The Man Behind the Man/The Man in Front of the Man and/or the Hidden Villain.
I fucking love the idea of messing with the heroes' concept of who/what they are actually fighting against, as long as it is done properly (FFIX' Necron was not a good example...) Nothing is more disheartening to a group of adventurers than never being able to put a peg on the actual bad guy in the face of overwhelming evil's descent upon the world, or putting all their efforts into defeating the supposed bad guy just to find out he was a mook. For me, that ups the tension considerably, even when other people roll their eyes and shout "PADDING!"
Bonus points if we saw hints of the real Big Bad beforehand.
Also something I enjoy. Hell, Kopo is a good example of the tiny character who bloody destroys people bigger than him (I'd call it Husban-do, in this case).
I fucking love the idea of messing with the heroes' concept of who/what they are actually fighting against, as long as it is done properly (FFIX' Necron was not a good example...) Nothing is more disheartening to a group of adventurers than never being able to put a peg on the actual bad guy in the face of overwhelming evil's descent upon the world, or putting all their efforts into defeating the supposed bad guy just to find out he was a mook. For me, that ups the tension considerably, even when other people roll their eyes and shout "PADDING!"
Bonus points if we saw hints of the real Big Bad beforehand.
(04-29-2015, 10:28 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: I'll admit it.
I'm a sucker for waif-fu -- the petite female character who can wipe the floor with someone twice her size. I know it's thoroughly implausible in most settings (aikido and judo notwithstanding), but I end up coming back to it and "pint-sized powerhouse" on the male side. Maybe it's the whole "David versus Goliath" thing, or maybe I've spent too much time watching Whedon's work.
Other than that, like Clover, I tend to make my characters relatively young (late teens to early-mid twenties), as I can personally get more character growth out of them and I feel that age range works better in the "monomyth" structure. My monomyth "mentor" characters are all usually NPCs -- I've never been able to play one for an extended period.
Also something I enjoy. Hell, Kopo is a good example of the tiny character who bloody destroys people bigger than him (I'd call it Husban-do, in this case).
![[Image: 4bNK0mE.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/4bNK0mE.gif)
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