When a good idea fizzles…
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I need some advice from my role playing buds.
So I tried a new concept for a character. I wrote everything up - backstory - personality highlights - etc. , talked to a dm and recieved some awesome advice, roled the character up and now everything is proceeding according to plan. I've played the character for a few weeks and had some really cool interactions with my friends in the player base. Everything is goodness and light…
But - Something is missing. My character is boring the hell out of me. I'm trying to resist the urge to play my last character or role a new character. I'm trying to decide what I did wrong at this point. It has nothing to do with the people I'm playing with, or the server setting, or my time zone having so few people in the evening. You guys are great. The server is awesome. It's just that... Well, I may have rolled a dud.
Have any of you had this happen?
What did you do about it?
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I'm actually quite cursed by this, myself. Every single character I make, I flesh out almost entirely. I literally hand write most of their character sheets in a notebook I have. Often times I come up with several characters within just a couple of weeks and test the waters with them. I'm not sure what could help you, though.
Perhaps deeper and more serious involvement concerning the goings-on with the server? Try and join a faction IG, or something similar. For me, when I find myself relying on those surface interactions alone (which I tend to do a lot, without actually getting fully involved in stories/plots), things become lackluster eventually. What I talk about surface interactions, I'm referring to things such as just dilly-dallying around and doing things on a whim as they happen to my character. The interactions themselves may be deep, when they happen, but in the meantime it's just meh. But I don't actually pursue them (I'm a victim of never making sendings with my characters, for example; I just respond to them when it seems fit).
Now, having said that, I still wind up feeling just as you do sometimes. So I do apologize if this doesn't help very much. Perhaps we can both learn a bit more from this thread.
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Goodly clerics are always boring, imo :P
May have just over-thought the concept a bit much and left no room for spontaneity.
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@Khamal:
Goodly clerics are always boring, imo :P
May have just over-thought the concept a bit much and left no room for spontaneity.
The part about over-thinking is spot on from my experience. There is building a foundation for a character, but then if you've already pre-determined too much, the lack of flexibility inhibits roleplay. By allowing yourself some "wiggle room" in the character idea, again in my experience, it tends to lend itself to more opportunities for the character to assume it's own voice and personality.
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Get in trouble.
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^ not the dm kind :D
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Make a new char.
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@Khamal:
Goodly clerics are always boring, imo :P
May have just over-thought the concept a bit much and left no room for spontaneity.
The part about over-thinking is spot on from my experience. There is building a foundation for a character, but then if you've already pre-determined too much, the lack of flexibility inhibits roleplay. By allowing yourself some "wiggle room" in the character idea, again in my experience, it tends to lend itself to more opportunities for the character to assume it's own voice and personality.
Is what I think. Maybe you can "erase" some of the things you previously thought and kind of roll with the character a bit to see if you can come up with something new. Like finding something to hate and an obsession.
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I know what the concept is, and I really don't think it was 'overthought out' or anything.
I personally find that until my characters start having real PC foes and -real- PC friends (not just quest buds, people who are also actively working against those foes I mentioned) it all seems a little dimmer than it could be.
I also find that spending some extra time and effort creating cool little events for me and other PCs to play through adds an extra something. Treasure hunts, pitched battles, tournaments, battles of the mind, spell contests, mazes, monster hunt races, there is normally some kind of purely player created 'event' you can set up that makes sense for any concept to do, and it makes things a huge amount more fun, for me anyway. Gives you something to plan, and sometimes the planning with your other PCs is even more fun than the event itself.
Try to think outside the box is my advice, if your not enjoying the character after attempting some of this stuff, I would just say roll up a fresh one. You could always come back to the character anyway.
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I've usually just dropped the character in such circumstances. What people want from their characters is different each person. For me, unless my character has an over-arching plot line that is controversial enough to polarize anyone I meet into an immediate friend or foe, I tend to quickly lose interest- and roll up a new character.
The best thing you can take from a truly "dud" character, is to try and define: what is it you thought drove you to play,but really was not the critical factor after all?
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Make a new char.
That is what i would do.
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Thanks everyone for some great feedback. I was thinking about this while I was at work today and I had a few thoughts.
One thing that is dogging me a bit is that I'm kind of limited on the amount of time I can play these days. Kid, wife, work, friends, shooting range, hunting, fishing, more family stuff, varmint sniping, kid again, yard work… You get the idea. All my RL commitments keep me from devoting the time to plotting and story telling that I used to have. I still dig the CoA time that I get, but good story telling on this server takes a lot of time/commitment to get a certain momentum going. I just havent been able to pay the price in time that it takes to do substantial things.
The advice about getting involved and developing real PC friends and foes is good stuff. I think my character is dudding out on me because of my lack of involvement. With my last two or three characters I've been holding back on getting too deeply involved, I think because I just don't like holding things up in the story's being told. I sometimes can only play one or two days a week, maybe for a few hours. I just hate having folks waiting on me to move a plot along and being disappointed. I'm going to have to find my niche as far as that goes. I don't want to give up playing with this crew because you entertain the heck out of me. I don't want to hold up stories though either. I'm going to have to be satisfied with being a bit actor in your guys' stories for the most part I think.
Final thought - Everything that I'm mulling over here has nothing to do with the quality of the server or the players. Server is great. Players are great. I'm just trying to work out my own issues with making a character that grabs my attention, while still being able to work in with everyone here on a limited schedule. I'll give some thought to the Hanna Larkspur concept and the advice I recieved here. I might play Sage Swiftfoot a bit just to see if I can't get him into some trouble. Either way - I'll see you in game.
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For me, it's the "click" factor. If a character doesn't "click" with me, I won't be able to enjoy playing it regardless of how good of a concept it is. I usually just put together my character in rough outlines, and test him out to see if he clicks, if he does, fill out any gaps you might have that can't evolve out of IG, if he doesn't, drop him and try again. Usually makes me go through a fair few every time I find a new concept but the concepts I do find sticks.
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You need a rival or a boss!
Seriously, once you got someone who you look on your player list ever time you log in with the mental connection "funz!" , that when it gets good.
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Travis! I only have, at most, four hours or so to play each week too! Let's start a mercenary company for part-time adventurers! Our names and exploits will never be known, but we can get the grunt work done for others while providing a little bit of color to the setting.
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I know what the concept is, and I really don't think it was 'overthought out' or anything.
I personally find that until my characters start having real PC foes and -real- PC friends (not just quest buds, people who are also actively working against those foes I mentioned) it all seems a little dimmer than it could be.
I also find that spending some extra time and effort creating cool little events for me and other PCs to play through adds an extra something. Treasure hunts, pitched battles, tournaments, battles of the mind, spell contests, mazes, monster hunt races, there is normally some kind of purely player created 'event' you can set up that makes sense for any concept to do, and it makes things a huge amount more fun, for me anyway. Gives you something to plan, and sometimes the planning with your other PCs is even more fun than the event itself.
Try to think outside the box is my advice, if your not enjoying the character after attempting some of this stuff, I would just say roll up a fresh one. You could always come back to the character anyway.
Kill people who kill crocodiles.
Seriously though. I normally roll 5 or 6 concepts i na row before I find one that just really clicks sometimes more. they're all awesome ideas. all are fun. And all are missing some spark. I give it a few weeks, then move on if it isn't there.
Have fun. If you're having fun, so will the people around you.
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I dusted off Sage Swiftfoot last night and took him for a spin. I had a good time, and I hope the people that I was pestering did too. He's a fun concept that will probably keep me interested, and doesn't take too much effort for me to stay in character.
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Sensei, what your character is missing… Is rivalry, competition, or opposition. You need someone to which you oocly and icly have a drive to outdo, outsmart, outplay, or try to catch up to.
Someone who can provoke reactions from your character with rp. Its not fun rping a casual conversation, you need someone that makes you play your character in a way you didn't expect. It's not until your characters start surprising you that you can enjoy em.
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Just do what I do.
Randomly insult a high profile individual and watch the sparks fly!
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^ I wonder how long reamarious will live… hrm hrm hrm..
- holds a occasio arrows with paralyze (10), 3 pets, and a horde of enraged elves at hand...* hmm....
EDIT: the arrows I have that have paralyze are NOT occasio, and only have a power of (1) in game.
- holds a occasio arrows with paralyze (10), 3 pets, and a horde of enraged elves at hand...* hmm....
