Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Mr_Seth 03-25-08, 08:06 PM	Because no one likes a Mary Sue. Run your characters through the test below. Discuss your character and your results here, and get help De-Suifing your character if you need it. http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm Since it's bad form to post a thread without an example, I'll run Heron through this. He's an acerbic, loudmouthed, blunt-force-honest rogue/barbarian with an inability to hold onto money for more than two days. My results... -Okay, so right off the bat, Heron is an animal name. That's a click. -Heron's neither great looking nor grotesquely horrible. He is pretty heavily tattoed, that's one click. -Wardrobe chosen just to look bad*****? Yyyyeah, that's a click. -Heron's all human - no crossbreeds, no magical altering, no half-demon-angel-whateverness. No clicks there! -Heron's personal views are far simpler than my own; he's not a role model of any sort. Being chaotic, he gets in trouble with the law a good deal (one click) is openly defiant towards almost all authority (another one) and is easily provoked towards violence (a third). -Heron can't form any solid intimate relationships. He hates the idea of being pinned down in that way... that's not to say that he has problems with intimacy in general, but relationships scare the smeg out of him. I'll click him there to be on the safe side. -Heron's smart, and a quick learner. I imagine he'll pick up skills pretty dang fast... that's a click (albeit one that's on the safe side again). -Three languages past common... three clicks. -Great Cleave and sneak attack... yeah, Heron's badarse in hand to hand. One click there. -Magical weapon... click. -Raised in poverty... click. -On to the de-suifiers! Poking fun at Heron's weaknesses? Heck yeah. Between his spendthrift nature and tendency to get wasted at the drop of a hat (he keeps a hat just FOR that...) it'll happen a lot. Click. -Selfish, shallow, petty, lazy, or pointlessly cruel... hm. Definitely the first two, and a little bit of all three of the others. Click. -Ever been in a situation he couldn't get out of on his own? Of course - he gets in over his head a lot. Give up after he fails? Yeah, usually whilst in jail. Another click. Ever admits to being wrong? Click. Has ever ignored a slight against him to avoid trouble? Yeah, he's not suicidal. Click. So that leaves ol' Heron at a flat 10 on the Mary Sue index - well into the safety range. Heck, I could give him another good 10 points, and he'd still be safe.
Nelyo 03-25-08, 10:44 PM	I think in D&D you could ignore the extra languages question if the extra languages are just from your Intelligence bonus. D&D kind of assumes that any intelligent character will be linguisitically capable. Now, if you're dumping skill points into Speak Language or talking your DM into giving you extra languages because of your backstory, then you should probably be clicking...
Neveroth 03-26-08, 07:51 AM	The problem with this test is that it's heavily dependent on how harsh you decide to be to yourself.
Heliomance 03-26-08, 08:47 AM	Okay, Jarel Sedraiken He has a cool nickname - Lifesbane - due to the fact the entire adventuring party were made honourary orcs. Lifesbane is his orc name. Does he look how I wish I looked? Yeah, guilty I suppose. He's been in a lot of fights and battles and has no scars, though that's largely due to magical healing. Not sure whether to include that one or not. He has silver eyes, but he's an elf so that's normal. No ticks there. He is a humanoid with powers beyond human norm, but again that's just D&D. I'm not going to tick that. He has become a magically altered being - he got captured by an army of free-willed undead, and turned undead himself. He's also happier like that, largely due to the fact he no longer needs to breathe or sleep, and is immune to a whole bunch of stuff. He's fairly easily provoked, it's not that hard to make him start hitting things. One check. He did have an animal companion, and it was indeed a wolf. However this was due to the fact he was a Ranger, and it ran away when he got turned undead. So no checks. Again, he used to have the ability to communicate with animals, but it got revoked. Relatively unique powers that come in handy: Lifesense. I can see invisible people! On top of Common and Elven, his birth languages, he also speaks Sylvan and Orcish, IIRC. Also Elven Sign Language, but I didn't bother to include that, it's pretty much just military hand signals. Initial plans, strategies, etc always work? HELL NO. He's undead because he found an enemy ambush while scouting, and went and triggered it while the rest of the army was still out of range. Bad move there. He's extremely popular in Tragnak, the town we're mostly based out of, but again this is largely reflected glory. The entire adventuring party are considered heroes in the town, largely due to the influence of the party Paladin. I'm checking it anyway. And Desuifiers: Honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow or cruel? Well, there was that time he wrapped his hand in negative energy and poked a bound and helpless captive just because he was getting on his nerves... Ever been in a situation he had no way of handling? Yeah, the whole "captured by the enemy army" thing. Check. Ever admitted he was wrong? Yeah, I think so. Ever let an insult go for the sake of ease? We've talked to gods. If a god insults you you do not take offence if you value your life. Check. Is an elf and reacts as an elf. He really doesn't have a problem with humans dying, as from his point of view their lives are so short anyway it makes no difference. Check. Total: 11. I'm fine.
elliott20 03-26-08, 10:04 AM	Lemme try this with my Sci-Fi game character Johan. Gist of him? He's the equivalent of a telepath in his game. His an old, dirty hermit framed for a crime he did not commit because he held crucial information about an invasion. He was subsequently framed and discredited for his work. most recently in game, he was beaten by his former student in a psychic battle and then telepathically tortured. As a result, he no longer feels confident about his abilities as a telepath and ultimately he's very much humbled to his core. Got a 16 in the end. safely non-sue territory. Just I would have thought, to be honest, as the character was supposedly to be seriously flawed in the first place.
Paul_V 03-26-08, 02:36 PM	Oh, good. I've been looking for a test like this one. Here's mine: Variation of my name: Checked. Call me lazy, I suppose. Looks based on my own: Sure, I like to play as myself. Looks as I wished I looked: Yes, but only because he has gray eyes. Checked, I guess. Jealous? See above. Checked. Scar/small flaw: Checked. Crossbreed: Guilty. Half-celestial human. Does your character voice political, social, and/or religious opinions which you share? As I said, I like playing myself. Checked. Animal companions? One, wolf. He's a ranger, so they kinda come for free... Anyways, checked. Profound wisdom and knowledge? He has 18 in Wisdom and Intelligence, so yeah. Checked. Okay, so I'm in a conundrum here: Does your character possess unusual healing powers? Strong enough to save a character from mortal injury and/or death? He's a Healer, so I'm going to err on the safe side and state that it isn't "unusual" for a Healer to have strong healing powers and leave that unchecked. Okay, he has four additional languages, but that's for his INT bonus, sooooo... I won't check any of those. Strategies that usually work: He's highly wise and intelligent, so that means his plans usually work. Does your character frequently carry knives, daggers, or other little sharp pointy objects concealed within his/her clothing for no other reason than that they might be come in handy? He's highly paranoid, so... yeah. Orphan? Checked. Raised himself? Checked. De-suifers: Poke fun at weaknesses? He's anti-social and highly paranoid. That's like a walking joke. Checked. Overweight? Probably. The guy's tall and wide, so checked. Out of shape? Definitely. He's a very atypical Ranger (multiclassing as Healer and Wizard probably explains it). Truly debilitating phobia? Spiders and heights. He always has Expeditious Retreat prepared in case he ever runs into a swarm of spiders or something unmanageable. Oh, and Feather Fall. Run away from something because he was a coward? Yes, a giant spider. He later returned with lots of Magic Missiles, however. Situation he couldn't overcome on his own? Yup. He likes to think he can handle things just fine by himself, but he's not superhuman. Give up without trying? Yes, he highly values efficiency, and fighting something that he can't defeat is a pointless waste of time and resources. Give up after failing? See above. Checked. Found a way after a long time with great difficulty? Yes. Just because he gives up on confrontation doesn't mean he gives up entirely. Admits being wrong? Sure, but he doesn't care what others think, so it's unimportant. Non-human reactions? Well, he is usually much more ethical and moral than the large majority of humans, given his heritage, and he avoids social contact because of that. So checked. Total score: 15. Mary Sue-free, wow. I expected much more, given how similar to me he is. I suppose that's what I get for being lazy...
cloud413 03-26-08, 06:24 PM	I used my Valenar elf character that I made bishonen and got a 25.
elliott20 03-27-08, 09:40 AM	I think a lot of this is more for people who do fanfiction than anything else. fact is, a lot of things they list there you just can't do through the D&D system.
Dragao_das_Serras 03-27-08, 01:08 PM	Eyes with any other unusual qualities? Aberration Blood feat gave Stagros bulging eyes. That's a click. Does your character become a genetically, scientifically, cybernetically, or magically altered/enhanced being, possibly with new powers? I added a back story to explain the Aberration Blood feat. Click. Was your character kidnapped specifically for some type of experiment or project in order for this to happen? This is part of how he got the Aberration Blood feat. Click. How many animal companions does your character keep? Druid. One animal companion. Click Is said animal a wolf, bird of prey, big cat, or mythical creature? Started with an eagle. Click. Does your character fly in a typically groundbound universe? Um. Wildshape. Click? Does your character have the ability to shapeshift? Umm, wildshape. Click. Does your character possess unusual healing powers? Healing magic. Click. Strong enough to save a character from mortal injury and/or death? Heal spell, reincarnation? Pretty much. Click. Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? Click one box for every language: Let's see. Common is first language, plus Druidic, and an INT modifier of +3. Four clicks? Is your character royalty, closely related to a royal, or at least a rough equivalent? (President, governor, etc.) Formerly low nobility. That's close enough, I guess. Click. Was your character orphaned, abandoned, kicked out, or at least raised by a family/person that was not his/her own family? Yeah... this is starting to look bad. Click. Did your character witness the death of the parents/guardians? Darn. Why did I have that illithid experiment on my character and his parents? Click. Adopted by another species/racial group? Saved/raised by friendly elves. Click. Now for the de-suifiers. Has your character ever been honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow, or pointlessly cruel? Click. Has your character ever been in a situation that he/she had no way of overcoming on his/her own? That's kind of why we play D&D in groups.... Click. Has your character ever ignored wrong-doings against him/herself and/or others because he/she simply didn't want to get into trouble? Click. Do you view your characters more like tools than friends/children? There are people who don't? Click. 28. That's pretty bad. But the druid's class features alone are at least 10 of those points. I suppose I could have gone with a different animal companion, but an eagle is hardly an optimized choice, anyway.
beepaladin 03-28-08, 09:46 AM	You know, I've got to say, I've been worried about this for my paladin ^^; +Nicknames? Recently the party has started calling her Inquisitor, is that a special title or address? Aeridyn's rather fond of the title +I'd date her, but then again, 21 charisma paladin, that is some magnetism. +she's a "cross-breed" as it were, damn half-elf +I don't neccessarily share her opinions, but she is very prone to proselytizing to whoever will listen and does try for conversion +Is she punished more harshly than normal? She has a large penitent angle, atoning for past sins, so one could argue that she's punished more than normal, but much of this is sort of a self-imposed rigor. +three extra languages beyond intelligence bonuses and racial ones. But to be fair, it is class for Marshall ++Any one Jealous? because she beats them at their own game? Her party actually has a rival adventuring party, they're a bunch of nobles who heroically slay kobolds. It so far seems their primary motivation for rivalry is because currently ours is taking away their attention. +she is a daughter of a baron +she's called by St. Cuthbert (or at least one of those secretaries of his who interacts with paladins ;) ). And she's taking the heroic and fearless destiny feats from RoD, so I guess that counts as a chosen one with a special destiny ;) +She killed her father, one of those overthrowing tyranny things ;) +She lost a lover when she was a young adult +She has a bit of a complex about being taken seriously as a woman. Desuifiers -She has some pretty obvious weaknesses, not least, disturbing dreams (not an angst thing, but a plot device trait the DM gave her). Had made for interesting interactions with other elves what with her not being immune to sleep. -She will admit to being wrong and is prone to examining her own actions critically Not so bad. 21. I'm fine with her being a bit over the top as, well, she is a paladin. ;) And Dragao, :) You read the beginning part of the test, yes? I'm not sure if things that are class features necessarily count against your character.
Apocalypse_Child 03-28-08, 11:10 AM	Oh GOD. Jason's going to get smoked in this test. Thrallherds are pure ego feeders, lol. Okay. So yes. I made his name Jason Dementia, and he picked it himself to avoid certain spells that targeted his name. :( -3 right there. ...and his thralls call him "Your Eminence" because I loved when the elves called me that in warcraft 2, sue me...and *Coughcoughthegodemperorcough* -2. sheesh. and he looks like I want to look because YES, i optimized his cha score too and YES, it's 30+. He'd better be freaking brad pitt for that score. and I guess people see his attractiveness as a threat, I mean, he DOES have a mystery cult that's slowly but surely calling everyone in the multiverse. -1 there... And of course hes a psion...so he has lots of tattoos :( -1... And can I stress again that IMAGE IS EVERYTHING when your power base comes from your doom cultists, so of course he wears awesome clothes? wow, im screwed, -2... ...and I knew i'd get it for becoming a mindborn...-1... ...all Thrallherds DO is convince others they're right, oh god, -1...stealing citezens of nations on a large scale dooooes **** authority off, -1... Sharp wit! 49 INTELLIGENCE LEADS TO A CUTTING REMARK NOW AND THEN! AAAH! -1 I refuse to check the killing someone thing. It's D&D, thats what you doooo. oh god. okay. So...I have a psicrystal and took wild cohort, that's -2 right there. and yeah, I have profound knowledge and wisdom, I strapped on a +6 periapt. jeez. and of course I'm rich with all my followers randomly throwing cash at me, they like it, I like it, i dont see a problem...-2. oh CHEAP! Even this TEST is prejudiced against psionics! *Force like abilities where it's unusual* -2... Level 20s take out more guards than I can count on every appendage, so yeah, i miss that one -1 and...crap. my weapon of legacy I used to get the DCFS feats...oh GOD, that's -3. ...yeah, i guess he's popular since he brainwashed everyone...-1 >_> and so yeah, sometimes I play pretend. At age 22. -1. And with a couple of billion people working for him, he gets laid. They OWE him, for being great! -2. +30 something diplomacy...yeah, people like him wherever he goes...yeeees, all my thralls would die for me... FINALLY! Desuifiers! yeah, he's cruel, i wont deny it. People are his playthings. And he's kind of an *******, which I poke fun at all the time. um. I should make up a phobia for my character, but no. ... tallying.. ...Big surprise. 50+ Kill it dead. Or make sure you read the instructions properly (some people don't do this, which causes freakishly high scores) and take the test again.
Firaeki 03-29-08, 07:32 PM	Hmm... I think I'll use Crunan Taylor, my Human Hexblade 10/Dervish 10. 2: He goes by the alias The Mourner, its part of his image as a mercenary. 5: Crunan is a pretty attractive guy. 12c: He was born with white hair, I guess that counts as abnormal for a human. 13: He has a scar on his face, but its small and doesn't really hurt his appearance. 16c: Well, yeah. He's a dervish/hexblade called Mourner, his outfit has to be badass once being effective is taken care of. 29: He has a bit of an attitude problem and he's a bit tempermental. Not very good at social niceties. 30: He's very easily provoked in the right circumstances. 30a: I think almost every D&D character ever has killed out of anger, I won't count that. 31a: You try being a hexblade for a week. 35: Familiar. 38: I think everyone picks their class from something they find cool/exciting/neat. 53: D&D sort of makes being a polyglot normal. He never took languages from the Speak Language skill, so I won't count this. 57: This is also fairly normal when you hit higher levels, so again not counted. 58: There was an NPC that followed me around for a few days in-game because he was jealous of my character and wanted to show him up (this was a DM-decided event). He eventually did. 59d and 59e: Normal for D&D. Skipped. 68: His talents sort of ARE one. If he doesn't hex others and stuff, he starts hexing himself and his companions without wanting to. 70i: Its how the party met him. 72b and 72c: You lose a lot of things in D&D. 79: I didn't have anything to do with that woman, it was all the DM. I'm not counting it. 80b: That was the same evil woman as in 79. Not counting. And De-Suification... 2: Frequently. 12 and 12b: Yup. That sucked. Tried to kill the 79/80b woman. She didn't like that, and he's only alive because the other party members killed her and saved his ass. 13: Whenever its easier to be wrong. --- Got a 20. 17-21 Probably not a Mary-Sue, although a character can go either way at this point. Fanfiction writers should pay attention to ensure that their characters aren't getting too Sue-ish. For an RPG or original fiction character, however, you're probably perfectly fine.
ReaderOfPosts 03-29-08, 08:50 PM	It's also difficult, because practically any high charisma character will probably lose a half dozen points just for looking good. It's a good judge for a low powered campaign, but by mid levels your character better have a magical weapon, be able to tear through armies, be renowned for something, have unique powers that come in handy, and probably a few more things on the list. Still, whether or not the final conclusion is accurate, it's still not a bad bunch of questions to make you think about the realism of your character.
ArgulFraster 03-29-08, 11:57 PM	All right! Argul Fraster, my character's namesake, Felinian Sor6! Name: Is based off a wizard-busting charm from Dealing With Dragons. One tick. Titles: Occasionally calls himself something having to do with the fact that he's cheerfully batshit. Nobody else does. No tick. His looks are based on my own: Long hair only. Plus he's a cat thing. No tick. Does he look the way you want to look...yeah, I gotta say yes. One tick. Designed as cute/handsome. Yeah, but he's cheerfully creepy. Think a cross between Mole from Atlantis and Dory from Finding Nemo. One tick, I guess...Is anyone jealous, etc of him? He's nuts! Most people tend to not care. One tick. Does he weigh too little: Yeah, he does. Whole "Hennet Sorc" thing. Tick. Poetry: Nah. Argul's more "I iz da man who casts da spells that maeks the mans fall down!" Despite Int 15. Go figure. Is he realistic (8-11): Yes. No ticks. Eyes: Green, which are one of the natural colors for his race. No tick. Flaws: Is missing an ear. Lost in-game to Drow, which caused his deep hatred of them. No tick, I think. Lack of Scars: Yeah, but is a Sorcerer. Doesn't get into the thick of it much. No tick. Piercing Gaze: Nah. When Argul looks at you, you usually just wonder what the hell's up with that grin. Clothing: Wears a robe and fez. No tick, but I'm not sure on that. Described by its stereotype: He wears a robe, Prince of Persia pants, a fez, and bandages. What the hell stereotype wears those?! Immune to weaknesses of his specie: Not really. But Argul has a weakness for foxlike and Gnoll chicks. Go figure. Crossbreed/hybrid: In his realm he's normal. Outside...well, one tick. Catboy: Hell no! Modded: Nope. Role Model: HAHAHAHAHAHA No. Shared Opinions: We are both quite Chaotic. One tick. Convinces other people: Never tried. Sneers at authority: Only evil authority. Animal Companions: One, his familar Mozilla, a firefox (yes, they were rolling in the aisles when I came up with that one.[/sarcasm]). Are animals attracted to him: Nope. Habitually share wisdom and knowledge: AHAHAHAHAHAHA -inhale- HAHAHAHAHAHA No. Unless you consider singing "I've got a jar of dii-iirt! I've got a jar of di-iirt! I've got a jar of dii-iirt! And guess what's inside it?" wisdom. Occupation: Hell yes, Sorcerers are awesome. One tick. Shares interests: He and I both like explosions and weird clothing. One tick. Unusually Accomplished: He's run a short circus, made the only Ioun Mace in existence, and been saved by his god twice for blatant stupidity. One tick. Music: "Hey look, I can play the explosionphone!" Newp. Magic 'n 'stuff: Has an excuse; this is your average D&D world. No ticks. Telepathy: Nu. Shape-shifting: Polymorph! One tick. Healing: Nu. Super Magic: Fireball! No ticks, since you can't blow up a legion of enemies with a single fireball. Unless it's halflings, and they don't count. Powers: Found out about them the usual way. Has them; one tick. Languages: Plus the three he has naturally, he's got...Elven, Sylvan, Goblin, Draconic, and Undercommon. Five ticks. Succeed at everything? AHAHA. No. He's nearly been killed twice. Bungling: Occasionally, but is forgiven. Not immediately, but after a while. Massive killery via Fireball: Nah. Beats everyone at their own games: Why would he bother? He just likes to be independently weird. Weapon: No hand-me-downs. Made a staff that looks freakishly magical but does nothing for fun. No tick. Pointies: He fights with daggers if he has to. Prefers magic-and they WILL come in handy, so it's best to have them. Tick. Trinket: No. Got bracers of natural armor +2, didn't inherit them. No tick. Parents/guardians: None; Actually got kicked out of the monastery where he was raised for setting a line of outhouses on fire. Famous where he comes from: Mildly infamous; not badly so. He dwells in a castle near the thorpe where he and his party started adventuring, and is basically a casual member of the community. Despised/outcast: Nah. Chosen One: Because it amuses him, Argul's god, Erentei Karasthein, keeps a close eye on his chosen. He's been resurrected twice. One tick. "mah talintz r a kurse emo emo emo" As if. Reformed a villain: Actually has an old lady out for his blood due to his monumental stupidity, a rather long story. She's got ranger levels. Origins: Raised in a monastery; haven't decided whether he was just dropped there or if he was a foundling. One tick. Emo-stuff: Naaaah. Lost: Two friends, a cleric and a druid/wizard. Rezzed them later in repentance for his stupidity. One tick. Angst: Nu. Villains with unhealthy obessions: The Old Lady, who is mostly just revenge-motivated, is out for his blood. Long story. One tick. Be friends with him: Oh, hell yes! Having Argul for a friend would be sweet! One tick. People dislike him: I ignore them. Let them have their stupid opinions. Attacked: Nah. Love: Gets some booty; usually goes looking for it though. Loyal friends: Yes. Everyone else: Neutral Dislike: Also neutral. Dead: If they attack him, yeah. Forbidden skill: Nah, Sorc is the Felinian Favored Class. Save the Day: Only with friends. Gets rezzed though; one tick. RPG widgets: Nu. De-Sueing: Joke about him being nuts: All the time! -1. Admit to being wrong: Occasionally. -1. Total score: 29! Not bad all considered. Could be worse.
CrimsonDeath 03-30-08, 12:08 AM	It's also difficult, because practically any high charisma character will probably lose a half dozen points just for looking good. It's a good judge for a low powered campaign, but by mid levels your character better have a magical weapon, be able to tear through armies, be renowned for something, have unique powers that come in handy, and probably a few more things on the list. Notice at the top where it says you can ignore things that are typical for the world in question? That probably goes for things that are typical of PCs if the character in question is in an RPG. The fact that a level 7 character has a magic sword isn't because the character in question is a Mary Sue; it's because level 7 PCs generally have magic weapons.
Vacerious 03-30-08, 03:09 PM	I've seen this test before. It's okay, but I prefer this test (http://ponylandpress.nfshost.com/ms-test.html) better. Example using the test above: Jaeren Falsworth is a philanthropist noble who dedicates a good portion of his time and money to aiding the poor folk of the City of Rolahn. What people don't know is that Jaeren is none other than the infamous serial killer known as "The Top Hat Man," an alias that Jaeren created to help hide his true profession: an assassin. -"Top Hat Man?" Yep, it's a nickname, but not a "dangerous" one. -An appearance unsuited for the setting? "Top Hat Man" does dress more like a steampunk-era dapper than a medieval rogue. --and yes, I think that outfit sounds cool. -Jaeren/THM has above average intelligence, if not genius level intelligence (18 INT) -Jaeren/THM has willingly worked for an evil organization, being an assassin. -Jaeren/THM does know more than two languages -Jaeren/THM is fairly educated in the ways of social maneuvering and nobility, despite not being a scribe, monk, scholar, etc. -Fair to say that Jaeren/THM has little empathy for other people. -And is selfishly manipulative (only using assassinations to further political goals and/or maintain Top Hat Man's reputation as a monster/killer.) -Jaeren has been, in the past,... --an assassin --a mercenary --a thief/pickpocket --a member of organized crime -I'd figure that Jaeren, being a medieval noble, has a more refined taste in books and music than I actually would. -But his spiritual/religious views are radically different from mine. -Being a rising noble, I'm sure everyone significant in the City of Rolahn has heard of Jaeren. -And they wind up either respecting Jaeren's philanthropy or fearing THM's ruthlessness. -Jaeren/THM has, obviously, committed murder willingly. -Jaeren's problems would probably continue, even after the end of the campaign. (Top Hat Man has to be caught sometime, and setting up a stooge isn't easy.) -Admittedly, the persona of Top Hat Man is based loosely on Jack the Ripper. Final Score: 19. Still a non-sue, but barely. (Keep in mind that Jaeren/THM is a level 20 character, so I would actually count this score to be a little low.)
Radijs 03-31-08, 10:16 AM	I did the second test in this thread for a Barbarian/Fighter called Celene. The foul-mouthed short-tempered broad wound up with 9 points.
Orchomenos 04-01-08, 01:22 PM	Here's for Biella the Hyena, cleric of Kelanen (TN god of swords & swordmanship). - Does your character have a cool nickname or unique title/address? The Hyena - click. - Unusual feature of any other kind? (Particularly unusual/exotic birthmark, tattoo, etc.) Tattoo. On the skull. - click - If not a cross-breed, then at least cross-cultural? Grew up as a noble, until her father died. Then fled in an anarchist group... - click - Does your character have a rebellious side that tends to get him/her in trouble with authority on a semi-regular basis? clik - Does your character have a spitfire personality, sharp wit, attitude, and/or strong temper? strong and bad temper. click - Is your character easily provoked to anger and/or violence? see above click - Is your character unusually accomplished for his/her age, time period, place, occupation, and/or social status? hmm... 40 point-buy... click - Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? Speaks common & Abyssal! click once. - Does your character ever single-handedly take out more armed forces (EG, security guards, soldiers) than you can count on one hand using his/her kick-butt skills? part of the concept... click - Does your character frequently carry knives, daggers, or other little sharp pointy objects concealed within his/her clothing for no other reason than that they might be come in handy? Carries many kinds of swords, because she loves swords. click - Ran away at any point? click - Lived in the streets? anarchist gang, yeah, qualify... click! - Has your character otherwise lost... Lover? click - Did anything else remarkably strange or otherwise unusual happen in your character's infancy? Lost her wealth and status when her fahter died. click - If female, does or did your character run away to escape an unwanted marriage? kinda... ran away after her sister was married to an old, ugly but wealthy man. Biella thought it was her fate. Click - If female, does your character ever have to prove that she's just as good as the guys? Not really, but fits with the concept. click - Is your character just as good or even better at the jobs and/or skills of one or more canon characters? (EG, better hacker or smarter than the nerd character, better fighter than the tough character.) Taking the rest of the party as the Canon Characters, she was a better fighter than the half-giant psywarrior. Click. - How many major characters does your character fall for? She felt for one other PC, but it didn't develop. click nevertheless! De-Suifiers! - Do you ever poke fun at your character's faults/weaknesses and/or use them as plot devices? She's chubby, and knows it. click - Does your character ever admit to being wrong, even if he/she doesn't really mean it? Kelanen is a TN god who asks to fight extreme alignments (LG, CG, LE & CE.) This lead to a serious crisis of conscience when Biella realised a member of the party was an aasimar paladin! click Total: 22 22-29 Some definite Sue-like tendancies here. A little polishing might be in order to put original fiction and RPG characters back into the balance, especially if Kirking is involved. Fanfiction characters should probably have some work done. I thought my character was more special than that. But I created this background by mixing up various stereotypes, so it doesn't surprise me so much after all.
ChaosWolf1982 04-05-08, 05:15 PM	Okay, here goes... Agronah, my female Gnoll barbarian... ((General Sue Questions)) Name chosen because it sounded cool/had meaning to the character? = Agronah is a slightly spelling-tweaked of a Celtic war/death goddess, which fit the gnollish stereotype of brutal fighting and had the harsh rough sound of gnoll naming... Been in a lot of fights, but few scars? = well, in my setting, gnolls determine tribal ranks by infighting, and she's good enough to win without taking many hits herself... Nonhuman with powers/ability beyond human norm? = she's a gnoll, nuff said. Spitfire persona, sharp wit, or strong temper? = Her kind aren't exactly known for patience and calm mindsets. Easily provoked to anger or violence? = see above answer. Unusually accomplished for your age, social-status, time-period, etc.? = Is ranked fourth-strongest female of her tribe and clan. The best or among the best at anything s/he does? = See above answer. Famous for the above accomplishments? = only among her clan and tribe, but yes. Excluding their native tongue, do they speak other languages? = Common (though a bit roughly - "Me not much happy here" kinda stuff) in addition to her native Gnollish. Have a weapon that is... unusually ornate? = her spear is finely crafted (made by a Human blacksmith that was enslaved by the clan - treat as Masterwork) and decorated with various tribal icons and totem-items. Posesses a trinket with magical powers or other special significance? = the totem-items on the spear, while not actually magical, hold special meaning to Agronah's tribe as symbols of their gods - basically a good-luck charm. Memeber of a despised, outcast, or downtrodden race/species/culture? = Gnolls aren't exactly well-liked in many areas. Would you like to be friends with your character? = Hell yeah. Gnolls rock. ((De-Sueing Points)) Ever been honestly selfish, lazy, petty, shallow, or needlessly cruel? = More than a few times, Agronah's been of the "me first" attitude... If non-human, do they sometime react in non-human ways? = Yes, she'll sniff people just as quickly as she'd wave to them, and at least once has peed on furniture. ((Total)) 14 0-16 Points Most likely Not-Sue. Characters at this level could probably take a little spicing up without hurting them any.
Silverswordmaster 04-05-08, 06:18 PM	Alright, I'll run my SWRPG: DoD character though this test here. She is a Female Human Soilder/Jedi, about 19 years old, lvl 7, good with combat, with a high dexterity and constituion score but a really low Strength score, and evened out Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. She tends to wisecrack with her friends but otherwise is serious and takes everything in stride. So lets run her though the test shall we? -Her name is Aria Tiasha, no clicks there (I think) -She has nickname, but its not cool. (She is the youngest of the group of adventures so everyone calls her 'Kid') -She is cute to a degree, but she is more focused on the mission then how she looks, no click there. -However, I will not go out of my way do descibe her as exceptionaly cute or ugly, so I suppose how her beauty shows is up to the people I play with. -Her eye color is split, one eye is blue, the other is a light green (one click), her natural hair color is black, and kind of plain, so she dyes it blond and silver, (No click), and she has a long dragon tattoo on her left arm that goes from her shoulder to her wrist, the head being on the wrist. (One click) -She is REALLY good at glaring at people for information (one click) -I change the clothing she is wearing from time to time, and its not ment to look 'BA' or 'sexy' so no click there, though some would say the starting clothing she wore (in the first adventure) was rather steriotypical (Jedi robes). -She's not exactly the best rolemodel, but shes nice enough I suppose. -If Aria gets angery, stand clear or your going to get hurt.(one click) -Aria is the best shot in our RP group, but I don't think that counts for a RP character, (No click) -Aria can speak four languages (including basic) from her intelligence mod and her Liguist feat. No problems there (No click) -Her Lightsaber used to belong to her older brother, Raios, who was killed in the last episode of DoD. (He was shot down by a TIE Fighter) (one click) -She has lost a close friend, Her brother Raios, but I don't think it counts as a click as he was shot down by a TIE fighter by a rather unlucky roll on my part (critical failure in a dogfight with no sheilds... ouch.) -She has a talent for making friends so everyone close to her like her a lot but it took her a while to make her friends (No click) -She's got a Double bladed Lightsaber, and she is proud of it. (One click!) -She saved the life of Raios' best friend and fellow Jedi once. (One click) -She became a jedi and joined the Jedi Knights (One click) -She is not exactly strong, so at the start of her adventure (lvl 1) she had a hard time with combat, which the GM and the rest of the group I RP with made fun of, along with myself. (-1 click) -I checked though the list again, and realised that everything I say or do I do from her perspective (then again, it is a RP and I am playing her character, but eh.) (one click) -She has srugged off one of the guys of the group cursing her out after she used her Lightsaber in a situation that was NOT a good time to use a Lightsaber, and showing off her lightsaber to a villan to try to prove a point. (-1 click) Final Score: 17 17-21 Probably not a Mary-Sue, although a character can go either way at this point. Fanfiction writers should pay attention to ensure that their characters aren't getting too Sue-ish. For an RPG or original fiction character, however, you're probably perfectly fine. So those are my final results, give or take a few points, it'll probobly end up in the 17-21 range.
Timespike 04-05-08, 07:05 PM	Michael Nemerov. This is one of those places where I think the test may be wrong. Michael is an extremely tortured, remorseful, and guilt-ridden character. He's got massive, distinctive scars across his face. He's a ruthless, almost savage combatant who regularly cuts down scores of enemies and whether he's more deadly with a sword in hand or with his bare hands is up for debate. He wants to die, but he also wants his death to mean something. This seems like it's probably a fairly Mary-Sue-ish character to me, but the other PCs (and players) loved him. He was utterly selfless and cared about everybody's safety but his own and the bad guys'. His score was a 5. 3) Looks like me... ...sorta. I don't have enormous, disfiguring facial scars from a werewolf. I do, however, have brown hair, gray eyes, and a square-jawed face. 1 click. 9) He'd be handsome if it wasn't for those scars. But he's a warrior, and warriors have scars... ...nah. 14) Definitely safe NOT clicking this one. He's a roadmap of scar tissue. Decades of killing monsters with a sword will do that to you. 15) yeah, he's got a thousand-yard stare. He's so wracked with guilt over what he used to be that he wants to die on some level. People like that can look right through you and out the other side. 1 click. 22) Yeah, he's got most of the abilities of a deathknight, but isn't undead. However, I choose not to click this because I didn't do it. The DM hit me with that in play, much to my surprise. 23) Michael? An ideal role model? Well, he's lawful good, but oh, God, no. He's barely functional with all of his issues. I feel sorry for the poor bastard. 29) Strong temper? Yeah. Hurt innocents around him and he gets pretty mad. 1 click. 30) See above. Beyond the norm for a D&D character in at least one case (which is not to say it wasn't justified, but it was a bit dumb, which he knew at the time and did it anyway). 2 clicks. 31) Inability to form an intimate relationship? Yeah, guilty. (Which is WHY, incidentally) 1 click. 32) Revenge isn't one of his primary motivations. Guilt is. No click. 35) one animal companion. a Horse. Being that he's a knight, I refuse to click this. 49) Unusual healing powers? I suppose Lay on Hands would fit, but that's a class ability. No click. 54) Often, he barely survives. No click. 57) Egads, yes. This guy is death incarnate. The GM actually swapped his aura of courage for an archon-style aura of menace because he was so terrifying in combat. He once went toe-to-toe with a full-blooded vampire and walked away. 1 click. 65) Popularity? Reknown? How about no. Anonymity is good. 74) He's trying to atone for the time when he thought his past did justify his actions. This would be an anti-click if I could do such a thing. 76) Yeah, there's some angst there. Finding out in play that your grizzled soldier is actually the reincarnation of Lord Soth will do that to you. Desuifiers: 1) Yeah, his guilt and shame at what he's done is a major motivating force in the story. It leads him to almost constantly try to find ways that he can die in a meaningful way. He somehow keeps surviving. 2) Yeah, that and lots of worse stuff pretty much sums up his backstory. 4) Do huge, hideous facial scars count? 8) Old enough to have crow's feet and salt & pepper hair. I think I made him 47. 12) A couple of times. He almost died. 13) He's dying for forgiveness he doesn't feel he deserves. His almost every action is an ongoing attempt to try to find some way to put right what he did wrong in his last go 'round. It's safe to say that he'll admit he's wrong. Final score: 5. Tariel Sethar This time, I think the test worked. Tariel is a kindhearted family-man sort of character who happens to have a strong streak of celestial blood and is trapped a long ways from home. His name would be odd in the modern world, but where he's from, I doubt it would be any stranger than "Gary Davis;" not exactly THE most common name ever, but hardly strange. No clicky. 12) His eyes are blue with gold flecks, but you can only tell when you're really close. They otherwise look green. 1 click. His hair is black with metallic gold & copper strands. Again, it just looks brown unless you're standing 3 feet away. 1 click. He's got faintly-glowing celestial glyphs that're only visible when he's engages in spellcasting. 1 click. 14) Not as scarred as Michale, but if he pulls his shirt off, you'll see little scars here & there. Because he's a crusader & a cleric, though, he's got fairly clean skin. His class abilities keep him healthy. 15) No piercing stare for this guy. He's got a very warm & kind countenance. 16) Well, he's got a uniform he wears that makes him look pretty cool, but it's a uniform, and he hasn't modified it. No click. 21) Aasimar with a strong celestial bloodline. He's about 1/3 celestial. Click. 23) Yeah, he's a role model. He's kind, selfless, loving, decent, loyal, and optimistic. Click. 29 & 30 he has almost boundless restraint and no real temper to speak of. No click. 35) He's got a raven from being a knight of the raven. 2 clicks. 49) Cleric. Yep. But it's normal, so no clicks. 53) He speaks celestial. 1 click. 57) On the rare occasions where he does have to fight, it's not pretty for the other side. Click. 81) If he was real, sure. Click. De-suifiers 12) He's stuck a long way from home with no way to get back to his wife & teenage son. The GM assured me that had the game continued, he'd eventually have made it home, probably in the last session. 2 clicks. 13) He's married. You bet your [censored] he's admitted he's wrong! Click Score: 16.
Stormbrand 04-05-08, 08:59 PM	Aorle von Fain, angelic knight. A high-level paladin, I think I should dread this. In a nutshell, I based him on everything I thought a paladin should be. I went old school to earlier editions when paladins had a minimum of 17 Charisma - so I thought about the personality behind that and experimented how to make him as charming as possible. 1 - Name. Based on the Rohirrim name Eorlic meaning "chivalrous" although children earning their names in their youth is a standard cultural tradition, so no click. 2 - Unique title of address. Yes, an angel addressed him publically as Shining One when knighting him and the title stuck. He's known as Sword of Heaven and is called the Argent Chevron for his coat-of-arms. 2 ticks. 5 - Extremely attractive. Aasimar so yes, unfortunately. 1 tick. 6 - Very muscular from all that combat training in heavy armour. 1 tick. 7 - Poetic or creative terms to describe him? I use it in lots of my writing, but probably more with Aorle than most. So 1 tick. :( 11 - Is naturally very clean. Can emerge from a dumpster looking hand-laudered mostly because I think it's fun. 1 tick. 12 - Golden eyes are standard for aasimars. If he gets a tick for his race then not for standard racial features. No tick. 13 - I don't even understand what that is. 14 - He's got scars. Less than normal due to healing magic but clearly no stranger to combat. 15 - Bright, vibrant eyes. Friendly and welcoming rather than penetrating but I can see that effect. And he can stare straight into souls, it's called Detect Evil :P 1 tick. 16 - Definitely not. Insists on practical dress. 17 - That's not a character trait, that's just bad writing. 19 - Yup. Aasimar. 1 tick. 20 - Nope, because 'some other' assumes I've not already ticked aasimar. 21 - I'm going to say no, because he describes himself as having an angelic ancestor rather than as a mixed race. 23 - Yes, deliberately designed as an ideal knight. 1 tick. 26 - Never, utmost courtesy. The priest he referred to as a "corrupt, incompetant snotling fondler" was no superior. ;) 29 - No, and finds all of them irritating. 30 - There was that one time he lead his retinue into the shantytown to exterminate a crime gang... 2 ticks. 35 - Warhorse. Paladin. He's got no business not having one. 36 - Yes. It's called preaching. 1 tick. 37 - No, because it's never convenient wealth. He has expensive equipment and retainers, nothing else. 40 - Unusually accomplished. Knighthood was uncommon at 18 but not shocking, retinue was standard for knights. However, he does have a reputation so yes. 1 tick. 49 - Unusual healing powers. Lay On Hands, maybe standard paladin but paladins are rare. 1 tick. 53 - Multi-lingual. 3 ticks. 55 - Often asks others for input. Does well because he knows when to step back. No tick. 57 - Yep. Death machine. Took out 8 in one go, fully expecting die but needed to protect others. 1 tick. 59 - Magical sword. Uncommon in the setting. 1 tick. 65 - Hmmmm. Not back home, and is still currently building his reputation so no tick for another few months. 71 - His father was a poor husband, but raised the child as part of the family, so no issue with illegitimacy. 76 - No angst. At all. It's actually a major psychological feature. 81 - I would need to live in 14th Century Germany for that, but I do think the guy would make a great friend. 1 tick. De-suifiers. 1 - I poke fun at his faults mercilessly. He's as subtle as a battering ram. 1 tick. 2 - Alas no. He's very very humble. 12 - The character has had things he can't do. 1 tick. - And has no hesitation about deferring to others. Humility rocks! 1 tick. - If he tries and it fails, he'll try something else. Again, no reluctance of plan B. 1 tick. 13 - Has had to admit he's wrong. Will readily do so if he believes it. 1 tick. 14 - He did nothing when someone spat in his face. 1 tick. 15 - Yes, I deliberately cultivate the alien aspect of a celestial mindset. 1 tick. Wow. The quintessential knight in shining armour gets a 16! *blinks*
Anansi 04-06-08, 12:00 AM	Ugh. My drow gish who I've been playing since 2nd Edition scored a 56 :( . Strangely enough, she became something of a legend with my old group and everyone loved her. I had a feeling she would score ridiculously high, though.:D
CrimsonDeath 04-08-08, 04:03 AM	I'm going to run a couple of my characters through both tests. Simeon "Viper" Tanner (Note that Simeon is a Biblical name, and that's where I got it.) Part 1 - All Characters 1.d: Viper is not a normal name. 1.e: Vipers occur in nature. 1.f: He did choose the nickname himself. (1 d-f used insead of 2 because it resulted in a higher score) 12.d: Tattoo on his right arm to make it resemble a snake. 24: His one political soapbox is that he denies the right of the royalty or nobility to rule. 25: He disobeyed an order or two. 27: He occasionally gets away with misconduct (like #30). 29: Attitude and strong temper. 30: Once, he punched an NPC ally for playing a prank on him. 33: DM-induced amnesia. 42: The best whip-wielder we'd ever encountered. 53: Speaks two extra languages: Elven and Dwarven. 57: Occasionally, the DM liked to send us up against waves of low-level Orcs. At one point, Viper was taking out three per round. 59.d: At level 15, you'd better have a magic weapon. 72.c: Fellow PC, killed in a "rocks fall, everyone dies"-style moment (although it was only the one character that died). Major contributing factor to my decision to leave the campaign. 81: I think he's actually a pretty cool guy. Part 5 - De-Suifiers 1: 8 Wisdom, 8 Charisma. -1 Spot, Listen, Bluff, and Diplomacy. +2 Will save. Made for some hilarious moments. 2: See Part 1, # 30. Also, flirted shamelessly with any Human woman who was remotely pretty. (Although he was among the few who did not flirt with the Half-Drow Sorceress with 28 Charisma.) 4: Not quite ugly as a mud fence, but definitely a bit homely. 12: Ambushed, along with two allies, by a couple of lycanthrope martial adepts. 12.b: Got knocked unconscious in the middle of trying to retreat. Score: 19 The Name Unusual for the region where he grew up (Illuskan) Dangerous pseudonym (Viper) Character He got cloned (twice) on one adventure, but there were a lot of clones in that laboratory. Intelligence 14 (above-average, but not quite genius) Has amnesia (thanks to the DM) and never recovers his memories. More on Character I'd say he's unusually accomplished in his ability to wield a whip (level 10 in the Lasher PrC). he also had a +14 in Craft: Leatherworking, which I guess is is pretty good for a 26-year-old. Fluent in Common, Elven, and Dwarven Has traveled to at least three different planes of existence, one alternate material plane, and to several far-flung cities of Toril. His severe distrust of royalty and nobility (which I consider a significant personality flaw) persisted until I retired the character. Work and Play He's the best whip-wielder we encountered in the campaign. He worked as a mercenery (as did the entire party) and occasionally served as a hero. He could fly (1 min/day, using his Celestial Armor) and was skilled in melee combat (+15 BAB). Common skills in D&D. Score: 17 Gaven "Sparks" Wright Part 1 - All Characters 3: Yes, because he was a bookish nerd, and so was I. 14: Psychometabolism FTW 33: DM-induced amnesia 36: Two maxed out Knowledge skills, and at least +12 in several others. 44: Psionic in what the DM described as a primarily non-psionic universe. Probably counts. 50: A few AOE energy powers. 52: As a Nomad, he was the party's primary mobility expert. With Dimension Door, Teleport, Plane Shift, and Dream Travel, he was everywhere you want to be. 53: I forget what his five bonus languages are. Goblin was the only one that ever really paid off. 58: Another PC, a Chaos Mage (Traveler), was envious of Gaven's ability to teleport large groups of people, as well as his ability to teleport large people. (Gaven, on the other hand, was envious of the Traveler's ability to teleport objects without people holding them.) Part 3 - Fan Characters & Newcomers 13: Brought an ally Cerebremancer back from the dead, then teleported him and another unconscious ally away from the battle. 13.a: Using psionics. 27: Gaven isn't originally from Toril. 27.a: He's from Oerth. Part 5 - De-Suifiers 1: Whenever we fell in for inspection, Gaven's mithral chain shirt was crooked, because he wasn't proficient in light armor. I don't know if anyone else found it funny, but I did. 2: Shallow. He was utterly convinced that psionics was superior to arcane or divine magic. Also petty and pointlessly cruel, on occasion. He once pursued and killed a retreating Dragon Turtle because she had severely burn him with her breath weapon (in defense of her eggs, no less, although he didn't know they had been there). 4: Not horrifying, but homely. 10: He never technically ran from anything, but he teleported away from things a bunch of times. The only thing he really feared was death, and he was deathly afraid of it. Score: 33 (surprising, because I didn't really like him that much The Name His nickname, Sparks, is a reference to the visual display of his psionic powers. He hates it and discourages its use. Character 26 Intelligence, after equipment. Well beyond genius level. He also has DM-induced amnesia, from which he never recovered. He derives some angst from the fact that he spent about a year apprenticed to a Sorcerer, utterly failing to develop any magical abilities. More on Character He had five bonus languages. He's traveled to at least one alternate material plane, one inner plane, two transitive planes, five or six outer planes, and Sigil. He's also traveled fairly extensively across Faerun. He had a psicrystal ("pet"). He's a coward-- a rather significant personality flaw for an adventurer. Of course, being an adventurer, he has a skewed perception of what's actually dangerous... And he did wind up essentially leaving the entire party for dead once because he wasn't willing to wait another couple of rounds for them to decide to make their way over to him before he Plane Shifted out. (He didn't get in trouble, because he accomplished the mission objective, but one character wound up temporarily dead and another permanently MIA.) He doesn't feel too terribly bad about it though; he's not very empathetic. Work and Play +27 each in Knowledge: The Planes and Knowledge: Psionics. I don't think we encountered anyone who knew more about either. He worked as a mercenery, just like all the other PCs. He had a wide array of psionic abilities-- Teleportation, telekinesis (Levitate), pyrokinesis, healing, flight, transdimensional travel, transdimensional communication, the ability to shrug off minor wounds (Vigor), and general psionic ability. Similar powers are, of course, relatively common in D&D. His religious beliefs are drastically different from mine. Although he wasn't an atheist, he had little use or patience for religion in general and was vaguely contemptuous of divine spellcasters. Score: 16
Melpomene 04-09-08, 08:42 PM	Well, good old Melpomene got a 19-23 (depending on how I chose to answer certain questions. I like to think that she's fairly deep, or at least interesting, although she is patterened, to some extent, after a Greek muse.
NightHawkFalconis 04-13-08, 12:16 PM	I find this test to be highly situational, because my character's backstory nets him a score of 9--safe from Suistic temptations. However, we have a DM who likes to mess with the characters' heads, not to mention my character's survived ten levels of battles, betrayal and hardships. Here's my breakdown: Pre-game backstory Name: Daiskaiyr "Kaiyr" Stellarovim --didn't earn any points because the name, including nickname are common for the elven culture in this world. Eyes/Hair: both navy blue, nothing out of elven ranges if you've ever read FR (though we're not playing FR). If the deep blue hair is too much, make my 8 a 10. Suifiers: Is your character described, illustrated, and/or shown as exceptionally beautiful, cute, or handsome? +1 Do think of your character as an ideal role-model? +1 (justification: he's LG but not a dipscheisse about it--leans LN but is caring when he realizes someone else needs him to be) Is your character habitually share profound wisdom and knowledge? +1 Languages: +2 (only because D&D gives free languages) Do his/her initial plans, strategies, ideas, etc. always (or nearly always) work? +1 (heh... ask the other players) Does your character alone have a weapon that... Is magical? +1 (not the only character, but his is different) Is unusually ornate? +1 (blade seemingly made of glass? Yep) Would you like to be friends with your character? +1 (would also make a nice bodyguard) De-suifiers: Does your character ever admit to being wrong, even if he/she doesn't really mean it? -1 Has your character ever ignored wrong-doings against him/herself and/or others because he/she simply didn't want to get into trouble? -1 (to self only) If your character is a non-human, does he/she react in very non-human ways or in ways more appropriate to his/her species? -1 As we can see, Kaiyr is within safe ranges at the beginning of the campaign. Let's see how he fares at the hands of my DM: Suifiers: Is your character described, illustrated, and/or shown as exceptionally beautiful, cute, or handsome? +1 Do think of your character as an ideal role-model? +1 (justification: he's LG but not a dipscheisse about it--leans LN but is caring when he realizes someone else needs him to be) Does your character get away with things that other people would get into serious trouble for under the same circumstances? +1 (diplomatic immunity ftw) Has your character ever killed someone after being provoked? +1 (though it took a lot of grief to get him to do this) Is revenge one of your character's main motivations? +1 (oh, yes. Now it is.) Is your character habitually share profound wisdom and knowledge? +1 Is your character unusually accomplished for his/her age, time period, place, occupation, and/or social status? +1 (level 10 after a year of adventuring? Yeah.) Is your character the best or among the best at anything he/she does? One box for each. +1 (Yeah. Hit my AC. That's the f'in' best XD) Languages: +2 (only because D&D gives free languages) Do his/her initial plans, strategies, ideas, etc. always (or nearly always) work? +1 (heh... ask the other players) Does your character alone have a weapon that... Is magical? +1 (not the only character, but his is different) Is unusually ornate? +1 (blade seemingly made of glass? Yep) Does your character possess a unique trinket that is magical and/or has some special significance? +1 (Scarf of dead romantic interest? Oh, yes.) Does your character manage to become friends with a villain, and through this friendship cause the villain to become reformed? +2 (Sort of... caused someone else's fey nemesis to regret her reason for existing. Unfortunately could not change her instincts. So, reverted to her "old ways") Has your character otherwise lost a lover/close friend? +2 (lover... check. friend... check) Does your character angst about something that he/she did in the past? +1 (Killed 36 innocent elven children with a firebomb? Yep. Oh, and still LG.) Does your character have markedly more romance in his/her life than any other regular character? +3 (So far, females have pretty much ignored the other characters. And they're not all ugly, though the kender is a bit odd.) Would anyone die for your character? (Unless, of course, said character would pretty much die for any casual friend/acquaintance.) +1 (Yep. They DID die, too. Refused to come back, as well.) Would you like to be friends with your character? +1 (would also make a nice bodyguard) De-suifiers: Do you ever poke fun at your character's faults/weaknesses and/or use them as plot devices? -1 Has your character ever been honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow, or pointlessly cruel? -1 (Lashes out on rare occasion. Takes some real work, though.) Has your character ever run away from anything simply because he/she was a coward? -1 (If dragonfear doesn't count, the Tarrasque should.) Has your character ever been in a situation that he/she had no way of overcoming on his/her own? -1 (Only like, the whole game.) Did he/she give up after failing? -1 (Could have succeeded, given more funding at the time.) If he/she eventually found a way of overcoming the problem, was it extremely difficult and/or took a really long time? -1 Does your character ever admit to being wrong, even if he/she doesn't really mean it? -1 Has your character ever ignored wrong-doings against him/herself and/or others because he/she simply didn't want to get into trouble? -1 (to self only) If your character is a non-human, does he/she react in very non-human ways or in ways more appropriate to his/her species? -1 Total score: 28 (up to 30 if one counts the name despite it being normal for the culture, and the dark blue hair despite its commonality) As we can see, this test can be situational. Kaiyr goes from being pretty much an average joe/n00b to a mostly Sue-ish character from in-game events. Just food for thought.
Meat_Grinder 04-13-08, 01:46 PM	Well I'll be damned, Ignot, my current character AND a Kobold Sorcerer, got -2.
JaiaDrottsingr 04-13-08, 03:46 PM	Jaikob is an Uber-Sue. If that wasn't obvious enough. At least he's less powerful than some of the people in the ARG... I mean, for seriously...
Xavon 04-13-08, 06:55 PM	I took this quiz for Naruto Uzumaki, and he gets a 58 (and that's without knowing the creator's personal opinions about names/clothes/food/etc.) The problem with Mary Sue tests is that what makes a Mary Sue varies greatly depending on the style of game/fiction. A living construct (a.k.a. Warforged) isn't MSish in Eberon (sic), but would still get points on the test.
CrimsonDeath 04-13-08, 08:23 PM	I took this quiz for Naruto Uzumaki, and he gets a 58 (and that's without knowing the creator's personal opinions about names/clothes/food/etc.) I ran Harry Potter through and got somewhere in the high 30's.
ReaderOfPosts 04-14-08, 02:10 PM	I also feel like a lot of the questions are only indicate Mary-sue-ism if done poorly. For example, the set where you get points if you're the last surviving member of blank: a cleric who heals because she's the only member of her town that survived the plague or a political exile of a nation that has since been destroyed by some threat I would say aren't particularly Mary-sueish, while the more typical "I'm the last surviving member of a powerful noble house whose hubris destroyed them, but I'm different and that's why I survived" would be much more so.
JaiaDrottsingr 04-15-08, 06:30 PM	Heh... One of my most Mary Sue characters- Jared -scored a 23. He's an insane mentally retarded man, who is the most ugly man in existence, and a blue magus to boot. He knows over four hundred spells, each more trivial, useless, and insane than the last. Also, the undisputed most Mary Sue- Caillus, his identical twin, who shares the same body and mind as him -scored only a 19. He's one of the cruelest beings in the RP (visit the Gleemax Roleplaying subforum; all characters should be overpowered for best results), with a passion for cruel and unusual ways of torture. He's also a blue mage, but his spells are vague, and vary widely. He once stuck a spell right down a man's throat, pulled out all of his intestines, his lungs, and tied fifty knots in the circulatory system. The guy died in, like, five seconds. All my tests are according to the one I use for my fiction: Link here. (http://www.onlyfiction.net/marysue.html)
Adrian_Crane 04-16-08, 05:20 PM	Alright, this should be good. NE Drow Fighter/Wizard. I'm expecting to be hit by a truck for the race alone. Name: Tynien Xinn No penalty, since it's meant to be typical for his race, and isn't anything like my name. No nicknames. Looks: 1 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/ghost_sentinel/Sketchbook/Notebook_06.jpg), 2 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/ghost_sentinel/Sketchbook/Notebook_08.jpg) Okay, taking hits. I WISH I looked like him. Minus the black skin and white hair. (-1). Definitely illustrated as handsome (-1). Jealous of his looks? Ehhh...that's reaching, but I'll throw it in as a maybe (-1). Practically perfect physique? Yes (-1). Not anorexic, just small, and he's a frontline fighter, so the athleticism is at least excusable. No noticable scars despite his backstory being as a soldier...never occurred to me. Ouch. :twitch: (-1). Badass clothing? Yeah. Definitely guilty (-1). Race: Drow Okay, not a crossbreed, but definitely "cool humanoid" (-1). Gonna go with cross-cultural since he fell in love with a surface elf, for another (-1). Personality: Jackass ...he is, really. NE initially, barely N now because he actually got rezzed by his party members. Distrusts everyone, other Drow especially, and downright hates surface elves (the aforementioned love interest was executed for conspiring with Drow). That's a check for Rebellious Side (-1), but he's not dumb enough to qualify for Openly Defiant. Unable to form intimate relationships (-1). Abilities and Items One animal companion (his familiar), but that's a class feature so it gets a maybe tag (-1). Leaving skills blank since he picks em up no faster than any other character. No good at singing. No "unusual" magical abilities, since Drow males have an aptitude for wizardry. Four languages (yey INT), but that's kinda standard, so let's put it under maybe (-4). Definitely done some butt-kicking courtesy of AoE spells (-1). No special weapon, does carry concealed daggers (hey, he doesn't wanna get swallowed by something and be stuck) (-1). Has a sentimental item (ring) (-1). Past Definitely despised, but not undeservingly so. Ran away after betraying a raiding party (-1). Member of a downtrodden race, definitely abused (-2). Lost a lover (-1). Check the block for "reformed villain" inasmuch as he's at least neutral (-1). I do take it personally when he's disliked, since I wrote him (-1). De-Suifiers Pointlessly cruel (+1). Weaknesses as a plot device (he has to dose himself with knockout poison to avoid nightmares and get restful sleep, or else no spells the next day) (+1). Has run away, "survival first!" style (+1). Been in bad situations (+1). Has ignored slights, because hell, the last thing he needs is MORE enemies (+1). Reacts in Drow-like ways to social situations, at least when he can get away with it (+1). Total Score With everything: 29 Without the "maybe" marks: 23 22-29 Some definite Sue-like tendancies here. A little polishing might be in order to put original fiction and RPG characters back into the balance, especially if Kirking is involved. Fanfiction characters should probably have some work done.
Winterleaf 04-28-08, 08:13 PM	Well, I just posted a background of this character in the "Describe your Paladin" thread. So let's see how Sue she is: Vikson Stonehallow Fighter 6/Bard 6/Paladin 5 I dallied over some of the naming convention questions, then decided Vixen wasn't an ordinary name anyway so Vikson didn't count as misspelled ordinary name, wasn't all that extraordinary for a fantasy rpg setting, and moved on. Do you find your character attractive enough to date him/her? +1. Then again, I'm a ho'. Does your character have some scar or small flaw that is noticed by another character, but does not actually detract from your character's appearance? +1 missing an eye, covered with a patch (Gem of Seeing in the socket) Does your character have a rebellious side that tends to get him/her in trouble with authority on a semi-regular basis? +1 She's a paladin with a penchant for wiseacre remarks, stretching the truth and still a little too impulsive for her own good. Does your character have a spitfire personality, sharp wit, attitude, and/or strong temper? +1. Smart aleck, Int 14, Cha 14, Bluff +22 and Wis 8. Sharp wit and attitude, check. Ah, the sound of music! Does your character.. Now I was going to check off all the subcategories, then I realized... duh! She's got 6 levels of Bard, and the feat Versatile Performer! It's part of the character without just "being so", and isn't unusual for the setting, so I let it go. Does your character have a telepathic/empathic connection or the ability to communicate with any kind of animal? She's a Paladin, and it's her mount, so that one gets a bye too. Not counting his or her first language, how many languages does your character fluently speak? Click one box for every language: In RPG settings where second languages are the norm, this probably has no place on the test. Rather, they should ask "Does your character speak languages that he/she has had minimal exposure to in their background?" Does your character alone have a weapon that... Was given by some kind of spirit/magical being? +1 Is magical? +1. I'd give this one a pass except it was given to her by a silver dragon as a gift from it's hoard. . . Has your character otherwise lost... Close friend? +1. Caused her brother's death through her own impulsiveness/incompetence Does your character angst about something that he/she did in the past? +1 death of brother. Would you like to be friends with your character? +1 Sure. Vikson's a laugh riot, and can still get free drinks at pubs with her storytelling. Do you feel insulted, attacked, or defensive when someone does not like your character? +1 Unfortunately I get pretty emotionally invested in my characters. When people don't like them I feel mildly insulted. Do you ever poke fun at your character's faults/weaknesses and/or use them as plot devices? -1. I've had the opportunity to have Vikson use the "Wasn't my fault" catchphrase enough times. Has your character ever been honestly selfish, petty, lazy, shallow, or pointlessly cruel? -1. Two of her other catchphrases: "You buy the beer. I bought last time." and one I stole from an unremembered source "I can't do that; I've got a bone in my leg." Score: 13. I have other characters that would MarySue the bejeezus out of that test though. . . :-)