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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Jul 2016 : 03:57:35
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So tonight, we were doing characters for a new Pathfinder campaign. I decided to do a human monk. (I wanted to play a nkosi, from the Southlands book, but the DM nixed that idea)
Then I realized that I've made four Pathfinder characters, two of which were meant to be front-line combatants -- and none of them has had anything heavier than leather armor.
On the way home, I was musing on this, and then realized that no character that I've played for more than one or two sessions has worn any kind of heavy armor. Few of them have had even medium armor...
It's not a deliberate thing. I've made more armored characters, but those campaign attempts always fizzled out after a session or two.
And my biggest, strongest front-line fighter -- my 2E minotaur -- didn't have heavy armor for a couple of reasons. When I first created him, he couldn't afford armor that was better than the AC he naturally had. By the time he could afford better armor, he was rocking the bracers of defense, and armor was thus moot.
So it's not been intentional, but my characters are always relatively unprotected by armor.
And so I put forth the question: what is it, either intentional or unintentional, that has been common for all or most of your characters?
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 29 Jul 2016 04:01:04
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Cards77
Senior Scribe
USA
747 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2016 : 14:03:55
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| I always end up making DEX based everything - fighter, rogue, ranger, barbarian. I don't know why I do it, probably because I build what I know best. I likewise never end up in heavy armor. Mobility is a premium, and I can't stand armor check penalties. Since Clerics no longer have heavy armor, the only time I WOULD consider heavy armor is out. |
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2016 : 14:14:47
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| Apparently I make sexy, sultry vixens 99% of the time, when I get the rare opportunity to play as it is. I didn't really notice it - a friend of mine just pointed it out when we were doing character creation for our own Pathfinder game. "Of COURSE Arivia's making the sexy ice queen witch." I just thought of them as being like characters Ed writes! |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2016 : 14:41:11
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| I too have never made a character who wore "heavy" armor. I tend to favor quick fighters or stealthy characters. Like Wooly, I too made a minotaur who had a decent natural AC and was eventually augmented by a Ring of Protection or something similar. I miss that character, great scimitars are fun to use when you have a massive str bonus. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2016 : 17:13:24
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| I'm not adverse to making an armored character, and I'll likely do so the next campaign. It's just that the recent choices have been types that didn't do much armor - a gun mage, an investigator, an inspired blade swashbuckler, and now this monk. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Wrigley
Senior Scribe
Czech Republic
605 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2016 : 00:21:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm not adverse to making an armored character, and I'll likely do so the next campaign. It's just that the recent choices have been types that didn't do much armor - a gun mage, an investigator, an inspired blade swashbuckler, and now this monk.
I pick characters with many options and mainly supportive rather than frontal attackers. I just like to think tacticaly and those are the ones that have both time and abilities to use it.
It seems you are not called master of mischieve by chance :-) |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2016 : 04:07:29
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I wouldn't have gone for a monk, this time, actually, but it seemed a better choice for the campaign. The DM wants arena combat to be a big part of it, and I just figured that one of the other guys would play the tank. The guys I came with have been playing Pathfinder much longer than I, and know how to fold, spindle, and mutilate the rules quite thoroughly. They don't do that, but they have played enough to know the rules backwards and forwards, and to have either inadvertently found loopholes and such or they've seen them exploited in tournament play and such.
So I figured one of them would be the tank. I was going to leave them to that and find something different to do...
... But I think I was mistaken, and that they've all opted for non-tank types, as well. We'll see in a couple of weeks. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2450 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2016 : 04:55:13
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| I rarely play humans. I usually play either a dwarf or an elf. If I'm a dwarf, I go full tank. The dwarf I'm currently playing has been in plate mail from level 2 and is almost unhittable. It's great. If I play an elf, I'm usually a wizard or a fighter/wizard. I rarely other races or classes. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2016 : 14:49:31
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| I tend to prefer light/medium armor for my characters. Yet whenever I play a Dwarf, I would go Adamantine Full Plate and Tiger Tank it up. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4460 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jul 2016 : 17:07:45
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| I think my biggest thing is I always like picking my character last, as in after everyone else has had their say. This allows me to explore possibilities that I might not have tried before and it usually helps fill a role that is lacking in the group. Many times I've found myself playing the Cleric or healer, which to me is fine because I enjoy supportive characters AND I don't feel like I'm taking over the show. Either that or a Defender/Front-line sort of warrior. Something about charging into the enemy ranks fully armored in plate mail just seems heroic and fun (and is easy to optimize too!). So I tend to play Paladins, Fighters, and War-domain/combat-oriented Clerics of Tyr or Helm and the occasional frenzied berserker too. |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator |
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Khaelieth
Learned Scribe
103 Posts |
Posted - 02 Aug 2016 : 10:01:32
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I've yet to play anyone in heavier than medium, but I largely DM. I'm rebooting my planeswalking sun elf spellblade, but he's gonna be in mithral plate in the end, which is technically medium!
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Also known on other forums as ChazSexington, Kusghuul, and Claudius.
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2016 : 03:23:40
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A preference for lighter armours might be a symptom of the game mechanics, where a few points more on your AC are too greatly outweighed by various penalties. Remember how underwhelming that single point of AC from your shield can be (in limited circumstances, vs a limited number of attackers) in the game mechanics. While in real life the shield was arguably a more vital piece of protection than the mightiest full plate.
Chain was predominant for a long time in real life, excellent protection vs blades and good protection vs arrows, plus it's not too heavy and it's really easy (cheap) to build and maintain and adjust. Soldiers could always pull patches or rings off the bottom to replace damaged sections in more critical areas, they could even use wire or rawhide straps to tie holes closed in a pinch. Even the most hardened and boiled leather was vastly inferior in practice to a chain hauberk, plus it could still be worn beneath. The historical record shows that chain was preferred by anybody who possessed sufficient metalcraft to obtain metal and draw wire.
Plate could do what chain could not - resist cleaving and crushing attacks (often with chain beneath). The wearer could survive crossbow bolts to the head or chest, wouldn't lose limbs to solid hits from an axe or polearm, wouldn't get broken as easily by heavy bludgeons. But plate needed to be properly fitted to the wearer, it was much heavier and a bit clumsy (though not so much as you might think), expensive to build and repair and customize because it required the specialized services of a skilled armourer and his tools. The historical record clearly demonstrates that warriors wanted the heaviest plate (or even individual plate parts) they could obtain. Until firearm technologies became a serious tactical threat which emphasized mobility.
So, given a choice, and forced to hack-and-slash to the death with my opponent(s), I would personally go for a full suit of plate. Yes, it may have less virtue in a fantasy/magic battlefield, it's just going to turn into an oven after a fireball where an unencumbered target might be able to flee and cover. Then again, it also has the option of being crafted of invincible dwarven adamantium and it can be enchanted with useful dweomers to make it feel and move light as a feather while being immune to fire. There are times, often bad times, when the magic fails and flickers and all that remains is naked force covered in raw metal, lol. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 11 Aug 2016 03:29:29 |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1272 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2016 : 04:42:28
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I always play rogueish characters. Even when I play casters, I don't care for fireball flinging mages, but more subtle magic, like disarming with a silent, unseen wave of the hand. Fighters are not the frontline type. They tend to weild a ranged weapon, give supporting fire, and run in once they assess the situation.
They vary in personality. Some might be a charming playboy, one might be a introverted bookwyrm, and the other might just be a straightup jerk, but they all are calculating, and subtle. |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2016 : 06:17:02
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| Mine ALWAYS had magic-using ability. Whether that meant ELF from old D&D or bard instead of a thief or a paladin or ranger instead of a fighter. Basically, magic is the most interesting parts of rpg in my mind - the ultimate ace up your sleeve. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12020 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2016 : 20:22:57
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quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage
Mine ALWAYS had magic-using ability. Whether that meant ELF from old D&D or bard instead of a thief or a paladin or ranger instead of a fighter. Basically, magic is the most interesting parts of rpg in my mind - the ultimate ace up your sleeve.
Yeah, anything I play as a character has magic, and usually its wizard mixed with something else. Wizard with some kind of fighter is the most common, but wizard with divine casting is next. Recently, I've been playing with the idea of a wizard/warlock, but the warlock being more like a 3.5 binder. That all being said, more often than not over the years, I've been the DM instead of the player. However, the trend I've stated plays into MMORPGs as well (where I play some kind of ranged caster, though usually my favorites in those have healing as well, even if its necrotic). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2016 : 20:44:00
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quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage
Mine ALWAYS had magic-using ability. Whether that meant ELF from old D&D or bard instead of a thief or a paladin or ranger instead of a fighter. Basically, magic is the most interesting parts of rpg in my mind - the ultimate ace up your sleeve.
While I enjoy spellcasters, I found that playing non-magic characters (aside from using magical items) was always fun and challenging, especially for rogues. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2016 : 16:18:10
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It just occurred to me, a few minutes ago, that 3 of my last 4 characters have been primarily focused on one weapon, as well.
My gun mage could cast spells normally, and some spells required this. But if it was an option, he was channeling spells thru his magelock pistol. Better range, bullet damage, better chance to hit, and the spell's damage... Plus, shooting a bad guy with a vampiric touch is just too cool!
The campaign is on hold (personal issues for the DM), but I'm eager to get back to my swashbuckler. He was not a regular swashbuckler; I was doing the Inspired Blade archetype. It's a combo of swashbuckler and the old kensai class from Oriental Adventures. So he was meh on most weapons -- but he absolutely rocked with a rapier.
And now I'm playing a monk... Monks can use other weapons, but the class is structured so that unarmed attacks are the best. So my monk is all about his fists. |
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Cyrinishad
Learned Scribe
300 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2016 : 15:08:04
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Interesting. I'm realizing that my PCs are mostly humans and/or magic-users of some type, although there is definitely variety on how they use magic.
Examples:
* Human Wizard (Magic Item Creation focus)
* Half-Orc Barbarian/Sorcerer (Self-Buff and Rage)
* Human Fighter/Cleric (Party-Buff and Leadership)
* Human Artificer (Ranged Blaster & Healer, lots of Wands)
* Warforged Paladin (Robo-Cop) |
To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge. -Socrates
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. -Dr. Seuss |
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moonbeast
Senior Scribe
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2016 : 12:46:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Arivia
Apparently I make sexy, sultry vixens 99% of the time, when I get the rare opportunity to play as it is. I didn't really notice it - a friend of mine just pointed it out when we were doing character creation for our own Pathfinder game. "Of COURSE Arivia's making the sexy ice queen witch." I just thought of them as being like characters Ed writes!
Did any of your characters wear chainmail bikini? |
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Darkmeer
Senior Scribe
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 28 Dec 2016 : 06:08:39
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Many of my characters tend to be rogues. They are typically paranoid individuals (Grim Greycastle is the best example on these forums).
My characters are typically:
Cleric (Healing and Protection domains are priority for me)
Rogue (paranoid folk).
Paladin (Heavy on the mercy)
Fighter (Dwarven Tin Can)
If given the opportunity within a good group, I like to play with those. I wanted to play in a City of the Spider Queen as a Zhentarim spy WITH the party, specifically to ensure that the Zhents knew what was going on, and knowing that the party needed to survive to maintain my cover. The other was a Dwarven Cleric (Necromancer) who used the feats to stay 2 steps away and he was a "devoted" follower of Moradin... who said "the Dead Shall Rise and Defend the Dwarven Hosts!" Horrible, but true. |
"These people are my family, not just friends, and if you want to get to them you gotta go through ME." |
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe
204 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2018 : 01:08:24
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Thayan portable Mage walls to the rescue.
A Red Wizard can do anything any other character class can do save perhaps a Cleric or Druid. Three Red Wizards and a druid or cleric will clean up just about any situation.
Sure we have Black Knights, Thieves, Assassins and Pirate Slavers amoung others but not as player characters. |
Thay Red |
Edited by - Thraskir Skimper on 13 Jul 2018 02:45:08 |
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe
204 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2018 : 03:08:35
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We do use Animal Companions and familiars at lower levels, summoned Shadows, Undead and Elementals. Plus Transformation spells Dancing Sword or Mordenkainen's.
Staves if we have to, Wands when we want to or Crossbows when we don't need spells.
Heavy Crossbow with Adamanite Bolts of Fire Ice Lightning etc... Poison helps too.
Even in an Anti Magic shell a Heavy Crossbow with Mind Cackle Poison is a nasty weapon. |
Thay Red |
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe
204 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2018 : 03:15:27
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For Clerics or Druids Full Plate Tower Shield and Full Helm. Large Mace or Flail and the option to assume a Nasty Spider Form, Elemental or Dragon, or Summon such. Who needs a Fighter.
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Thay Red |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4460 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jul 2018 : 13:17:55
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| Something I've always wanted to do was do a partner tandem. So if you're going to play in the Realms one player picks say....a Red Wizard and another one plays a Thayan Knight (protector) that's "with" the other character. Same concepts for say a Hathran from Rasheman and her Berserker protector (I actually have an AWESOME character concept from 4E that works well as they're a Berserker Heroes of the Feywild that can turn into a Bear and is from the Bear Warrior tribe). Things like that which delve into the setting's history and lore just make me all giddy!! |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36877 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jul 2018 : 15:30:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Something I've always wanted to do was do a partner tandem. So if you're going to play in the Realms one player picks say....a Red Wizard and another one plays a Thayan Knight (protector) that's "with" the other character. Same concepts for say a Hathran from Rasheman and her Berserker protector (I actually have an AWESOME character concept from 4E that works well as they're a Berserker Heroes of the Feywild that can turn into a Bear and is from the Bear Warrior tribe). Things like that which delve into the setting's history and lore just make me all giddy!!
One thing I've always wanted to do is play a Neutral Evil character in an otherwise good-aligned group. He'd share their goals for whatever reason, and obviously wouldn't be the Chaotic Stupid type that randomly murders people and would betray his companions in a heartbeat... He would basically just be a little more self-centered than the rest and have a lot more "moral flexibility."
And I figure that the best way to pull this off is that the NE character would partners with one of the others. Maybe it's a debt of honor, or maybe they were childhood friends, maybe something else -- but it's that bond that is the reason the NE character is hanging with good guys, and it would conversely be that bond that would make them (at least grudgingly) accept him.
Kind of a Caramon and Raistlin thing, minus Raistlin's inevitable betrayal: the rest of the Companions didn't like or trust Raistlin, but it was accept him into the group along with their buddy Caramon, or not have either of them. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 14 Jul 2018 15:31:38 |
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Archmage of Nowhere
Seeker
USA
64 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jul 2018 : 03:09:35
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Towards the original question posed I have never played a blue-collar character. Around my table that is a character with mostly simple goals, nothing extravagant and no need to over-think the situation they are in.
Not that they are bad, a lot of my favorite players have had characters like that. But when its time for me to put pencil to paper and make a character it just never crosses my mind.
@Wooly Rupert I just recently got the privilege to do this and was allowed by the DM to play to the strengths of the as written, demi-humans. Ended up using a goblin for it. A little get-rich-quick scheming goblin grenadier with a heavy crossbow. I highly recommend it 
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Edited by - Archmage of Nowhere on 16 Jul 2018 03:49:03 |
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe
204 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2018 : 03:32:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Something I've always wanted to do was do a partner tandem. So if you're going to play in the Realms one player picks say....a Red Wizard and another one plays a Thayan Knight (protector) that's "with" the other character. Same concepts for say a Hathran from Rasheman and her Berserker protector (I actually have an AWESOME character concept from 4E that works well as they're a Berserker Heroes of the Feywild that can turn into a Bear and is from the Bear Warrior tribe). Things like that which delve into the setting's history and lore just make me all giddy!!
I do play Red Wizard and Cleric of Beshaba combo's. |
Thay Red |
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Delnyn
Master of Realmslore
USA
1037 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2019 : 22:36:26
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| The fighter I played preferred lighter armor. He even successfully appropriated drow mail...with a pilfered recipe for non-magical oil that shielded drow items from direct sunlight. Ah yes, you must love +5 gear that does not register as magical, nor penalized stealth checks. |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2019 : 16:01:28
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The common theme it seems for my characters seems to be that they start out with, or can later have, the ability to use magical spells.
Whether it is a Ranger, a Thief or a Wizard...arcane magic seems to be something I really enjoy using.
The usual exception to this is at low level I obviously don't have arcane magic for the ranger or thief character I may be playing and so it seems like I don't have a thing for the arcane...but it is apparently always in the back of my mind.
I never got there with a Dwarf thief; but I always dreamed of having a dwarven Fighter/Thief who had the ability to use spell scrolls (in 1e/2e). 3.x made it much easier to use scrolls as a thief. I haven't played 4e more than a handful of times and 5e the same... |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Cosmar
Seeker
89 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2019 : 00:57:35
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| Answering the original question, I would say: intelligence. All of my characters have always been smart, at least somewhat. An intelligence score of 10 is as low as I am willing to go. Not just because I don't really enjoy RP'ing "dumb" characters, I really like them to be well-rounded in their skills and knowledge. Even a barbarian or fighter I'll have at 10 or 12 INT at least so I can give them a few cross-class skill ranks in some random knowledge or other thing. |
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Delnyn
Master of Realmslore
USA
1037 Posts |
Posted - 25 Mar 2019 : 05:55:01
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| In all editions, I never dumped Constitution, no matter the class or race. From ed 3.X onward, I always got feats Improved Initiative, Great Fortitude and Iron Will no matter the class. |
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Every one of my characters...
