Well, the party made a big collection of wierdos. Not a big problem in and of itself, but how do you play a wierdo in a group of wierdos without making it seem like comic relief all the time? Let me give some info on the group:
LG bugbear cleric of bahamut (powergamer type player....this character is the real striker of the group)
Wilden Warden (wildblood) - player wants to be a tree person in touch with nature
Pixie Beastmaster Ranger who RIDES her hawk - player loves pets, always wants a flying mount, we put 2 and 2 together
Githzerei Slayer - player plays him as a Swordmaster teaching his arts to some random guy who tags along with us and doesn't do much (basically he's the slayer's pupil, and is an RP presence only)
And me. I'm playing a Human sorceror.... a human cosmic sorceror..... a human cosmic sorceror that happens to be a seer (seer theme)... a human cosmic sorceror that happens to be a 100% BLIND seer.
The concept is great, he "sees" only the stars, and is 100% mechanically blind, with all the penalties that entails. To solve some of the problems, he has the blindfighting sentinel feat (which gives him no perception penalty and makes him not grant CA to creatures he can't see), and next level he's taking Blindfighting warrior, and the DM gave an OK on it applying to ranged attacks instead of melee, so i'll be able to finally use non area powers.
mechanically the character is sound, if slightly underpowered due to feat investment and such, but shouldn't be a problem in this group. Roleplaying-wise, the character is awesome and a lot of fun. We decided that my character spoke of a prophecy which he couldn't see all of, he simply knew he was supposed to collect these 4 people and go to this place and wait for it to be revealed (not a leader per se, but responsible for the party getting together).
I'm looking for ideas of nifty little quirks and such i can include with the character that will accentuate the "blind seer" concept, but keep the character from becoming a running joke. Obviously if i treat the character as being able to see all the time, it won't really matter that he's blind, other than having wasted a few feats - i'm looking to accentuate the point that he's blind and something of an oracle (old hermit) without making him do stupid crap like running into trees or looking at the wrong person while talking.
I've already got him referring to most things cryptically, which taes some effort and thought but really enhances the character. When i use the seer theme power (i pick a player and roll 3 dice, which become their next 3 d20 rolls - basically fortune telling) i try to be all mysterious when i tell them their fortune, while still giving the general impression of the dice.
so TLDR, i've got a 100% blind cosmic sorceror with the Seer theme, what cool ideas can you think of for me to use that will accentuate his blindness and prophecy without being simply comic relief?
Get a walking stick.
Comment on how things smell alot.
For inpsiration, I'd say watch episodes of Avatar, specifically the ones with Toph Bei Fong (sp?). She's the blind earth monk type girl . Constantly makes hilarious quips related to her blindness.
Being the comic relief is better than being the party joke.
I like the heightened sense idea also. "Who needs sight when you can follow the stench of the bugbear."
You can give him a staff or some random on his Amulet or Staff that changes shape, from the Moon to the Star to the Sun.
The idea is that he doesn't know what Phase he is in until he actually gropes his own Staff to like "Ah ha, I'm in Moon Phase!"
You can also have him constantly miss accounting for the Pixie in his spells. After all he can't easily spot her, right?
You could ask the Slayer to let his apprentice point you in the right direction during combat, and help you with menial stuff out of combat. Slowly make him into your personal servant, and then start acting like an entitled old guy towards the apprentice ("Why are you never there when I need you?! Kids these days..."). Should result in some RP fun.
Get training in Bluff, and act like a helpless blind guy when you're in hostile territory. Then unleash a surprise nova round on enemies when you've caught them offguard.
i like the idea of interacting with the slayer''s protoge. The slayer's player had been looking for a potentially more interactive pupil, hoping that the DM would take over roleplaying him somewhat so that the other player wouldn't just be talking to himself.
saying "i see" might have just the right amount of comedy, but keep it subtle and cryptic....especially if he randomly says "i see" when nothing is happening. it would be fun to see how long it takes before the party catches on what i'm doing.
as far as commenting on smells/sounds goes - we actually pay rather little attention to the mundane goings-on in our games (road travel just becomes "ok, nothing happens, you arrive"), though we do have a lot more NPC and PC to PC interaction than normal, just based on some of the fun racial setups (the wilden, for example, is a few WEEKS old, and delights in saying "we" and trying to look at the world fresh and form opinions). Furthermore, i'm really working hard to respond to more and more things in a fortune-tellery, cryptic, horoscopy way, and commenting on smells FEELS like it would undermine that a bit.
He doesn't wear a blinfold. He keeps his eyes shut most of the time, opening them in combat or when making predictions and such. When he opens his eyes, there is something going on with them. Like blazing orange/yellow for using burning spray or blazing starfall, black void with numerous tiny pinpricks of light for his prophecies, etc. - I also toyed with a suggestion from another character to have him have no eyes (not sockets....i mean just nothing there...skin where the character should have eye sockets and eyes), but the idea i went with seemed more expressive.
i like the idea of interacting with the slayer''s protoge. The slayer's player had been looking for a potentially more interactive pupil, hoping that the DM would take over roleplaying him somewhat so that the other player wouldn't just be talking to himself.
saying "i see" might have just the right amount of comedy, but keep it subtle and cryptic....especially if he randomly says "i see" when nothing is happening. it would be fun to see how long it takes before the party catches on what i'm doing.
as far as commenting on smells/sounds goes - we actually pay rather little attention to the mundane goings-on in our games (road travel just becomes "ok, nothing happens, you arrive"), though we do have a lot more NPC and PC to PC interaction than normal, just based on some of the fun racial setups (the wilden, for example, is a few WEEKS old, and delights in saying "we" and trying to look at the world fresh and form opinions). Furthermore, i'm really working hard to respond to more and more things in a fortune-tellery, cryptic, horoscopy way, and commenting on smells FEELS like it would undermine that a bit.
Sounds like you have an awesome group, congratulations
Glad you went with the *starry eyes* thing, otherwise you'd probably have been slain by now as a Far Realm/Underdark horror or something.
Speaking of which, maybe you should speak to your DM about a future adventure taking place somewhere underground? That would give your character's flaw a chance to shine, since you're not bothered by darkness at all (or at least not more than usual).
Glad you went with the *starry eyes* thing, otherwise you'd probably have been slain by now as a Far Realm/Underdark horror or something
see, i thought i was coming across as a perfectly "normal" character - albeit in an extreme fantasy cliche sort of way. I mean really, what DnD Npc even wouldn't have ever heard stories of a random old blind seer hermit wh lived in a cabin in the woods, where strange things happened occasionally, but who had an uncanny sense of the future?
i'm not worried about my "flaw." i'm fully capable of min/maxing and heavily optimizing characters for just about any role. Only one person in our group this time has an "optimized" character, so i'm completely fine simply being "on par" with the rest of the group. Plus we're only 2 sessions/encounters in, and the DM sounds like he's got a few levels planned out already. I won't even have a flaw soon, once i get blindfighting warrior/sentinel (whichever one o don't have already, i can never keep it straight) i'll have no penalties to attack for any type of attack, and with staff expertise, i won't provoke OAs no matter what (except for moving). That will allow me to start retraining some of my abilities to single-target stuff.
Jeez, if you're so sensitive about your "handicap" just tell me! Don't get all up in my face about it.
(this could also be a fun roleplaying quirk, by the way. "I'm fully capable of finding the way by myself, thank you very much!")
i make sure to clearly say what my character is doing, so players don't go "i didn't here him say he was wondering off, you'd think i'd have seen it!" - instead they pay special, extra close attention to where i am. As the person who got the party together (though none of us, including me, know why!) they want to keep me around, so if i do turn to wander off, they quickly decide who's gonna follow me to make sure i don't cause/get-into trouble. The way i've played him so far, in the (now 2) sessions we've played has had the character behaving the opposite of standoff-ish. instead he's extremely easygoing, following anyone and going aling with anything, because after all, it'll all work itself out :-p
i'm also having fun with them whenever they ask what i got them together for....i simply tell give some cryptic response about the when or the where being important, and the why/what will follow
(i admit i double posted this thread over in the character development forum as well, and got a nifty idea about getting an arcane familiar, possibly beholderkin, to help give him an even stronger defined personality).
"The stars bleed such vivid yellows, it drinks up the blue and black of the night sky..."
During a sunset "I see the river of orange is slowly receding, the cold colours of night will be here soon..."
While casting Blazing Starfall "My canvas is the enemy, feel the power of yellow, orange and red..."
While interacting with an upset NPC named Lerisa "Why so mauve, Lerisa? Let me bathe you in the glorious green of life..."
You get the idea.
He doesn't wear a blinfold. He keeps his eyes shut most of the time, opening them in combat or when making predictions and such. When he opens his eyes, there is something going on with them. Like blazing orange/yellow for using burning spray or blazing starfall, black void with numerous tiny pinpricks of light for his prophecies, etc.
By any chance does he worship Kal'enel?
He doesn't wear a blinfold. He keeps his eyes shut most of the time, opening them in combat or when making predictions and such. When he opens his eyes, there is something going on with them. Like blazing orange/yellow for using burning spray or blazing starfall, black void with numerous tiny pinpricks of light for his prophecies, etc.
By any chance does he worship Kal'enel?
to be honest, i've never even heard of Kal'enel.
I think i did put down a deity (Ioun) but the more i think about it, the more i;m considering having him be atheistic:
"The gods are but the tools of mortals, shaping the world only as their congregations see fit, powerless to swim against the tide or do anything other than what they were dreamed into being to do."
For variety, plan this with your DM:
Stop suddenly (for no apparent reason) and pull on the leash. When the other guy gets yanked back, a 10' pit opens in the ground where he was about to step.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a blind character who grabs an arrow out of the air. "How did you DO that?" "Aw, I saw that coming a mile away." There may be other good lines you want to steal copy; I've never watched the movie.
Does your local newspaper print a horoscope? That is how he talks to people at taverns.
"There is none so blind as he who WILL not see." Say this just before unloading your solo-killer power on BBEG.
Also, this is a world of magic. If your DM is willing to flub the blind warrior feat to make your magic work, why go to the trouble to explain it more. If you really must, perhaps he can sense the different levels of magic in people and single out foe from friend with it.
Sure, if you use an area affect that targets all creatures in burst and you hit a friend you can make a joke about firing blindly. Just don't stress it and neither will the other players.