Character inspiration for hte devs?

[jezz555]

I liked Morrigan in DA:O, I wish they had done more with her character, but she was really the only party member I liked all that much in DA. so I wouldn't mind a similar archetype. I also liked a lot of the legendary party members in Arcanum (the bane of kree, gorgoth, Kraka-tur, ect.) that you got at the end, it really felt awesome to be fighting a long side people you had been hearing stories about the entire game. I also liked some of the secret ones like, Gar the worlds smartest orc, and Torian Kel. Mostly I would just like for party members to have a large part in the world and give you some reason to want to hire them, instead of them just being a bunch of goobers waiting by the side of the road for somebody to take them along on an adventure.

[JFSOCC]

I liked Morrigan in DA:O, I wish they had done more with her character, but she was really the only party member I liked all that much in DA. so I wouldn't mind a similar archetype. I also liked a lot of the legendary party members in Arcanum (the bane of kree, gorgoth, Kraka-tur, ect.) that you got at the end, it really felt awesome to be fighting a long side people you had been hearing stories about the entire game. I also liked some of the secret ones like, Gar the worlds smartest orc, and Torian Kel. Mostly I would just like for party members to have a large part in the world and give you some reason to want to hire them, instead of them just being a bunch of goobers waiting by the side of the road for somebody to take them along on an adventure.

Morrigan was trying hard to be Kreia, she sometimes even succeeded, which made her the most memorable character of that game.

[AGX-17]

What the title implies. What kinds of characters interest you.

What characters you ran across that are awesome/badass/funny/great/whatever and you'd love if the develoeprs make something similar.

 

So post here.

What are some of your favorite characters. Give the writers ideas and inspirations.

 

Me?

I'd want to see something like King and his 2 bodyguards (Niels and Bohr) from Exiern. They are utterly awesome.

 

Here are some of their moments:

 

 

http://www.exiern.com/?p=1023

 

Stopped reading at the second panel because they misspelled "ought." Aught means "all," not something you "should" do or have a "duty" to do.

 

Morrigan was trying hard to be Kreia, she sometimes even succeeded, which made her the most memorable character of that game.

 

No, Morrigan was not trying to be Kreia. She was always taking a selfish/pragmatic view of the situation. She never challenged you on "morally questionable" or self-serving actions. Kreia challenged you on every choice you made and wanted you to think, learn, be insightful and be self-critical about your decisions, and to avoid thinking in terms of black & white morality.

Edited November 7, 2012 by AGX-17

[SophosTheWise]

An evil character I made (Natsume) that turned good on a Naruto roleplaying board.

This sentence is wrong on so many levels

[jezz555]

 

Morrigan was trying hard to be Kreia, she sometimes even succeeded, which made her the most memorable character of that game.

 

No, Morrigan was not trying to be Kreia. She was always taking a selfish/pragmatic view of the situation. She never challenged you on "morally questionable" or self-serving actions. Kreia challenged you on every choice you made and wanted you to think, learn, be insightful and be self-critical about your decisions, and to avoid thinking in terms of black & white morality.

 

I don't think it's really necessary for a character to "challenge" you. I don't regularly have people in real life judge my actions like that, and I sort of find that annoying when npcs do it. I would rather an npc act in a realistic way and not attempt to mentor me all the time( I mean Kreia sort of was a mentor but I digress). I liked Morrigan because of her voice acting which I thought was really emotive and generally good, I liked her because of her story line( Her mother is a dragon and she gives birth to the anti-christ what's not awesome about that) and I liked her because towards the end of a game I grew attached to her in a way I really didn't with any of the other party-members in DA:O, who I just thought were kind of uninteresting losers, but for whatever reason I liked her.

[TrashMan]

I'd want to see something like King and his 2 bodyguards (Niels and Bohr) from Exiern. They are utterly awesome.

 

Here are some of their moments:

 

 

http://www.exiern.com/?p=1023

 

Stopped reading at the second panel because they misspelled "ought." Aught means "all," not something you "should" do or have a "duty" to do.

 

So you diss the entire comic because of one characters speech oddity (or misused word)

[IchigoRXC]

Riddick. That one doesn't need much explaining. General badassery, Cliché'd past but interesting origins. Kinda goes a little off in Chronicles, but the character remains solid and with the expansion into games, I think the character stands up well.

 

A Starbuck like character from the new BSG. It was perfect because the character did not change much with the gender swap and Katee Sackoff made it golden. Cigar smoking, card playing pilot jock filled with arrogance and a complete disregard for authority.

 

Malcolm Reynolds - An old war hero who can't let go of the past in a world where his crew are his family, and he will do anything for them (especially if it involves pissing off the Aliiance). Ahh screw it I would love the entire crew of firefly

 

Tyrion like character. - By far the most popular in the tv series, but in the books I feel he surpasses even that. Tyrion plays the game of thrones, and he plays it well. Also, Cersei, I don't want her sort of character as an NPC, but she is by far one of the strongest characters in the series. Hate her, and that shows how great she is.

 

And one for the sake of a massive cliché, Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy 7, because I just cant stop being 10 years old in my heart, dark haired gun toting transforming bad ass with a nasty past and a story of unrequited love and eventual loss. Penance incarnate, loved him since the beginning.

 

I think those will do for now.

[Heresiarch]

I hope for a dark and brooding sort. Not quite like Batman, but more along the lines of sarcastic/smart-ass mode of Mike Thorton and the second season Blackadder. A bit more reserved, maybe. I always found Bruce Wayne's sense of humour lacking, especially for someone that smart.

[Parallax]

I'd like to see a character like Elizier Yudowsky's interpretation of Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (I'm not one for fanfic, but I make an exception for this writer).

 

Quirrell is...smart. Incredibly, dangerously smart. In some ways, he reminds me of Irenicus from BG2, but far more cold and calculating. He always thinks three steps ahead and prides himself on not falling for the logical fallacies and myths that seem to ensnare other wizards. This makes him more than a bit cynical and distant. His clever prodding and probing of Harry's intentions and motivations are insightful and he's a skilled battlemage because he prepares, he uses the element of surprise and he always goes for the kill.

 

I almost believe he may not be the antagonist of the series, because it's very hard to envisage Harry being able to defeat him. But as a companion or antagonist, his presence in the story is almost mesmerizing.

[Ywerion]

Character-wise my most favourite character is Jigo from Princess Mononoke and his entire rant he has with A****aka while sharing fire and food with him is my favouritest monologue in the movie (closely followed by lepper Osa's rant). I dare to say he was most fleshed out and layered character in whole movie, at first bitter but not unkind, with opinions on life withouts illusions, seeing how harsh life around him is, knowledgable and resourceful, but still with edge and possesing imposant physical prowess and other talents, all that while following his own agenda, while siding with whoever he momentarily deals with and benefits him the most. I can't express enough how much I enjoy his character.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Ywerion

[Karranthain]

Could do with a family based on the House of Borgia

 

That ought to be interesting.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Karranthain

[gglorious]

Lawful evil types 1 or 2:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LawfulEvil

 

Possibly/hopefully in a party member. I mean, the closest to this that I remember seeing is Vhailor and Vhailor was a really awesome character. Possibly a party member of the Knight Templar variety:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightTemplar which is also like Vhailor, but he's not the only way to develop this character type. Vhailor is inhuman because the man has transformed into or has been transfigured by his ideals, but there is a lot to develop in a genuinely human character(even perhaps with some perspective) who has put this mask on their approach and perspective to the world.

 

Also I'd like to see affably evil characters: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil Maybe we don't want a major villain who is affable but very evil seeming, but I wouldn't mind some NPC(or party member) who broadly fits into this trope.

 

Clever figures who use Xanatos gambits to win: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit So, they may be your enemies, or they may be your allies, but the common tendency is that they are really good at winning no matter what path you take by setting up the game as an I win-you lose in advance.(There are multiple suggested character types mentioned in the article, but it's easy to build a character like this once you know what it has to do)

 

Henry Kissinger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger Need I say more????

 

Also, I think that some degree of recognition of heroes/adventurers as inherently dysfunctional people would also be kind of nice. I mean, adventurers are workaholics; they aren't afraid of putting their lives on the line(with real and extreme risk) at any second or even at the smallest provocation; who continuously kill people; who invest large sums of time and money into becoming good at killing people(even before they start, as professional killing equipment is costly); who are continually making difficult moral decisions; and who either can't or won't integrate with mainstream society with jobs more likely to result in conventional success, happiness, and all of that, even if they do start to get very rich. I mean, I'm fine with a hero/adventurer(or even villain) finding a happily ever after, even the entire party doing so, but I think recognition of the extreme nature of adventuring makes some sense.(More and of a different nature than peasants simply heckling the adventurer, but deeper and more psychologically rooted)

[gglorious]

Oh, also it would be nice to have a major character that was actually pitiful. Not just comic material, but actually pitiful. Kind of like Gollum being pitiful, except not exactly a repeat. So, pitiful villains or pitiful heroes may be interesting. It may not be desirable to have an outright party member be pitiful, then everybody would hate the character. However, finding somebody deeply pitiful who has failed on some profound level at living may be interesting to play out.

[Osvir]

I'd love to have a Companion (temporary or permanent) that's just horribly weak, a rebellious commoner fighting "The Man" (Occupy reference kind of). One of the "sheep" who isn't a Hero with any special abilities, might be a decent Blacksmith at the Stronghold, but in your party he is rather worthless.

 

I loved it in Suikoden that you could bring your Blacksmith with you, or your Cook, to fight in your party. They had some special abilities but were rather pointless and not really necessary for the progression of the game (they were important for your Stronghold). But I still brought my Chef with me because I thought it nice (Roleplaying-ly) to have a Chef with me. Not so much Character Inspiration perhaps, or perhaps it is I don't know... ^would be fun imo

[Osvir]

One of the only good things about Final Fantasy XII

Edited November 14, 2012 by Osvir

[jezz555]

I'd love to have a Companion (temporary or permanent) that's just horribly weak, a rebellious commoner fighting "The Man" (Occupy reference kind of). One of the "sheep" who isn't a Hero with any special abilities, might be a decent Blacksmith at the Stronghold, but in your party he is rather worthless.

 

I loved it in Suikoden that you could bring your Blacksmith with you, or your Cook, to fight in your party. They had some special abilities but were rather pointless and not really necessary for the progression of the game (they were important for your Stronghold). But I still brought my Chef with me because I thought it nice (Roleplaying-ly) to have a Chef with me. Not so much Character Inspiration perhaps, or perhaps it is I don't know... ^would be fun imo

 

so...you're advocating for useless party members?

[Osvir]

Useless? No, not entirely. Just weaker than your average Superhero.

 

Do I think it could be fun imo? Yes, (and repeat).

 

Why are you replying to this? For some reason I don't think it's out of interest for the idea... not a counter-argument either... so what do you want?

[Jojobobo]

I know I've already made a suggested, but an Orlan based on Tyrion Lannister would be fun too.

[Ywerion]

Thogh I already post a suggestion aswell, I just must point out one more character (not sure if he wasn't mentioned already) and that is Ashur from Spartacus series. Probably the single most entertaining character I could relate the most (before he took over too much level in evil). To put it shortly not only was he brilliantly casted and even better acted, he went through several appereance changes (rare thing if you ask me),but most of all he was helluva proven survivalist who not matter in which position he was at he always found his way up and benefits from doing so, all thanks to his wits, on top of that he knew how to exact revenge on those wronged him and boy he did it in tremendous style, while in the same time he still hold on his one single dream he desired the most, which added even more flavour to his character. For me Ashur was the most interesting antagonist I have seen of late.

Edited January 12, 2013 by Ywerion

[Cryticus]

Personally I love characters that follow classical cliqe and padagrims, but put them in some interesting spin( as long as spin is interesting , and isn't just there to make everything GRIMDARK, and ultra special cool realstic[i love cheese and some ridiculenss]). That said characters like that can be rather tricky to make.

On another note I would like to have an guy that is aliange in something that is consider evil but he himself don't find it evil, and most importantly he isn't evil basicly an example: You have a Industrial town, near forest, and a nice good guy, who helps orphans, and so one and who wants to cut forest to give job for thouse who don't have it, and have no ulterior motives.

Also what would be nice is a one ( and I mean it 1, more then that and it doesn't really work) simple character, just average asparing evil lord,or good knight he is evil/good he thousen't have anything deep and secret no reasons he just do things because, but as I said only one , and not really tied to main quest.

[Malevolent]

One of the thing I'm tired of is companions who blubber all over you. Yes, they have problems, and I know and respect that. And for some companions, it's in character to blubber, or be indecisive to some extent. But as a whole, I feel that being of the adventuring suicide-journeying sort means that you're of a hardier stock. Having a companion that can state what's wrong with them without constantly going to you for your opinion and for validation would be nice. Points if they decide to do a romance where the characters aren't complete needy angst machines.

[Faerunner]

I like characters that subvert stereotypes. Stock characters and classic archetypes might be functional for RPG settings, and even practical for some or most minor NPC's that won't be around for long, but major characters that go against expected behavior are more noticeable, memorable, feel more well-rounded and feel the most like believable people.

[TRX850]

How about an NPC Vampyre Hunter (Priest or Rogue) with their own mid-level quest that ends with them becoming an infected vampyre or half-vampyre? And depending on how you've played the game, they may become hostile to you, or protective of you as long as you protect them from various undead hunter factions?

 

 

 

[IndiraLightfoot]

That first picture is lovely, TRX850! However, I'd much rather be hunted by him, than be him!

So, please let me be some weird necromancer that is in league with some sinister coven of undead (as long as they are not like those vampires in the movie Underworld - Rise of the Lycans.

[TRX850]

That first picture is lovely, TRX850! However, I'd much rather be hunted by him, than be him!

So, please let me be some weird necromancer that is in league with some sinister coven of undead (as long as they are not like those vampires in the movie Underworld - Rise of the Lycans.

 

Heh heh. I was including something for everyone there.  But yes, a faction of "misunderstood" worshippers of the dead could be a great adventure hook. Reminds me of Grimgnaw from NWN1.