RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

Mercurias · **03-09-2015, 02:14 PM**

(03-09-2015, 01:47 PM)Imo Wrote:
(03-09-2015, 01:26 PM)Mercurias Wrote: The best characters are the ones who aren't defined by what they do, but by who they are. :p

Eh, that's a generalization. It depends heavily on the character. Look at real life - there are many people, interesting people, for whom their job is an important facet of who they are. And, to give an in-game example, a paladin whose characterization doesn't include at all what it means to be a paladin to them is a probably poor excuse of one!

That's actually a very good point! I would, however, state that a class/job could certainly BE part of the essence of a character and thus be who that character is. If your character was born and raised to become a Summoner and fight the Primals, that's absolutely okay for it to be there. That character could self-identify by the struggles and lessons that have put them on such a path.Â

This is HEAVILY done with Paladins also! Everyone loves to give them that fun choice where they have to pick between the person they love and a selfish deed or the greater good and watch their beloved fall into the lava.

I actually put that into one of my examples in a roundabout way, with the Soren character being a Pilot as part of his concept. It isn't quite the same as an in-game job, but it helps define who the character is. Soren sees himself as a friggin' airship pilot, not a machinist or soldier or adventurer. He's a pilot and what he loves to do is fly.

All that being said, my previous post was primarily to say that being over-or-underpowered is not what makes a character interesting and/or engaging. One of the characters that rings most true to many people is the person who carries a cheap sword and buckler and has no idea of how to use them, but has a heart that beats for the good of others anyway. Seeing that person rise or fall is more interesting to me than how good of a swordsman he is.Â

Likewise the fallen paladin, who has to choose whether to fall deeper and subvert everything he or she used to believe in or accept that their pride will be forever tarnished by their misdeeds and attempt to struggle back up alone the path of righteousness again.

Or you could even get funky with it and play a character who has a reputation as a legendary paladin and righter of wrongs who actually just has a habit of being in the right place at the right time to get the credit with minimal effort. The pally might even believe his own hype, or could be purposefully manipulating circumstances in order to come out the hero in order to use his or her prestige to climb upwards in society where he or she can begin to battle corruption in the system with an artificially inflated hero's reputation.

"Paladin" can mean a lot of things. It's who the Paladin is that defines the character. :p

Edit: And now that there has been a lot said about OP characters and how they tend to do wrong, have you seen many of them played RIGHT? I'm curious because I have a few examples I'll share in, uh, a less dense post.

...After someone deletes the accidental double post. Sorry.

I'm failed forum science 101 in college apparently.

Poll: Which Character do you relate to most? You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
Adventurer 1	4.76%	2	4.76%
Adventurer 2	23.81%	10	23.81%
The Voidsent Potato	42.86%	18	42.86%
The Courier	28.57%	12	28.57%
Total		42 vote(s)	100%

Overpowered or underpowered characters?

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes