Character Weaknesses
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From Ducklol's announcement:
All of these lead to stories which are actually interesting. They allow a level one character to beat a level 10 werewolf using only a torch because he was smart enough to learn about his enemy. It lets a goodly social stat orientated bard remain safe from a blackguard because he left his weapons at home. It lets a villain push his agenda with blackmail rather than having to just PK everyone. It lets some clueless player get on a plot because Larry wrote down essential details and left them on the street.
This is the stuff that will get your application approved because it's fun for everyone else.
Do people actually think any of this is going to happen, really?
I've never, ever seen any character do anything like the above on CoA. Has anyone else, honestly?
I'm not trolling - I'm genuinly interested.
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Brent something or other (Bereman?). The terrified level 9 rogue.
Xzavien Kreswell is scared of glass as well tbf.
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One of the first Knights of the Merciful sword, died quite alot, because, even on scripted quests, he would approach his enemies, no weapon drawn, and demand they surrender.
I have myself turned down several dm quests, loot, and scripted quests, because something went against my characters' beliefs.
I have seen plenty of paladins and the like who would charge, even though they would die in the process.
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Because people get their characters and are like.
"Jaime Lannister is fucking awesome. I'll copy him for my character concept."
And then they are like.
"But in GoT, he has this terrible secret, which if exposed would ruin his reputation. This would fit really well into a weaknesses section."
And then they are like.
"Nah."
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One of my guys was petrified of Mirrors since the mirror demon incdent, no room with a mirror, fled quest area's. No one ever thought to hold a hand held mirror up to him.
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@Deadlock:
Because people get their characters and are like.
"Jaime Lannister is fucking awesome. I'll copy him for my character concept."
And then they are like.
"But in GoT, he has this terrible secret, which if exposed would ruin his reputation. This would fit really well into a weaknesses section."
And then they are like.
"Nah."
And who approved the concept?
Suckers.
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I've seen this type of stuff, maybe once, and that was Jasede's Werewolf (Surprise, surprise). His weakness saved my life at one point.
This is something being encouraged, which is fine, but I'm not sure if scenarios like that are going to be played out; This sorta thing is enforced on other servers I've played, fear is the best motivator, imo.
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@21:
@Deadlock:
Because people get their characters and are like.
"Jaime Lannister is fucking awesome. I'll copy him for my character concept."
And then they are like.
"But in GoT, he has this terrible secret, which if exposed would ruin his reputation. This would fit really well into a weaknesses section."
And then they are like.
"Nah."
And who approved the concept?
Suckers.
Tom, the concept magpie.
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One of the first Knights of the Merciful sword, died quite alot, because, even on scripted quests, he would approach his enemies, no weapon drawn, and demand they surrender.
I did this once.
Never before or after have I been so grateful for lag. Or for having more racist friends.Also, I remember seeing Kat hiding away from fire elementals much the same way while the rest of us battled them. It does happen.
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I remember some villains who used "weaknesses" to justify not killing all their enemies. Khevan Bhaliir for example refused to kill humans. It didn't save everyone from him, but some and it also tended to make the "black hat villain" a little more complicated.
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People aren't going to do this. Well a few will, with the rest playing cliched messes and people who turn to mush when their own personal kryptonite walks into the room.
Its a brilliant idea in theory, but in practice its going to create a whole host of problems. Not everyone is as good an actor as the next man. To portray a convincing character flaw or weakness that doesn't seen contrived or tacked on requires an average actor atleast.
I say leave things as they are.
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In all honesty, I believe there can be plenty of interesting flaws, yet there SHOULD be actual weaknesses which to some extend can allow players to "not kill their opponent straight out of high school", and which can allow lower level and less powerful characters a way to battle their enemies or nemesis without having to find min/maxed halforcs to carry out their deeds, or if such cannot be found, lose time and time again.
I remember I had to duel Salnar, when he was 4 levels higher than myself.
So I stripped off my armor, and when he was about to attack me, threw down my weapon.Suddenly, he had to either defeat me with his mechanical superior character, or accept defeat as he wouldnt beat up an unarmed woman.
Weaknesses like what I describe could be:
For heroes:Honor: He will not strike down unarmed people, and through his code of conduct is extremely predictable.
Mercy: If a life can be saved, it should be.
Naivity: Will let you "trust" others and through such, be able to set up for a backstabbing, or simply spill plot secrets.
Terrible secret: If someone finds out, it would be much like knowing a demons true name. Would allow clever villians to use the hero on occasion, for minor slip ups, so that William the Valiant does not lose face in the eyes of the populace.
(Good example of this was Osynthir played by Thorkm, who eventually turned agains his friends, because Banda had his wife. )
For villians:
Overconfidence: Cliche, but when the other is about to die at your unholy altar, you spill your master plan, and then make a "mistake" that might allow him or her to run away.Powerhungry: Seeking power to the extend that you will betray just about anyone to optain it, meaning you will sell out your fellow evil guys when it suits your aims.
Empathy, and belief in friendship: Robert the asassin, remembered that Laura the priestess of Lurue was nothing but kind to him. So when he hears Bob The Banite has captured her to sacrifice, he will, despite being an evil son of bitch, attack the banite stronghold, sneak in and rescue her, only to go back to his own evil business once again afterwards.
These weaknesses in my eyes at least, when played and honored, will result in more than 2 dimensional avatars on the path of win.
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@Cunning:
People aren't going to do this. Well a few will, with the rest playing cliched messes and people who turn to mush when their own personal kryptonite walks into the room.
But weaknesses are only needed for applications. I expect the people for cool stuff like werewolves to be the "few who will".
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I tried being scared of the dark, and got really, really bored of it.
I tried being an utter coward, and had a lot of fun though.
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Crey was a die hard coward. He refused under all circumstances to enter any fair duel or fight. Even at the cost of his reputation. Additionally, any PC with at least a rank of intimidate, or the willingness to show aggression toward Crey would very easily scare him off. Luckily for me, the only one that ever really bothered was Mangus Gunnar.
One of his other two of three weaknesses was his war with truth and honesty. He was a chronic liar, and it lead him into more than a couple of sticky situations. A sort of daily tithing to Cyric.
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@AWESOMEMAN:
Crey was a die hard coward. He refused under all circumstances to enter any fair duel or fight. Even at the cost of his reputation. Additionally, any PC with at least a rank of intimidate, or the willingness to show aggression toward Crey would very easily scare him off. Luckily for me, the only one that ever really bothered was Mangus Gunnar.
Gwarn drew a sword on him, that's 'aggression', it didn't scare him off.
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I must've done it cooler than you.
Just sayin'….
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@AWESOMEMAN:
Crey was a die hard coward. He refused under all circumstances to enter any fair duel or fight. Even at the cost of his reputation. Additionally, any PC with at least a rank of intimidate, or the willingness to show aggression toward Crey would very easily scare him off. Luckily for me, the only one that ever really bothered was Mangus Gunnar.
Gwarn drew a sword on him, that's 'aggression', it didn't scare him off.
Actually, he ran, hid, buffed up, and came back at you, while you were standing around doing nothing.
A coward will always run when he can. A coward with a lust for blood, will run, and attack when the odds are in his favor.
I was there, and you didnt exactly give off a " get scared bitch".
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Never mind. I don't want to get deeper into the subject of how much crap I am at PvP.
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I put down character weakness "Fear of fire" once, as I role played an extreme fear which mostly caused the character to free up while i text spammed.
Ducklock laughed at me, and for good reason.
I have my reasons for doing it, but now that i've asked myself "So, what can the DMs do with that knowledge to have fun with my character?" I realize how completely useless the idea is.
What, are they just gunna spawn a fire elemental and chase me around arabel? Thats entertaining for a short while, and im sure we'd all laugh, but damn… THERE IS NO SUBSTANCE OR LONGEVITYZ.
In essence: Ducklock! I REPENT!
I posted this is another thread by accidentz.