Barbarian RP help - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Barbarian RP help

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
f4m1m3
Nov 03, 2008 17:46:43 So we're playing a 3.5 game and i have a Deep Elf Barbarian who is based off the Cheroke native americans.

My last charecter was sort of a jerk so i was trying to be something of a Barbarian with a heart of gold, this was going well until he found some gold in a dungeon, he immeadiently hoarded as much as he could, not because he knew that it could buy him things, but because it was shiny and other players wanted it. He's also very distrsutful a NPC sorcerer because he appears to be a witch to my charecer

so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny?
#2
mynameforevermore
Nov 03, 2008 18:45:10 You can, but it will seem to the other players like you're not being nice.

The problem with this scenario is that you're putting your personal characterization above that of the rest of the party. Be suspicious of the sorc, but don't let it effect the other players mechanically. You hoard the treasure, the other players can't advance as they should be able to. In fact, as a class, Barbarians typically need LESS treasure than other classes.

So, if your character would like to make comments about how the sorcerer is a witch, it could add depth to the situation, but if you steal, and this is basically stealing, from the rest of the party, then it could lead to bad things happening in D&D.

For more info on a similar issue, see this thread. My advice is restated here, albeit more eloquently.
#3
paintrain147
Nov 03, 2008 19:30:28 Nobody likes a jerk. If you're character is a jerk, forcing you to act like a jerk in order to play your character, nobody will like you or your character. If you're roleplaying experience is at the expense of everyone else's that you've designed poor character. Because D&D is a social game, requiring interactions with real people, it is best to make characters that you believe will enhance everyone's roleplaying experience.
#4
skalgrimm
Nov 03, 2008 23:25:12
Nobody likes a jerk. If you're character is a jerk, forcing you to act like a jerk in order to play your character, nobody will like you or your character. If you're roleplaying experience is at the expense of everyone else's that you've designed poor character. Because D&D is a social game, requiring interactions with real people, it is best to make characters that you believe will enhance everyone's roleplaying experience.

This is good advice. After all, there are farmers and rat-catchers in a D&D world too, just like there are avaricious jerks, but that doesn't mean you need to play them, either. Action movies don't star the stay-at-home mom who works part time out of the den, even though she certainly exists.

There's also a converse to the above advice as well:

If YOU, as a player, are going to work well with the other players, then go ahead and create a character that is going to work well with the other players. Then you are both being cooperative and a good roleplayer.

This is not to say that you have to be a model citizen. However, notice the subtle difference between a sullen loner and someone who affects the air of being a sullen loner, perhaps because he is afraid of being emotionally vulnerable. The sullen loner character has no reason to be in the group, and no reason not to wander off. The second character can still act all sullen and aloof, but has a real "in game" reason to be a member of the party.

Make sure to create a character that the character group has a real reason to embrace, or at least tolerate, not someone that is only in the character group because YOU are in the D&D player group.
#5
Kaganfindel
Nov 05, 2008 16:04:51
so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny?

If the group has to stop having fun and adventuring to deal with you, then no.

It's fine to play a character with quirks, but those quirks aren't supposed to be a regular source of conflict or a handicap to the group. Given only the information you've supplied me, I'm inclined to believe that the only reason the party includes your character is because you're a PC, and the party has to include every player's character by default.

I get the feeling that this is pattern behavior for you, that you enjoy putting the rest of the group into conflict with yourself. If that's the case, think about why you need that kind of interaction in the game.
#6
Shiftkitty
Nov 06, 2008 14:40:27 In game fix to the gold question: It's shiny, it's pretty, it goes bling-bling, but you find out it's soft, and unless your barbarian works in the electronics/semi-conductor industry, it's pretty useless. He learns that it shapes easily into a nice looking dagger, but it's useless as a weapon as it un-shapes just as easily. Maybe keep no more than you can easily carry (don't short him on the treasure, though!). If the others like it and want it, it must be worth something, but damned if you know why.

The sorceror: distrust is fine. Paranoia is not. Maybe he doesn't trust the "witch" to stand guard and can't sleep while he knows the sorceror is on guard duty. He won't let the sorceror touch his stuff lest a charm or hex be placed in or on it. Still, he recognizes that the sorceror is part of the group and won't just let him die if he needs the help.

A strange character personality is a fun thing provided you answer both parts of the question:

Part 1) How can I make my character unique, memorable, and maybe a little strange...

Part 2) (the part a lot of people forget about) ... and function acceptably with the rest of the party?
#7
MrCustomer
Nov 06, 2008 15:35:57
So we're playing a 3.5 game and i have a Deep Elf Barbarian who is based off the Cheroke native americans.

My last charecter was sort of a jerk so i was trying to be something of a Barbarian with a heart of gold, this was going well until he found some gold in a dungeon, he immeadiently hoarded as much as he could, not because he knew that it could buy him things, but because it was shiny and other players wanted it. He's also very distrsutful a NPC sorcerer because he appears to be a witch to my charecer

so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny?

If you want to be nice, then you can't be a jerk. Hoarding treasure and stealing is being a jerk. Instead you can accomplish these quirks in ways that don't harm or make your party mad.

For example:

Gold is beautiful, but it's value is dubious at best, it's malable and easily shaped, but can't keep an edge so makes very poor tools and weapons. You woulldn't collect it simply because it's shiney, you are called a barbarian by others but that is not how your people call themselves, you wouldn't steal from your party but perhaps you can show your barbarian view of gold by one of the following:

-Gold is sacred, especially the Gold coins with the images of what must be great conquerers and warriors on them. Perhaps you pray and worship to your gold, or even offer it small sacrifices. You might even melt some of the mundane gold items and form a small idol in the image to your deity, and worhsip it, spreading out the gold coins with the sacred faces in front of it. You scoff at the parties lack of wisdom in placing such value in something that they show no respect for.

-Gold is beautiful, never has such a metal been as wonderful. You see the way the party values it and you believe yourself to have great riches. You therefore make much show of your gold. Such as a tunic with Gold coins sewn all over it (might provide some armor but gold is not very strong) or else you melt some coin or mundane gold items down and make a decorative Golden Mask to wear into battle.

As for the distrust of the NPC sorceror. As long as it doesn't interfere with the game or players then this is fine. Perhaps though instead of mistrusting your party, which is gonna get you off on a bad foot, since you need to trust your allies.

Magic and Witches are Taboo, but superstition and Taboo are based upon ignorance. As you adventure with the party you would observe that the magic is used withoutthe party being cursed and the NPC Sorceror hasn't done anything to harm you. As you come to understand from observation about magic it will become less taboo and the sorceror will become more trustworthy as he earns it.

You might still have misgivings about magic and sorcerors and wizards, etc, and beleive that magic is foolish and dangerous and untrustworthy in general, but you will come to recognize that certain individuals can be trusted even if they use magic and that sometimes magic is a necessary evil.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 f4m1m3 Nov 03, 2008 17:46:43	So we're playing a 3.5 game and i have a Deep Elf Barbarian who is based off the Cheroke native americans. My last charecter was sort of a jerk so i was trying to be something of a Barbarian with a heart of gold, this was going well until he found some gold in a dungeon, he immeadiently hoarded as much as he could, not because he knew that it could buy him things, but because it was shiny and other players wanted it. He's also very distrsutful a NPC sorcerer because he appears to be a witch to my charecer so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny?
#2 mynameforevermore Nov 03, 2008 18:45:10	You can, but it will seem to the other players like you're not being nice. The problem with this scenario is that you're putting your personal characterization above that of the rest of the party. Be suspicious of the sorc, but don't let it effect the other players mechanically. You hoard the treasure, the other players can't advance as they should be able to. In fact, as a class, Barbarians typically need LESS treasure than other classes. So, if your character would like to make comments about how the sorcerer is a witch, it could add depth to the situation, but if you steal, and this is basically stealing, from the rest of the party, then it could lead to bad things happening in D&D. For more info on a similar issue, see this thread. My advice is restated here, albeit more eloquently.
#3 paintrain147 Nov 03, 2008 19:30:28	Nobody likes a jerk. If you're character is a jerk, forcing you to act like a jerk in order to play your character, nobody will like you or your character. If you're roleplaying experience is at the expense of everyone else's that you've designed poor character. Because D&D is a social game, requiring interactions with real people, it is best to make characters that you believe will enhance everyone's roleplaying experience.
#4 skalgrimm Nov 03, 2008 23:25:12	Nobody likes a jerk. If you're character is a jerk, forcing you to act like a jerk in order to play your character, nobody will like you or your character. If you're roleplaying experience is at the expense of everyone else's that you've designed poor character. Because D&D is a social game, requiring interactions with real people, it is best to make characters that you believe will enhance everyone's roleplaying experience. This is good advice. After all, there are farmers and rat-catchers in a D&D world too, just like there are avaricious jerks, but that doesn't mean you need to play them, either. Action movies don't star the stay-at-home mom who works part time out of the den, even though she certainly exists. There's also a converse to the above advice as well: If YOU, as a player, are going to work well with the other players, then go ahead and create a character that is going to work well with the other players. Then you are both being cooperative and a good roleplayer. This is not to say that you have to be a model citizen. However, notice the subtle difference between a sullen loner and someone who affects the air of being a sullen loner, perhaps because he is afraid of being emotionally vulnerable. The sullen loner character has no reason to be in the group, and no reason not to wander off. The second character can still act all sullen and aloof, but has a real "in game" reason to be a member of the party. Make sure to create a character that the character group has a real reason to embrace, or at least tolerate, not someone that is only in the character group because YOU are in the D&D player group.
#5 Kaganfindel Nov 05, 2008 16:04:51	so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny? If the group has to stop having fun and adventuring to deal with you, then no. It's fine to play a character with quirks, but those quirks aren't supposed to be a regular source of conflict or a handicap to the group. Given only the information you've supplied me, I'm inclined to believe that the only reason the party includes your character is because you're a PC, and the party has to include every player's character by default. I get the feeling that this is pattern behavior for you, that you enjoy putting the rest of the group into conflict with yourself. If that's the case, think about why you need that kind of interaction in the game.
#6 Shiftkitty Nov 06, 2008 14:40:27	In game fix to the gold question: It's shiny, it's pretty, it goes bling-bling, but you find out it's soft, and unless your barbarian works in the electronics/semi-conductor industry, it's pretty useless. He learns that it shapes easily into a nice looking dagger, but it's useless as a weapon as it un-shapes just as easily. Maybe keep no more than you can easily carry (don't short him on the treasure, though!). If the others like it and want it, it must be worth something, but damned if you know why. The sorceror: distrust is fine. Paranoia is not. Maybe he doesn't trust the "witch" to stand guard and can't sleep while he knows the sorceror is on guard duty. He won't let the sorceror touch his stuff lest a charm or hex be placed in or on it. Still, he recognizes that the sorceror is part of the group and won't just let him die if he needs the help. A strange character personality is a fun thing provided you answer both parts of the question: Part 1) How can I make my character unique, memorable, and maybe a little strange... Part 2) (the part a lot of people forget about) ... and function acceptably with the rest of the party?
#7 MrCustomer Nov 06, 2008 15:35:57	So we're playing a 3.5 game and i have a Deep Elf Barbarian who is based off the Cheroke native americans. My last charecter was sort of a jerk so i was trying to be something of a Barbarian with a heart of gold, this was going well until he found some gold in a dungeon, he immeadiently hoarded as much as he could, not because he knew that it could buy him things, but because it was shiny and other players wanted it. He's also very distrsutful a NPC sorcerer because he appears to be a witch to my charecer so the question is, is this ok? Can he be a nice guy but freak out and hoard shiny stuff because it's shiny? If you want to be nice, then you can't be a jerk. Hoarding treasure and stealing is being a jerk. Instead you can accomplish these quirks in ways that don't harm or make your party mad. For example: Gold is beautiful, but it's value is dubious at best, it's malable and easily shaped, but can't keep an edge so makes very poor tools and weapons. You woulldn't collect it simply because it's shiney, you are called a barbarian by others but that is not how your people call themselves, you wouldn't steal from your party but perhaps you can show your barbarian view of gold by one of the following: -Gold is sacred, especially the Gold coins with the images of what must be great conquerers and warriors on them. Perhaps you pray and worship to your gold, or even offer it small sacrifices. You might even melt some of the mundane gold items and form a small idol in the image to your deity, and worhsip it, spreading out the gold coins with the sacred faces in front of it. You scoff at the parties lack of wisdom in placing such value in something that they show no respect for. -Gold is beautiful, never has such a metal been as wonderful. You see the way the party values it and you believe yourself to have great riches. You therefore make much show of your gold. Such as a tunic with Gold coins sewn all over it (might provide some armor but gold is not very strong) or else you melt some coin or mundane gold items down and make a decorative Golden Mask to wear into battle. As for the distrust of the NPC sorceror. As long as it doesn't interfere with the game or players then this is fine. Perhaps though instead of mistrusting your party, which is gonna get you off on a bad foot, since you need to trust your allies. Magic and Witches are Taboo, but superstition and Taboo are based upon ignorance. As you adventure with the party you would observe that the magic is used withoutthe party being cursed and the NPC Sorceror hasn't done anything to harm you. As you come to understand from observation about magic it will become less taboo and the sorceror will become more trustworthy as he earns it. You might still have misgivings about magic and sorcerors and wizards, etc, and beleive that magic is foolish and dangerous and untrustworthy in general, but you will come to recognize that certain individuals can be trusted even if they use magic and that sometimes magic is a necessary evil.