I Don't Really Care [Archive] - Wizards Community

I Don't Really Care [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jaime_Wolf
08-19-05, 02:30 PM Our group has just begun an epic level evil campaign. Now, my character's concept is that (to make a very very long story short) he's lost pretty much everything and doesn't really care anymore. This isn't to say he just rushes into battle ignoring his own protection, it's not that he doesn't care about his life, it's more that he doesn't care about ANYTHING. Now, originally I had him as a monk and, though the monk class really does fit his personality, the bit about having to be lawful really doesn't, he really just doesn't care about law. Before everyone starts telling me if he doesn't care he's really not evil, consider these hypothetical situations: Some evil villain tells him that together they can take over the world, and has some way to back up his claim. My character would ignore this, he just doesn't really care about ruling the world. So, he wouldn't aid evil, that sounds like he's neutral, right? If some poor woman told him that for one gold piece he could save their entire family from some horrible illness that would kill them all, he would say, essentially, "I don't care, go away." So, in not caring he's somewhat evil. Now, since we've only run one session and less than half the group showed up, I'm considering changing the character. Not only was he quite weak as a monk (too many undead to make stunning fist useful, and the high ACs the DM kept throwing at us made it nearly impossible for a medium BAB class like monk to hit despite all of my attacks, and since each attack does only a reasonable amount of damage, I need to rely on hitting at least somewhat consistantly).

My problems: How can I come up with reasons for him to actually GO on quests with the rest of the party?
What class/prestige class would work with this kind of character? I'm thinking either something akin to the Void Incarnate (Epic Insights) (someone who sort of moves through the world and no one really notices), or some sort of "avenging wallflower" type, quiet and reserved until someone REALLY provokes him and then the door gets blown in and heads roll (I was thinking a form of psion for this, DEFINITELY not a fighter or meat shield type, our group has enough of those and they're usually pitiful at epic levels).
aleshandre
08-19-05, 07:21 PM The only reason that I can think of for a character who basically has no alegiences to anyone or anything (ie: doesn't care about anything) is just to keep busy. It's something to do. There is no concern about the lives of the rest of the group, no great desire for wealth, but sitting around doing nothing will bore even a person who is so apathetic that global domination and vast amounts of power don't interest him any more than the plight of the needy. He adventures not for the excitement, or for the chance to kill, the money, or anything else that others adventure for. He simply is so bored that it sounded like a good way to break up the monotony.
Wellby the Fountain
08-19-05, 08:35 PM maybe your character is dominated by another party member, or has been geas/quested follow one of the characters around until some outlandish condition is met (perhaps when your character starts to give a *hit about something?)
Jaime_Wolf
08-20-05, 01:23 AM Wow aleshandre, I'm surprised I never thought of that, that'll work perfectly actually. Though I still need a good class to reflect this. I'm leaning more and more towards psion, especially given that there would be no way of seeing the character's power (as opposed to a monk with a huge strength score for instance) until he decided it was time to care, then sort of a "psionic power flares to life" thing. What I see in my head is someone completely apathetic, but when made to care for SOME reason, suddenly he gets VERY angry, light comes out of his eyes and mouth, his feet lift slightly off the ground, his hair and clothes whip about randomly and he starts unleashing psionic fury. Naturally this would be from a roleplaying perspective (I don't want to take Metamind to get my eyes glowing for instance, and I don't want it to have any effect in-game). So, opinions? Suggestions?
aleshandre
08-20-05, 01:49 AM If you go the route of psion, then it wouldn't be hard to explain the visual effects to your DM in terms of what people might see and have it simply a visual effect. As a GM/DM, I would have no problem with any visual effect that is not intended to have an in-game effect as a natural side-effect of whatever mystical power, etc. After all, it's roleplay. If you want it to have some kind of in-game effect later, you could take Frightful Presence later and describe the visual effects as the reason for the ability.
Majick
08-23-05, 01:21 AM Doesn't he sound kind of chaotic neutral to anyone else? Doing whatever strikes him and not really caring about anything else? Yeah anyway, i reckon you should go a Teifling (generic evil guy race) or maybe even a Half-Fiend (the experience you would start with would off-set the Lvl adjustment you WOULD have suffered in the beginning :)
Gingerbread Guy
08-23-05, 06:10 PM I'd say he sounds more Neutral than Chaotic to me.. Even Chaotic characters are passionate about things. This guy sounds completely emotionally stunted.

Anyway, this is your character.. you can make him do just about anything you want. Obviously there is some precedence, so you can't just show up to a session one day proclaiming that he's actually really passionate about the following things, as though he suddenly had an epiphany.. But it could be simply that he doesn't have anything right now that is driving him.

I suggest simply making him adventure with the party in search of something to believe in, something to fight for, something to hold dear. Just because he feels nothing doesn't mean he enjoys it. He may honestly want to feel something.. and just not know what.

I really don't see Monk as a good class for him to advance in.. I've always felt the Monk class implied a great deal of dedication and devotion, and this guy is the complete opposite. Maybe multiclass into Rogue or something. Frankly, Monk Rogues are pretty nasty anyway. The sneak attack won't help you with the undead, but it'll help with everything else. Yaaay! Monks that fight dirty!

~Ginger
MT-296 "Dagger"
08-23-05, 08:56 PM Your character actually sounds Neutral rather than evil. True Neutral to be exact.
Morka
08-24-05, 11:55 AM This makes me think about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the 6th season. She was raised from death, and she was in some kind of paradise. Now in comparison, the material plane is very dull.
Perhaps this dude only want to feel something? Since creating sadness is a quicker way to feel something than creating happyness, this is what he will do. Strangely enough, a bard could be a good choice for this...
InkBlot
08-24-05, 05:01 PM What I see in my head is someone completely apathetic, but when made to care for SOME reason, suddenly he gets VERY angry, light comes out of his eyes and mouth, his feet lift slightly off the ground, his hair and clothes whip about randomly and he starts unleashing psionic fury.

That sounds exactly like a Wilder to me. The default visual display for Psionic powers is glowing eyes, so you have part of it right there already. Also, its recommended in the Expanded Psionics Handbook that each psionic character personalizes his/her psionic displays.
Jaime_Wolf
08-24-05, 07:59 PM As I tried to say earlier, the fact that he's evil is not up for debate, please. Whether or not he's evil is completely up to your interpretation, I feel he would be because he refuses to help protect the innocent, though he also refuses to help other evil people. So please, don't tell me that you think he's probably something else, I'm very certain that he'll be evil.

I'm DEFINITELY not going to be a tiefling or half-fiend. As for maybe looking for something to be passionate about, no. He's not interested in anything, certainly not interested in finding things to be interested in.

As for wilder thanks, I just took another look at that class and it seems PERFECT for this, I had forgotten it as it doesn't usually fit my characters as well as psion does. That's pretty much it I suppose.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jaime_Wolf 08-19-05, 02:30 PM	Our group has just begun an epic level evil campaign. Now, my character's concept is that (to make a very very long story short) he's lost pretty much everything and doesn't really care anymore. This isn't to say he just rushes into battle ignoring his own protection, it's not that he doesn't care about his life, it's more that he doesn't care about ANYTHING. Now, originally I had him as a monk and, though the monk class really does fit his personality, the bit about having to be lawful really doesn't, he really just doesn't care about law. Before everyone starts telling me if he doesn't care he's really not evil, consider these hypothetical situations: Some evil villain tells him that together they can take over the world, and has some way to back up his claim. My character would ignore this, he just doesn't really care about ruling the world. So, he wouldn't aid evil, that sounds like he's neutral, right? If some poor woman told him that for one gold piece he could save their entire family from some horrible illness that would kill them all, he would say, essentially, "I don't care, go away." So, in not caring he's somewhat evil. Now, since we've only run one session and less than half the group showed up, I'm considering changing the character. Not only was he quite weak as a monk (too many undead to make stunning fist useful, and the high ACs the DM kept throwing at us made it nearly impossible for a medium BAB class like monk to hit despite all of my attacks, and since each attack does only a reasonable amount of damage, I need to rely on hitting at least somewhat consistantly). My problems: How can I come up with reasons for him to actually GO on quests with the rest of the party? What class/prestige class would work with this kind of character? I'm thinking either something akin to the Void Incarnate (Epic Insights) (someone who sort of moves through the world and no one really notices), or some sort of "avenging wallflower" type, quiet and reserved until someone REALLY provokes him and then the door gets blown in and heads roll (I was thinking a form of psion for this, DEFINITELY not a fighter or meat shield type, our group has enough of those and they're usually pitiful at epic levels).
aleshandre 08-19-05, 07:21 PM	The only reason that I can think of for a character who basically has no alegiences to anyone or anything (ie: doesn't care about anything) is just to keep busy. It's something to do. There is no concern about the lives of the rest of the group, no great desire for wealth, but sitting around doing nothing will bore even a person who is so apathetic that global domination and vast amounts of power don't interest him any more than the plight of the needy. He adventures not for the excitement, or for the chance to kill, the money, or anything else that others adventure for. He simply is so bored that it sounded like a good way to break up the monotony.
Wellby the Fountain 08-19-05, 08:35 PM	maybe your character is dominated by another party member, or has been geas/quested follow one of the characters around until some outlandish condition is met (perhaps when your character starts to give a *hit about something?)
Jaime_Wolf 08-20-05, 01:23 AM	Wow aleshandre, I'm surprised I never thought of that, that'll work perfectly actually. Though I still need a good class to reflect this. I'm leaning more and more towards psion, especially given that there would be no way of seeing the character's power (as opposed to a monk with a huge strength score for instance) until he decided it was time to care, then sort of a "psionic power flares to life" thing. What I see in my head is someone completely apathetic, but when made to care for SOME reason, suddenly he gets VERY angry, light comes out of his eyes and mouth, his feet lift slightly off the ground, his hair and clothes whip about randomly and he starts unleashing psionic fury. Naturally this would be from a roleplaying perspective (I don't want to take Metamind to get my eyes glowing for instance, and I don't want it to have any effect in-game). So, opinions? Suggestions?
aleshandre 08-20-05, 01:49 AM	If you go the route of psion, then it wouldn't be hard to explain the visual effects to your DM in terms of what people might see and have it simply a visual effect. As a GM/DM, I would have no problem with any visual effect that is not intended to have an in-game effect as a natural side-effect of whatever mystical power, etc. After all, it's roleplay. If you want it to have some kind of in-game effect later, you could take Frightful Presence later and describe the visual effects as the reason for the ability.
Majick 08-23-05, 01:21 AM	Doesn't he sound kind of chaotic neutral to anyone else? Doing whatever strikes him and not really caring about anything else? Yeah anyway, i reckon you should go a Teifling (generic evil guy race) or maybe even a Half-Fiend (the experience you would start with would off-set the Lvl adjustment you WOULD have suffered in the beginning :)
Gingerbread Guy 08-23-05, 06:10 PM	I'd say he sounds more Neutral than Chaotic to me.. Even Chaotic characters are passionate about things. This guy sounds completely emotionally stunted. Anyway, this is your character.. you can make him do just about anything you want. Obviously there is some precedence, so you can't just show up to a session one day proclaiming that he's actually really passionate about the following things, as though he suddenly had an epiphany.. But it could be simply that he doesn't have anything right now that is driving him. I suggest simply making him adventure with the party in search of something to believe in, something to fight for, something to hold dear. Just because he feels nothing doesn't mean he enjoys it. He may honestly want to feel something.. and just not know what. I really don't see Monk as a good class for him to advance in.. I've always felt the Monk class implied a great deal of dedication and devotion, and this guy is the complete opposite. Maybe multiclass into Rogue or something. Frankly, Monk Rogues are pretty nasty anyway. The sneak attack won't help you with the undead, but it'll help with everything else. Yaaay! Monks that fight dirty! ~Ginger
MT-296 "Dagger" 08-23-05, 08:56 PM	Your character actually sounds Neutral rather than evil. True Neutral to be exact.
Morka 08-24-05, 11:55 AM	This makes me think about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the 6th season. She was raised from death, and she was in some kind of paradise. Now in comparison, the material plane is very dull. Perhaps this dude only want to feel something? Since creating sadness is a quicker way to feel something than creating happyness, this is what he will do. Strangely enough, a bard could be a good choice for this...
InkBlot 08-24-05, 05:01 PM	What I see in my head is someone completely apathetic, but when made to care for SOME reason, suddenly he gets VERY angry, light comes out of his eyes and mouth, his feet lift slightly off the ground, his hair and clothes whip about randomly and he starts unleashing psionic fury. That sounds exactly like a Wilder to me. The default visual display for Psionic powers is glowing eyes, so you have part of it right there already. Also, its recommended in the Expanded Psionics Handbook that each psionic character personalizes his/her psionic displays.
Jaime_Wolf 08-24-05, 07:59 PM	As I tried to say earlier, the fact that he's evil is not up for debate, please. Whether or not he's evil is completely up to your interpretation, I feel he would be because he refuses to help protect the innocent, though he also refuses to help other evil people. So please, don't tell me that you think he's probably something else, I'm very certain that he'll be evil. I'm DEFINITELY not going to be a tiefling or half-fiend. As for maybe looking for something to be passionate about, no. He's not interested in anything, certainly not interested in finding things to be interested in. As for wilder thanks, I just took another look at that class and it seems PERFECT for this, I had forgotten it as it doesn't usually fit my characters as well as psion does. That's pretty much it I suppose.