How much do you roleplay your character?
Montresor_SP
Member Posts: 2,208
On a scale from 1-7, where 1 is a pure roleplayer and 7 a complete powerplayer, where do you fit in? Do you do quests that aren't in line with your CHARNAME, and would you travel with evil companions even if you yourself are a Paladin?
- How much do you roleplay your character?127 votes
- 1) I wouldn't dream of touching a quest unless it makes sense for my CHARNAME to do it, and I never travel with NPCs5.51%
- 2) I am mostly a roleplayer.24.41%
- 3) A bit more roleplaying than powerplaying.25.98%
- 4) I am somewhere in the middle.18.11%
- 5) A bit more powerplaying than roleplaying.11.02%
- 6) I am mostly a powerplayer.9.45%
- 7) I do all the quests, in a way that gives me the most XP, and my companions are chosen according to their usefulness, not for their morality!5.51%
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Comments
I choose "6" for myself, because I always do all the available quests, even if I compose my party mostly to be in line with my PC's alignment.
And now I'm having difficulty justifying myself. I do plan and metagame and always do everything I can, but I don't go for the objectively most powerful stuff I can think of every time (because I've already done that, it feels like)
(aside: maybe I should plan out a game where I only use the least popular weapon types on my fighters)
I always try to choose the responses that make the most sense for the personality of the character I'm playing as (which basically is as close to role-playing as a game of this type will get you), and I also make up little stories for how they develop and blah blah I forget where I was going with this.
Anyway, yeah, middle ground option because I am awful at grading myself.
I would consider a LG alignment to conflict more with TN alignment than LE.
In other playthroughs, CHARNAME is gifted with the powers of an oracle, and knows exactly where they must go, and what they must do for the Greater Good - which typically coincides with what gives exactly the loot and gear they require, and woe upon the NPC who would stand against the Greater Good.
Since usually my characters aren't deluding themselves about their vocation, however, they're usually quite happy to accept paying (and potentially paying) work from the most unlikely of sources, because an adventurer who doesn't accept adventure ties isn't an adventurer, they're a vagrant.
When planning my parties I'll take NPCs of a similar alignment, but I think of tactical balance first and foremost.
I don't think there necessarily is a "right" or "wrong" answer but of course some party makeups are harder to explain than others - for example a Pally traveling with Korgan, Viconia and Edwin.
Dialog is pretty easy because the natural choices are also okay from a powergaming point of view. The fights are trickier. It's hard to explain why I suddenly decided to go Slayer in the middle of Watcher's keep and wander off alone... oh hey, a demilich, what a surprise!
And then in TOB the fights have been "well, I casted improved haste and Mazzy killed everyone by herself... again... but seriously guys, I'm a Bhaalspawn and everyone on the Sword Coast fears my power, I swear!"
For NPCs, I pay more attention to the personality than alignment. For example, my jester is NE, but he hates arcane magic, so he'd absolutely get along with Valygar, despite the alignment mismatch. He's also power hungry and would want to get on Nalia's good side because she's a noble and the association would improve his standing in society. Same for Keldorn; his fame and influence is what charname is after. On the other side, there's nothing to gain from some neutral or evil NPCs, so charname wouldn't waste his time with them, especially if they are counterproductive to his goal to be seen as an influential, respected politician (wouldn't associate with Dorn or Viconia; no gain, just stain).
A lot dialogue options don't fit, no matter if they are good or evil, so I pick the closest to my alignment and headcanon what was really said. It also depends a lot on the playthrough. Sometimes I roleplay nearly everything, sometimes the completionist in me wins and I try to do all quests.
I have never pick-pocketed anybody or broken into an unmarked house without reason. When travelling in 'civilian' or 'Good' areas, I never loot anything even if I can get away with it, though I make a distinction between 'acquiring supplies' and 'looting'.
For example in the D'Arnise Hold, I took whatever weapons and ammo I found, with Nalia in the party, it was easy to justify it as taking whatever is needed to defeat the trolls. After the battle Charname was Lord of the Keep and technically the owner of everything inside anyway, so he kept useful items like the Flail of Ages.
In Suldanesselar, Charname again took whatever scrolls, weapons and ammo he could find to help drive out Irenicus' minions. However on more than one occasion he did not take any gold from containers after he wiped out the monsters occupying a building.
In Baldur's Gate, Beregost, Nashkel, Athkatla or Saradush, Charname has never used 'Friends' to rip-off merchants. However in Ust Natha, because the Drow are evil (and demonstrate it repeatedly), he regarded it as 'dungeon', where he could loot anything and use Friends to manipulate Drow merchants without any remorse.
Since characters do not wear alignment signs over their heads, its actually poor roleplay/metagaming to not include someone on your team purely on that basis. Even if you're playing a paladin, you could find RP reasons for taking an evil person along.