Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lhiannon Sidhe 01-15-05, 04:15 PM	Where do you get the inspiration for your character concepts? Your imagination doubtless, but what other sources do you draw inspiration from. I tend to incoporate elements of characters from books, movies etc. that I like into my own characters. When I base such a character off of another character, the end result is usually nothing like the original, but the core concept is usually there. Characters I have had that have been influenced by other characters include: Ryn Sendara, Human Female Sorceress/Elemental Savant (Based on Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI) Lady Aphina Aralest, Human Female Noble/Fighter/Commander (Based on Alexander the Great) An as of yet unnamed character that I havn't yet had the chance to play, Human Male Ranger/Sorcerer with the intent to become a Wolf Lord (Based on Greywolf from Conan the Adventurer) Mattias Garenel, Human Male Paladin/Ranger (Based on Simon Belmont from Castlevania) Keiran Bloodwolf, Human Female/Male (It's a long story) Fighter/Bowman Charger (Based on Genghis Khan and William Wallace) Sorsha Cail, Magic-Blooded Human Female Fighter/Sorcerer (Based on Celes Chere from Final Fantasy VI) Kaldin Dasmiir, Human Male Evoker (Based on Black Mage from 8-Bit Theatre) Rayde Valarius, Gray Elf Male Necromancer (Based on Dr. Frakenstein from, obviously Frankenstein) Brother Thomas, Dwarf Male Cleric (Based on Friar Tuck from Robin Hood) Walks-With-Two-Legs, Awakened Wolf Male Druid/Shifter (Based on Kiba from Wolf's Rain) Pheonix Lanzer, Halfling Male Wanderer (Based on Lando Calrissian from The Empire Strikes Back) Jenna Accolon, Human Female Rogue/Dread Pirate (Based on JAck Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean) Raven Dancingblades, Human Female Rogue/Fighter (Based on Faile from The Wheel of Time)
Melpomene 01-15-05, 10:42 PM	Wow, that's a lot of movies... When I make chars for my campaigns, I use a couple of inspiration starters: 1.) "I need this block here" focus. If the team needs a brick, I build a brick. If a church needs a leader, I'll make a leader. 2.) Item focus. If I need a quick hook, I pick a weapon, magic item, piece of armour, etc. Then, craft a charicter around it. 3.) Race/Class focus. If there is an interesting niche somewhere, it can make for a good hook start. For example, "What kind of dwarf would become a warlock?"
Vharuck 01-16-05, 02:47 AM	I take a class I rarely play, and think of a new spin on it. My favorite character form this method was a story-telling, 6'2" bard who absolutely despised giants and used a massive scythe to not only kill but also impress his audience. He was very much intent on being a hero like the ones he told tales of, and was usually prone to doing idiotic yet brave things. Magic the gathering. I plan on making a Black wizard or maybe even a Black psion.
DBoot 01-16-05, 01:46 PM	Mechanics are a good one. Its one thing to say 'I want to do this, can it be done?', its another to say 'this can be done, who would do it?'. The CO boards have some truly ridiculous things that would simply never make it to a real game, but it does show new paths that can exist as well as give you a good idea of how to accomplish your goals well. (Ex: Celes would probably make for a good spellfire wielder, if for no other reason than to simulate her Rune ability and some of her better offensive and healing spells) Also, a slightly odd one: Celebrities, particularly ones with distinct personalities make for some interesting inspirations. After all, most adventurers, like celebrities, are larger than life, and most certainly atypical. Felix Ortega, a full-on combat character in a game I play is based on David Bowie. He's not a singer or musician, but he's got some of his round-about speech patterns, pleasent predisposition and tendancy for offbeat stories and humor. He's largely taken on a life of his own since his inception. Stereotypes and cliches. After all, usually there is at least some truth to them. There are some very obvious ones out there, and they don't even have to be 'dwarf fighter' or 'elven ranger'. Take the 'Guy with a big sword' cliche. The goal is to ham up the obvious cliche and make it fresh. He uses a big sword not to look cool, and not because its an heirloom, but rather because he's very strong and gets plenty of mileage out of it. He's a pleasant, if not amazingly skilled, conversationalist and likes to use his powers of speech as much as his sword to win a fight. After all, an agitated and distracted opponent is a smaller threat. Justifying what often isn't, and making no apologies for what is usually justified is a good way to mix it up. Twisting stereotypes is more interesting than just plain breaking them (which is, oddly enough, overdone). Tell me about the halfling rogue with an occasionally inconvenient flair for the dramatic, not the elven barbarian with a bloodlust. Finally: Micro-concepts. Just a small idea like 'boxer' is not enough to make a character with alot of depth. But it can be made compatible with 'military' and 'secret agent'. Sometimes trying to build an entire character on a single concept isn't enough. Taking a good number of small concepts (3-5 is good, any more starts to bend suspension of disbelief unless you're working with particularly compatible concepts) and seeing if anything interesting arises can make for some particularly multi-faceted characters.
rhoan_01 01-16-05, 03:29 PM	I certainly look to fiction and movies for strong characters and character types, and mechanics is also a good inspiration. One other thing I do is instead of choosing something small and making it big, I get something big and work my way to it. A life's goal, if you will. However, mine usually end up causing problems. Librarian: "Oh, welcome to town. May I ask what you'll be researching today?" Character: "Yes, I'm looking for the Hand and Eye of the Lich, Vecna. Have anything relevant?" This could be as serious as a necromancer searching for deadly power at a young age, or as easy as a bumbling cleric asking random passersby "Excuse, have you seen a lich lately? Glass eye, maybe a hook for a hand or somewhat?" I find myself lapsing into typical roles in the party, and I get the most mileage out of my characters that match some part of me or my style of play. I tend to talk a lot and end up being the face of the party, so I make paladins, sorcerers, glib-tongued rogues, and the like to complement that. However, sometimes I'll do something different just because it's the opposite and a challenge, like a dour ranger who prefers drinking to talking or adventuring.
Lhiannon Sidhe 01-16-05, 05:53 PM	Additionally, to taking elements of characters that appeal to me, I also have a tendancy to make characters, who's role is not that which is typically considered for their class. A few more examples: Windwolf, Human Female Druid. Concept: Jack-of-all-trades. Alysea Autumn Marinsbough, Human Female Rogue. Concept: Wizard Slayer Keth Song-of-Blades, Half-Orc Male Bard, Concept: Front-line fighter
Megrim_Lord 01-16-05, 06:43 PM	Usually when I run out of things to inspire me (which happens) I'll write down about fifteen categories on slips of paper, draw three out of a hat, and see if I come up with anything, for example, the last time this came out of a hat: Orcs Luiren (halflng lands in Faerun for the uneducated) Psionics and Wa La! we have Besk Bramblefoot, the 1st level Orc Soulknife who was raised by a pair of strongheart halfling foster parents after being orphaned by his real parents for having a strange look about him (orchid colored eyes and wild psionic power sparkings during infancy) or another: Sorcerer Delinquent Advanced Bingo! out comes Randal Evenwood, a street punk from Amn with advanced magical aptitude (via Spellcasting Prodigy and Precocious Apprentice feats) and a very hotheaded, flambuoyant, sort of misguided type of personality and mindset.
Skyrocket 01-16-05, 08:52 PM	A favorite character of mine, a loudmouthed rogue by the name of Dash Glory, was based on actor Bruce Campbell. Hail to the king, baby.
TheMightyMcClaw 01-17-05, 12:59 PM	I often start with a single idea, usually a bad one. For example, I got an idea to make a bard who was a travelling harpsichordist. Since he'd be carrying around the harpsichord on his back, he'd have to be rather strong. I can see a gigantic half-orc tower of muscle, probably shirtless, with ropes binding a massive harpsichord to his back. When he needs to play it, he unlashes the ropes, falls backward, and roles over the top of the harpsichord. He then begins playing.... extremely out of tune, since his instrument just got smashed against the ground ^_^.
Nuntius128 01-17-05, 02:50 PM	Usually, I'll find a specific rule, and try to build around that with feats, skills, and Prestige Classes. For example, I have a Dwarf Cleric/Battlesmith whose main focus is crafting. Yes, a little repetitive, but he can build a non-magical weapon strong enough to withstand attacks from several magical weapons. I'm also working on a new twist on the VoP Monk, a VoP Monk/Paladin/Hospitaler, eventually going for Sacred Fist. A truly sacred character, indeed. Not one to pick fights, by any means, not quick to anger, more of a devout monk than a martial artist monk. The best feat available to him will be Ascetic Knight, which would aid him in an instance where he is required to use force. Almost strictly a roleplaying character than a fighting character.
Fox Lee 01-17-05, 10:49 PM	I like to break gender stereotypes. I like 7' tall barbarian females, boys in chainmail bikinis (or just dresses), "seductresses" who are male (hey, why is there no male equivalent to that word?! Who ever heard of "seducer"? Bah!) (and I don't mean womanizers, I mean males who use the same methods as females of that ilk), gender shifters and/or crossdressers, bi or gay characters, female knights/protectors/bouncers/bodyguards, male naive-pacifistic-healers,and so on/so forth. The one time I can remember really being inspired is when I got really sick of every male drow character being manly and chivalrous toward women, instead of cowed and submissive toward women, as their culture so strongly suggests (BITE ME, DRIZZT! :mad: ). So I made my male drow a harem slave/assassin who was terrified of women (but also believed that he needed one as a Mistress/protector, and therefore sought to be in the service of one nonetheless). While his personality was inspired by that impulse, his class (Ninja) and tendency to crossdress were inspired by Konatsu, the uber-femme crossdressing kunoichi from Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2. Come to think of it, El-Hazard's stoic soldier Gilda inspired my paladin-esque female copper, and Naussica's Princess Kushana inspired me to put metal arms on my chain-weilder/healer character, too.
Bard-of-all-trades 01-19-05, 04:13 PM	I’m currently working on a Dwarf Wizard (need I say more??!?). My favorite, though, is my Halfling ranger/rogue. He has no skill in Sleight of Hand, Forgery, or Escape Artist. He would rather stand and slug it out than run from a fight. He is also rather sedentary and loves the comforts of home. He hates traveling and everything related to it. His favorite weapon is a small battleaxe, which is a family heirloom. Also, I’ve made an evil ranger based on Boba Fett from Star Wars, a fighter based on Zhangief from the Street Fighter games/movie, and a blind fighter/ranger based on the Kenny Rogers song “Greybeard”.
Jelstan 01-19-05, 11:47 PM	1)Ranslare "Slam" Vega/Male Half-Giant Psychic Warrior (Based on "A boy named sue" by the late great Johnny Cash) *2) Medderein Falcon/Male Human fighter (based on the Tennis player Roger Federer) *3) Yuke Grimely/Make Gnome Rogue (based on inspector Cluseau of the pink panther movies) *= haven't been able to play character I'm also working on a character based on Due south's Benton Frasier(Paul Gross) who is an Rcmp officer (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Lastly, I'm working on a character based on a cow... MOO. :cheer: Rah rah sis boom bah
Katal3 01-22-05, 07:38 PM	I base a lot of my characters on Mechanical aspects, or characters fomr Video Games like "Legacy of Kain"
Avihs 01-23-05, 04:32 AM	I tend to get my characters from literary sources... My curent Warlock, Pathos, grew from a couple of comic book "heroes"... Hellstorm and Darklon the Mystic. I also have a Bard floating around, drawn from Manley Wade Wellman's; John the Balladeer short stories. His name is Jontilliatus.
frosty_treant 01-23-05, 05:07 PM	I use a system I heard somewhere else, but I don't remember where. You roll a d10 for each of these categories: Politics Religion Others Self Economics You'll end up with something like this: P - 5 R - 4 O - 9 S - 6 E - 3 So, here we have someone who is reasonably involved in politics and religion, but always puts other peoples' well-being before anything else, including himself and his money. That took about 5 seconds to come up with. After that, you can randomly pick 3 adjectives and a noun from a dictionary and try to build a character around them.
ChasteWolf 01-23-05, 06:38 PM	{ Hmmm. I usually don't base a character off of anything, though when I do, it's usually a poem or something of the sort.. And not just D&D characters, either. I guess I'm just odd like that. Currently I have a Female Elf Druid/Fey Enchantress by the name Invictus ChasteWolf, which is my Pagan name.. Hehehe. Strange, but true random knowledge.. :blink: Okay.. Moving on... The first name was taken from my absolute favorite poem of all time, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley. I based her around the poem, about self-sufficient strength.. and maybe a tidbit of ego.. Hehehe. Anyway, she has turned out to be a great charracter, insofar. }
Fox Lee 01-23-05, 06:54 PM	After that, you can randomly pick 3 adjectives and a noun from a dictionary and try to build a character around them. Oh, that reminds me of an experiment where we grabbed a stack of (non-legend) Magic: The Gathering cards with cool art/names/flavour text and drew a few randomly to design a character around. This is great fun, and I recommend it if you (like so many of our gamers do) have MtG cards lying around. PSWirewoodSavagesarehot.
Trydan 01-24-05, 06:00 AM	Inspiration for me comes from lots of different places. Here are some examples of some of my characters, and the sources of their inspiration: Dakkon (Human Barbarian/Fighter/Sorcerer/Horizon Walker), based on a Magic the Gathering card (Dakkon Blackblade) Taq l'Endin (Human Rogue/Bard), transporting a modern concept (embedded journalists) into a fantasy world. Mr Quartz (Halfling Sorcerer), based on a picture in a D&D source book Johann (Human Cleric), based on a literary character (Johann Geiermeier, from the book "Der Kleine Vampir") Trydan (Human Fighter/Sorcerer), based on me! (I'm still working on those arcane spells though :rolleyes: )
Nurgan_the_drunked 01-24-05, 06:16 AM	You roll a d10 for each of these categories: Politics Religion Others Self Economics I quite like this, not just as random generation, but as a way of thinking about a character's priorities. I'd be tempted to add something like "relationships" (including love, friendship, family etc.) to there, though. It's a slightly different idea to "others". Generally, I come up with some ideas, sometimes an archetype or two. Then I work out background on the idea of "what would make them like this?". Then carry that background forward, sometimes understanding more of the character, and a slightly different idea to what I had originally. I make sure I allow room for maneuvre, though, as I can end up acting slightly different to what I expected, and this may be a change on the personality which can need justification, or just become something that's always been there.