I get the opportunity, I go overboard trying to make up for lost time. If you want to RP obsessive cleanliness in a filthy environment, just do your best to clean up whenever you have downtime, act increasingly jumpy and irritable (although you'll eventually hit a limit), and spend an excessive amount of time cleaning up once you do get the opportunity (maybe even asking the DM to have you make Constitution checks due to strenuous activity).
marcel_deathbringer 04-27-07, 09:28 AM	IT would seem that if you need all of this advice on how to play YOUR character, maybe you shouldn't be playing him.
boggler65 04-27-07, 12:21 PM	Real OCD is not limited to one specific compulsion. Often people who display clinical OCD have dozens of rituals, compulsions, and quirks. Having one specific quirk, like being obsessively clean, isn't going to be very interesting as an RP, because how many times can you compellingly describe wiping your enemies blood off of your axe? After an encounter? This is something most sensible people would do anyway, it's simple weapon maitinence and thus pretty much is implied as an action performed by any character. Likewise if you had the compulsion of making 17 strokes with your whetstone before turning over the blade, after a while you aren't even going to need to describe it, the other people in the group will know it's being done. Another thing about OCD is that it's not as simple as doing your ritual, for instnace perhaps your compulsion is to be the first person in your party to cross the threshold of a door. If you are not the first person and you are truly OCD you won't simply get on with your life, even in the face of combat, you'll freak out, throw a tantrum, or refuse to take any further action until the other party members return and allow you to enter the door before them. That's what roleplay is, if you pick something like OCD you have to play it like you have it, and perhaps facing certain death you'll go against your OCD briefly, but after that your character would probably struggle with his actions, break down, throw tantrum, etc. Basically you need to come up with a set of detrimental rituals and compulsions, even in simple roleplay, that can have huge negative effects on your character. Chose something that can be roleplayed, not oh I have to count things in combat, or be clean, roleplaying requires that you, acting as your character would, converse and intereact with other characters. For the racism, if it's not enough to just throw around minor insults and yell at a hobgoblin like any normal adventurer, then step it up, make the racism more intense, more obvious, grating, and broad. Perhaps your character is more of a xenophobe than a racist. Make him look down on everyone that's not a dwarf, that will definently cause tension within the party and lead to better roleplaying. Make your character refuse to share a room or a tent with anyone who is a non dwarf, constantly berate elves, humans, everyone who's not a dwarf. Maybe at the inn your dwarf spruns the other party members companionship, refusing to drink with non-dwarves, and maybe he can have the compulsion of being the first one through a door, but it is partially a racist thing, and he doesn't mind following after another dwarf. You have to keep in mind that even "minor" roleplaying isn't about interacting with the monsters in combat, they're trying to kill you, what do they care if you hate them for what they are? The best roleplaying is with non-combative NPC's and other party members. Have your character truly be a dick in every sense of the word and force them to deal with it. Or perhaps you loath a certain race above all others and when faced by a member of that race in combat will abandon all other targets until you slay that one. Maybe your dwarf sees a half-orc in a tavern, and picks a fight with him, then tries to incite a mob into lynching the hapless victim. If you're going to be an OCD racist you've got to show it in ways that compromise your characters safety sometimes. You can't just RP those traits when it's totally harmless, otherwise they're meaningless. Hope that helped man.
Nathreet 04-30-07, 12:25 AM	So far I got: compare allies to hated foes clean up excessively during downtime, get jumpy in a filthy environment Anything beyond that seems... problematic. Rather than being a PITA, I'm gonna keep the ob-comp and racism down to mannerisms that wouldn't normally fall into a diagnosable mental illness. Besides cleanliness, I think I'll mix in his love of armor & weapons with the gimped no-longer-big-enough-to-qualify-as "ob-comp". My next weekly game session tomorrow, btw. So if any of you want to rush in this is your chance.