World (Chronicles?) of Darkness Concepts You Would Enjoy RPing with

Rick Sanchez

I see a lot of negativity on these kinds of boards a lot. Complaining about ST's. Complaining about the way people play their characters. Just a lot of bitching, when the real point of this whole exercise is to have fun.

So to that end, I'm making a thread about concepts you would like to see someone else play. Characters that you would love to interact with, and there's just nobody there to play them.

I'll start, to give an example: a witch doktor. This guy speaks, and makes deals with the spirits -- which you can never quite tell if he's using that term like he's referring to dead people or animistic spirits, and whenever someone presses him for a straight answer on this he flips his shit at them -- and in turn makes such deals with you. You come to his little shack or hovel or whatever, and in exchange for what you want, he sets some terms. The terms usually seem pretty arbitrary, and he won't renegotiate with you. You either take the deal or you don't, and that's it.

My "inspiration" for this, if you want to be lofty and call it that, is Child's Play and The Booth At The End.

A second example, to drive the point of the thread home: a gun nut conspiracy theorist. This man isn't necessarily evil, but he definitely is crazy. He also has way too many guns for his own good, and seems quite knowledgeable on their use and function. You'd prefer not to deal with him, but he has a habit of bailing you out of dangerous situations. You blow off all his theories but whenever you look into them, they always appear factually correct... is he onto something?

Let's hear your ideas. This could be fun.

ThatGuyThere

the great thing about a conspiracy theorist in WoD of any flavor is they can be exactly right about the conspiracies existing but completely wrong about the particulars at the same time.

mietze

I love seeing people play things that spur their imagination, so that they can pull others into their play beyond just an audience for their crazy antics. If someone is a dynamic (again, I make that a separate distinction from nutty PCs that are kind of more there in a Look At Me I'm So Crazy scenery chewing way) RPer, who includes reactions to others' poses in their own, allows their PC to be impacted as much as they wish to be memorable to others...then I'm down with whatever.

Concepts in and of themselves don't excite me too much, since the perfect concept can be played really really really shittily or in ways that make me want to gnaw my own leg off to escape the trap. Though I really do enjoy folks who have PCs that are a little more subtle (though man I am sure that can be frustrating, if you're playing on a place where people showboat whatever SuperSpecial stuff they have), as well as masquerade play, where you know OOC what someone is/to what group they belong due to wiki or whatever, but there is a lot of clever IC dodging and lie avoidance while also not disclosing things, until and unless there's something that prompts it.

I've really enjoyed the odd PCs I've played (my favorite was my psychic automaton creator, I got to spend time with folks in my shop and then make commissions/gifts; was starting to really get into my brash young car crazy mechanic too). Most of the unique concepts by others that I have really enjoyed were more about the inclusive writing of the player though, and the enjoyment to be had from peeling back layers on a PC whose player was just as invested and eager to get to know mine.

mietze

As an example, I adored @lordbelh grizzled old-ish cop. Lonnie was just the right mix of Fuck This Shit, funny (both intrinsic to the PC as well as the writing of the the player, not afraid to write to situations that weren't all good/heroic/emo all the time), realistic without being anal about it; and I really felt that when he and my PC were partnered up in scenes that both PCs were getting something out of it. I love it when people play concepts that don't know it all or do it all.

I have played with other PCs on other games in a similar age/role/concept, but there wasn't the chemistry or the /giving/ from the other PC, and the portrayal was flat/one dimensional. Clearly, Lonnie had had a rough road, and there were always elements in play you could pick up on, but he did not run around posing LOOK LOOK LOOK AWESOME CHARACTER BACKSTORY OF WOE AND MYSTERY HERE DON'T YOU WANNA LOOK?!?!

Rick Sanchez

@ThatGuyThere Yeah exactly. Like conspiracy theorists in real life, they might be "onto something" but they're never going to get the straight dope on the matter. On the other hand, he can be useful to a party or as an in game ally because he has guns, guns out the wazoo. And it's really not an implausible character since I know a few of these guys in real life.

Rick Sanchez

@mietze I can see your point about how all character concepts can be done poorly but I don't think that really diminishes the importance of concept. If your character has a stupid concept, or in a lot of cases, no real concept at all, then the best performance of said stupid/non-concept is going to still be boring and unfun.

Also, part of why people roleplay is to be something they're not, typically something extraordinary. I actually think a degree of special snowflake shit is necessary in order to be fun, but that your delivery on said special snowflake shit is also necessary. This isn't to say that we should all go out and make Mary Sues to the max, but there's got to be something there. Your character has to be able to, you know, do something, not just talk. And these actions don't necessarily have to be combat, they just have to be something that not everyone can do, i.e., something special.

Misadventure

This is vague, but long standing.

This character is volatile, trouble. Bad temper, Rage, what have you. They are dangerous. So far, I've seen this.

This person is known to have a bad temper. They have plenty of folks already avoiding them, or afraid to be near them, the authorities have had run ins with them. They aren't getting away with this for free.

They have a reputation for drawing attention and making trouble.

They have to pay their way out with unsavory favors, cash, and still have others looking for payback, or refusing to be near them.

Anonymous

I wanted to make a getaway driver. He always shows up right after you got into a shootout and the police are en route. He's a foreigner from whereverthefuckistan, speaks broken English, has Stunt Driver and a bunch of other stats to that effect. As far as equipment is concerned, he has a modified taxi cab (probably illegally so), and has a pile of useful goodies from past customers. To justify always showing up at the right times, use Fate magic or something like it, and to justify meeting this character time and time again, you always seem to leave one of your valuable items (like an Artifact or Fetish or whatever) in his cab. Everyone does. Good luck finding him, though, until of course you rob your next bank or whatever.

mietze

In an era of everyone needing to be an 18 year old ninja princess with PT5, being a veteran, jaded veteran cop is still a snowflake. In fantasyland OR real life. I

I wish people kind of got out of their minds that in order to snowflake on a MUSH, it doesn't necessary mean that you have to be The Best or The Only. I think that tends to lead to a lot of issues.

So I guess my concepts that I enjoy RPing with the most are people who are able to take on concepts who a lot of people turn their noses up at and make them dynamic and fun for the other people in the scene/in relationship with them. Because they are the foil, or you know, they do have the potential to get lucky. They're not going to be the one who knows everything. I love seeing people ham up their failures. I could just be weird though.

silentsophia

@mietze I get annoyed by those concepts because they are so numerous (and turn into ABSURDLY POWERFUL 18 year olds with - well, you get the idea), and because a lot of the time they rely on the special of the concept to carry the character.

Oh, bloobloobloo, I'm sorry your source of character conflict is that someone else is just as pretty type conflicts drive me nuts.

Also I am crabby today.

Rick Sanchez

@mietze No, of course not. You can't expect people to be The Best at anything, especially right out the gate. That said, I think it's really worth putting in the effort as a player to coming up with a skillset that is at least somewhat unique, but still makes sense. While not everyone can be a Yakuza senpai in DC, you definitely don't want to make your dude cookie cutter, either.

That's easier said than done, though, because most people who play this kind of RPG also probably consume a lot of fiction (books, movies, television, etc) and so are entirely used to all the tropes, and anything you come up with may already be done to death before you even start.

mietze

That's what I'm saying though, Rick. Nothing is really done to death, if it's got someone with good manners behind it. I bet there is someone who can totally play the 18 year old raised by ninjas sekrit princess and have other players in their scene howling (intentionally, not with irony) at their hilarity, or who can make it work probably by being a little more subtle than their clothes flying off and reconfiguring into their costume while melodious sounds play in the background.

I think sometimes people in the name of Must Be Yoooneeeek do come up with some really out there or super specialized stuff, which then they become frustrated with because it's so defined that it's impedes RP or maybe people like it every once in a while but not all the time, or it's something that shows up once in a while as useful but what do they do with all the other time (unless they're time crunched--most of my more unique concept PCs I didn't play that often, because I was super busy, so people did not get sick of them.)

There's no concepts I roll my eyes at or cling to these days--but if I see a player who's mannered and write well and pays attention to everyone else in scene as well? Hell, I know that I'll always have a good time with that PC. No matter how "boring" the surface concept may be, because that type of player is adept at making me interested in their story, even if I wouldn't have chosen it necessarily out of a lineup of "types of PCs I love playing with." If that makes sense.

Rick Sanchez

@mietze Not to be overly rude, but I kind of hope to bring this topic back on track to its intended purpose; listing cool concept ideas that you want someone else to pick up on.

mietze

You should be proud of me for my PC not scratching Sofia's eyes out because she had a bigger pussy than mine, @silentsophia. I shall never forgive you!!!!!!!!!

Jace Belleren

Concept: deniable asset. This could be a lot of things, but basically, he's an Unaligned (or Apostate, or Ghost Wolf, or whatever) who has a lot of connections and allies within the different Covenants/Orders/whatever. What does he do? The dirty work none of them want their name getting tied back to. He's good enough at it to cover his tracks so there's never any real proof, but he's not good enough at it that he goes unsuspected because, well... everyone's "hired" him to do some of their dirty work. He avoids assassination because even though he isn't a formal member of any Order/Covenant/whatever, he has their protection (to a degree) because to not give him that protection, to allow his assassination, is to end the possibility of repeat business, and well... you know... he's good at his espionage shit.

HorrorHound

@ThatGuyThere said:

the great thing about a conspiracy theorist in WoD of any flavor is they can be exactly right about the conspiracies existing but completely wrong about the particulars at the same time.

Uses garlic on vampires, only learns when his arms are ripped off that, that is bullshit information.

Rick Sanchez

@Jace-Belleren I might steal this one.

ThatOneDude

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Thenomain