Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Kryogeneva Apr 14, 2015 20:37:54	Warning, very long post. Hey guys and gals, if anyone could help me get into character, I would be very appreciative. So, without further ado, here is my character, and issue:   ---Character---   My character is Flaye Filamente, 5e War Priest Cleric. Human, tall, black hair (waist length), blue eyes, fair skin.   Flaye believes that she is visited by Tempus when she meditates, but has no idea what Tempus looks like. Only that during her meditations, she is guided to action by an ethereal, angelic female figure. The reason she believes her visitations are from Tempus is because she is guided to seek battle in all situations: from a tavern brawl, where all she has to do is throw ale at a drunk, to assassinating princes (to incite a war), which requires much scheming.    I took thaumaturgy and stay the dying, her core RP cantrips. Every time a confrontation brews nearby, she loses control as adrenaline spikes through her and manifests itself in a variety of ways (booming voice, shaking surroundings, flaring fires, etc.). If she seems ANYONE who is near death but could do battle again later, she WILL keep them from dying, so long as it leaves her free of suspicion.   Her goal: Bring as much conflict and battle into the world as possible, and eventually become the embodiment of Tempus on this plane.   Now to her personality: She is incredibly good looking (rolled a 17 during first session), but has a distinct inability to realize when she is being "hit on". She thinks it is envy of her link to Tempus. She also fails to recognize basic social queues, like anger or sadness, a clenched fist or tearstained face, a wave of the hand in greeting, etc.    ---Background---   Folk hero Sets her mind to something and follows through no matter what. There is no good pretending to be something she isn't. Has family, no idea where they are. Hopes to see them again one day. Convinced of the significance of her destiny, blind to the shortcomings and risk of failure.     ---The issue---   I brought her to life last Sunday, and for the most part she was fun to play out. But I have issues with motivations and consistancy. It's hard to determine if she is in control enough to engage in ambushes, or if she cares enough to seek out information, or to contribute to the group goal beyond enciting some form of combat.   It almost feels that she is hired muscle that only speaks when spoken too, and occasionally flips **** and starts a fight for no real reason (as if drunk). It's very hard to engage with the party and their goals.   Below is her backstory:   Flaye grew up in a small northern village on the edge of civilization. Largely a trapping town, Dene was unprepared when a group of tribesmen and women of Halliskali attacked on a cold winter night. Flaye, at just 9 years old, was forced to flee south with her mother and the rest of the women and children. The men stayed back to defend their escape, but were savagely cut down by the invaders.   One nasty brute broke off to chase the fleeing villagers, cutting down women and children. Flaye's mother, seeing no other choice, thrust Flaye into a nearby snowdrift. Flaye watched on helplessly as her village was butchered, her mother captured and her father cut down.   Now essnetially an orphan, Flaye fled south and sought refuge in the next village, Whoastead. As the years passed, the fate of her parents as well as those of her village slowly started warping her. She became hard and uncaring, seeking only to do what was needed to survive.   But this would take it's toll on her mental state. She saw repeating patterns all over the place, such as looking up at clocks at precisely 11:11, or groups of objects such as 6 pairs of pants, 6 flower buds, and so on. Flaye began to see this as a sign; a god was surely trying to grab her attention. She would think about it almost constantly, at times falling into a meditative state.   It was during one of these trances that a voice spoke from on high, female and angelic. A bright burning light filled her vision. What it specifically said, she knew not. She was ony left with vague impressions of war and magic, of swords and shields. She knew it was a calling to arms, to become this deity's champion.   The only god she knew of who governed war was Tempus, and she believes this to be her deity. Whether or not this is true, and whether or not meditating on the patterns of life and the art of war were truly the reasons for her celestial connection, is all unknown.   What is known is the experience left her marked - she could speak with celestial beings. With a newfound purpose, she started training in combat, as well as magic. Amongst the villagers, Flaye became the subject of much gossip and rumor. They called her a witch, or mentally handicapped. They both pitied her and feared her. Yet this would soon change.   At 19, Flaye's second home was again assaulted by Halliskali raiders, but this time she would not hide and cower. Under her god's guidance, she led the people to arms against the attackers. Her voice, booming across the town, rallied the villagers around her. With divine empowerment, Flaye led the villagers against the Halliskali and drove them back.   Regarded as a hero, the townspeople all but began to worship Flaye's pressence. But now her fire for warfare was kindled, and she knew she could not stay.   So begins her story...
#2 WizardV Apr 14, 2015 21:49:04	If you're going to play an anti-social, violence-prone, problem-inducing hero your whole table needs to be on board with that. There is a difference between role-playing what a character would realistically do versus role-playing what is fun for the entire group. As an example, avoid taking actions which split the party in a significant way even if it is something your character might realistically do given her backstory and personality. Don't foil ambushes the table is planning just to act out a character trait. Don't sit around in apathy while the party is investigating things. I doubt it is more fun for you or them regardless of the character realism. Ever played a computer RPG? The NPCs in your party don't randomly flip out or derail your ambush or investigation attempts despite their personality. If they did you would kick their ass out of your party at the first opportunity.   If you are going to take the former approach to role-playing. What would happen if your table all did the same? Why should the other characters put up with your shenanigans? Unpredictable, unreliable people aren't who you want to associate in a profession with an alarmingly high mortality rate. All it would take is one tavern brawl that they back you up in to land them in jail, or one failed ambush in which they take an arrow to the face unnecessarily and then what would their characters realistically do and why?   If you want your character traits to shine through non-destructively integrate your backstory more into the world or work it in with your DM. Work with your DM to write in previous associates who literally kicked you out of their party or people from a previous tavern brawl you started. If you are being guided by a god you should be rewarded for following that guidance by the god. When the ambush does fail because of your personality maybe the goblins get spooked and which enables your party to trail them back to their lair and serendipitously encounter something valuable. When the tavern brawl occur maybe it's with a wanted murderer and you get rewarded for his arrest. When you heal the goblin so he can fight again later, maybe he somehow saves your life in the future. My point is I don't think a character like this will be fun to play for you or your table unless the whole table is in on it.
(Reply to #2) Kryogeneva	That is definately some good advice. I'll definitely be talking with them about how she can become more of an asset instead of a a misguided trouble-maker. While it is nice to personally play an uncontrolled force, I think toning her down a bit, adding some social graces, might be in everyones best interest, especially my own.   And you are right, while it might not be apparent now, unless they are in on it and the story works with it, it's just going to be an issue.
#4 BoldItalic Apr 14, 2015 23:50:02	It's a bit worrying that you would want to role-play a crazy, but. okay, it's interesting. You need to make it fun for the other players. You could make it so that she is a perfectly happy, normal, socially well-adjusted person as long as she has a daily dose of fingleweed to control the pathological urges. Fingleweed is rare and hard to obtain so  ... quests are necessary. Or, she is a lycanthrope and the wild urges only happen under a full moon and the other PCs can be prepared for them. Something along those lines.
#5 Regin_Vargtass Apr 15, 2015 9:10:06	I think BoldItalic's advice is interesting, and it got me thinking. What if it is the violence that makes her stable and amiable? As long as the day includes a "healthy" dose of carnage, she will be fine in other situations. But if violence is denied her for extended periods of time, she becomes increasingly antisocial and destructive.
#6 BRJN Apr 15, 2015 15:51:07	Regin_Vargtass wrote:
#7 BRJN Apr 15, 2015 16:19:55	OP: The big red warning flag for me was your line about "has no idea of basic social cues".  That has to be removed to make a functioning character.   Read up on Tempus, because the concept you describe is interesting and could be fun.  It sounds like you are in fact visited by the Red Knight, an ascended mortal and servant of Tempus.   In essence, you live Valhalla-on-Earth, always training / practicing for the Greatest Battle.  Part of this is knowing when a fight would be a waste of your strength & talents.  (Picking a fight with a tavern drunk would qualify as such.)  But again, using strength against those who you clearly overpower - as a bully does - degrades the gift you are given, and it would be right for your character to call out such a fool, incidentally protecting the weak and helpless by so doing.    You can tackle stronger opponents and thereby gain greater glory if you learn tactics / strategy, as opposed to just rushing in headlong with no preparation, so you might roleplay having to make yourself take a breath and look over to the group leader before launching into combat.  ("Now?" ... "Yet?" ... "When?")    She certainly cares about finding information so she can fight a better battle, although perhaps in her case this means "where BBEG and his Inner Circle are" where the rest of the group wants to know "where the secret entrance to the fortress takes us".   You can contribute to the group goal, much like a Classic Barbarian, by being the big flashy display that draws attention while your sneaky Rogue goes off and does his thing.  You also can use "women's weapons" because for you it will be natural and a fair fight.  If you have Survival or Nature you can help the group get from here to there.  Maybe your celestial visitor has told you that you must first overcome this challenge - whatever the group is doing - to become capable of handling the real challenge of finding your family and restoring them to your homeland.  (Won't work if you are playing through Hoard of the Dragon Queen, because what's even tougher than facing a goddess - Tiamat?!)
(Reply to #7) Kryogeneva	Wow thanks for the overwhelmingly positive feedback, everyone!   I have taken quote a few notes from everyone here. Indeed, I got rid of her inability to recognize social signs. She instead has a growing tendancy toward violence, but only after a week or more of dull humdrum every-day-ness. Her violence is far less likely to manifest itself in a lowly tavern brawl, however; she instead becomes very irritable and on edge. Following along with BRJN's suggestion, she is more likely to face challenges that are equal or greater than herself than to debase herself and her God by inciting or engaging in petty squables. She now(retcon, always) believes each fight is a stepping stone, one that brings her closer to the "Greatest Battle". Yet she cannot allow herself to advance further without finding her Mother and exacting divine retribution on the Halliskali invaders!   I also had a pretty lengthy discussion with my group, and they surprised me by saying she was incredibly fun to play with! I suppose most of this came from "first session jitters" lol. Even so, I felt a personal need to be more group oriented, while maintaining her original character, and you guys helped me with that a ton!   I want to extend my thanks to everyone here. Not to sound too carebear, but these replies are by far some of the most helpful I have received in any forum! Cheers!
#9 BRJN Apr 17, 2015 18:52:24	Kryogeneva wrote: