RPing as existing fictional characters
mylegbig
Member Posts: 292
Never really been into RPing since I've never played PnP, but I am starting to get interested in the idea of playing an already existing character. At first, I thought of making Gatts from Berserk, but it was too much of a pain to try to emulate all the special abilities like his arm cannon. Instead, I decided to go with a character who doesn't really fit into this world at all--Dongfang Bubai. Basically, he's a villain from a wuxia novel and the main villain in the Swordsman II, starring Jet Li. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongfang_Bubai
I wrote this bio for him. Many things were changed in order to make him fit with the PC's background. It ended up being a little long, so I'll put it in spoiler tags so you guys don't get a wall of text.
Stats:
Female Human
Dark Moon Monk
Str: 18
Dex: 18
Con: 17
Int: 15
Wis: 9
Char: 15
One proficiency point will be in darts to emulate the needles he uses. He also blinded a guy once, so the blind skill works. Chill touch and vampiric touch more resemble techniques from other characters in the novel, so I incorporated that into the bio. I thought about making him a man and using the sex change belt on him to simulate the castration, but that won't work for BG 2 so I just made him a woman.
So, who else has tried something like this, and if so, how do you fit them into the game world?
I wrote this bio for him. Many things were changed in order to make him fit with the PC's background. It ended up being a little long, so I'll put it in spoiler tags so you guys don't get a wall of text.
Weak and effeminate as a child, you were often bullied by the other children at Candlekeep, and many days ended with you crying yourself to sleep. Always, you have felt alone and misunderstood. Gorion was of course always kind to you, but his kindness always lacked a certain degree of warmth, as if he was wary of you. Imoen was a willing friend, but with her carefree and likable attitude she could never truly understand your misery. Besides, it was not their pity that you desired. No, you wanted to be someone who could be respected, even feared, but this seemed an impossible dream for an orphan boy wasting his time among the aging men and books of Candlekeep.
An insignificant life was not your destiny though. One day, while browsing through a secluded area of the library, you came across one book that caught your eye, titled Gong Fu of the Dark Moon. It detailed the martial arts of the Dark Moon Monks of Shar in their entirety, including the Freezing Chi of Zuo Lengshan and the Star Sucking Great Skill of Ren Woxing, which allowed its user to drain and absorb his opponents life force. The tome promised power, and you devoured its contents and eagerly practiced its lessons in secret. Unfortunately though, having always been weak, you lacked the inner chi to master any of the more advanced techniques. Distraught, you thought your situation hopeless.
This changed however, when a monk from the distant land of Kara-tur came to visit Candlekeep with the offer of an old dusty tome. The book looked insignificant, but you wandered what could have prompted this monk to travel so far. Using the stealth technique of the Dark Moon, you hid yourself while the monk and Gorion met and overheard their conversation. The book was the Sunflower Manual, a book the monk described as one “full of evil techniques.” Apparently, many in the martial arts world of Kara-tur had fought over its possession, causing the deaths of many heroes. The monk had brought it over to Candlekeep for safekeeping; although he wanted the manual gone from the world, he did not have the heart to destroy a manual filled with such great martial arts.
You waited until the monk left before stealing the book from the library. As no one practiced or cared for gong fu in Candlekeep, there was no reason to safeguard the manual. However, the first page of the manual filled you with dread. “Whoever practices and perfects the techniques in this manual will become the greatest fighter in the world. But first, self-castration.” You dropped the book in horror. But... what was your manhood in the face of such power? Everyone has always seen you as effeminate—half a man. But to become not a man at all....
Although the decision came hard, the act was done swiftly. Once you began practicing the manual, your chi, strength, and speed all increased immensely. The techniques of the Dark Moon, which seemed impossible to master at first, have began to come easily. There were some... side effects however. Your now smooth cheeks, your higher pitched voice... these things were expected. But the more you practiced the Sunflower Manual, the more feminine you seemed to become in both mind and body. It dawned on you that you must leave Candlekeep soon, before others begin to notice that something is amiss. The world awaits you now, and they will fear the name Dongfang Bubai.
An insignificant life was not your destiny though. One day, while browsing through a secluded area of the library, you came across one book that caught your eye, titled Gong Fu of the Dark Moon. It detailed the martial arts of the Dark Moon Monks of Shar in their entirety, including the Freezing Chi of Zuo Lengshan and the Star Sucking Great Skill of Ren Woxing, which allowed its user to drain and absorb his opponents life force. The tome promised power, and you devoured its contents and eagerly practiced its lessons in secret. Unfortunately though, having always been weak, you lacked the inner chi to master any of the more advanced techniques. Distraught, you thought your situation hopeless.
This changed however, when a monk from the distant land of Kara-tur came to visit Candlekeep with the offer of an old dusty tome. The book looked insignificant, but you wandered what could have prompted this monk to travel so far. Using the stealth technique of the Dark Moon, you hid yourself while the monk and Gorion met and overheard their conversation. The book was the Sunflower Manual, a book the monk described as one “full of evil techniques.” Apparently, many in the martial arts world of Kara-tur had fought over its possession, causing the deaths of many heroes. The monk had brought it over to Candlekeep for safekeeping; although he wanted the manual gone from the world, he did not have the heart to destroy a manual filled with such great martial arts.
You waited until the monk left before stealing the book from the library. As no one practiced or cared for gong fu in Candlekeep, there was no reason to safeguard the manual. However, the first page of the manual filled you with dread. “Whoever practices and perfects the techniques in this manual will become the greatest fighter in the world. But first, self-castration.” You dropped the book in horror. But... what was your manhood in the face of such power? Everyone has always seen you as effeminate—half a man. But to become not a man at all....
Although the decision came hard, the act was done swiftly. Once you began practicing the manual, your chi, strength, and speed all increased immensely. The techniques of the Dark Moon, which seemed impossible to master at first, have began to come easily. There were some... side effects however. Your now smooth cheeks, your higher pitched voice... these things were expected. But the more you practiced the Sunflower Manual, the more feminine you seemed to become in both mind and body. It dawned on you that you must leave Candlekeep soon, before others begin to notice that something is amiss. The world awaits you now, and they will fear the name Dongfang Bubai.
Stats:
Female Human
Dark Moon Monk
Str: 18
Dex: 18
Con: 17
Int: 15
Wis: 9
Char: 15
One proficiency point will be in darts to emulate the needles he uses. He also blinded a guy once, so the blind skill works. Chill touch and vampiric touch more resemble techniques from other characters in the novel, so I incorporated that into the bio. I thought about making him a man and using the sex change belt on him to simulate the castration, but that won't work for BG 2 so I just made him a woman.
So, who else has tried something like this, and if so, how do you fit them into the game world?
3
Comments
It can be fun, but really, nothing like a good PnP game.
Party members from the Black Pits and (unfinished) BG run were:
- a mummy necromancer who was part John Locke, part Desmond Hume from Lost, part priest of cauliflowers
- a gnome Thayan Wizard who was part Edwin Odesseiron, part Danerys Targeryan from Game of Thrones
- a mindflayer priest of Lathander who was Thor with the ability to turn into Hulk
- a myconid ranger on a quest to destroy the One Ring, part John Pope from Falling Skies (and various Monty Python references)
(+ half invisible drow jester and rakshasa berzerker, but those were not based that much on characters from other media)
Eyelar/Eye of Helm(@KidCarnival) - near-sighted Beholder, convinced he is a human and a Paladin. Believes he is a paladin of Helm to cause "good acts" (usually seen as "evil" in the eyes of townsfolk). Helm denied having a Beholder Paladin. Has a special ability to fall asleep during the most heated moments.
Alduin - mummy necromancer who fell in love with a cauliflower field, lost his brain (being a mummy with leaking stitches), replaced it with a cauliflower. Since then, he was never himself again turning into a senile blabbering mummy. Except when he was convinced that Broccolis are attacking and then swiftly turning into an AxCrazy homicidal maniac and a very powerful spellcaster.
Eudaemonium - Gnome wizard, convinced he is from Thay. Arrogant, loud, but overall mainly lazy.
Southpaw - delusional MindFlayer priest of Lathander. (Lathander himself refuses to speak about it, feeling rather awkward) Quite cheerful, stubbornly memorizing only "Cause wounds" spells, trying to heal people with bashing them on their heads with a hammer he dubbed "My healing stick". One day he got the Ashideena hammer and started to get fits of rage forgetting to speak properly (thus the "hulk speak"). Absent-mindedly sucking brains of others, especially crucial NPCs (who are then rendered unusable)
OneAngryMushroom - ironically, the sanest person of them all...a Myconid ranger. Loves long walks on the beach, romantic dinners, water and standing in shady spots. NO DOGS!
I must say you chose a rather random character from the epic cast of all of Jin Yong's work. More obvious choices would have been Guo Jing, Yang Guo, Xiao Long Nv, Qiao Feng, Duan Yu etc...
Anyways good to see Jin has a compatriot in the Sword Coast, but I don't think he would like him/her very much.
I wish there was a warrior kit like Kensai, but with no restriction on missile weapons. Obviously for balance, they should get less bonuses as well.
As for the choice of character, I always found his more minor characters and villains more interesting than the protagonists--Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng, Mei Chaofeng, Yue Buqun, and of course, Dongfang Bubai. It takes balls (um...) and a good deal of craziness to sacrifice your manhood to become No. 1.
As for other characters... maybe I should make a spear wielding Kensai and name him Lu Bu....
PS. Thinking of using Dongfang to romance Anomen. It'd be hilarious to have him unknowingly fall for a tranny.
I actually grew up in the UK, so although I can speak Chinese fluently, it'd be hard for me to read Jin Yong's books. Thankfully almost all of them have been adapted into numerous TV serials, some of which are pretty good.
I think Lu Bu would be a vanilla fighter, given that he does wear heavy armour.
I think we have very different tastes for characters. I usually prefer the clean-cut goody-goodies. Aside from "Smiling Proud Wanderer", all of Jin Yong's stories have a fairly clear good vs evil message, along with strong appeals to Buddhist and Confucius ideology, and portrays an idealistic world where evils are almost absolute and the heroes are near-perfect.
It's just a way of playing the game. It doesn't mean you are acting out ur character's actions, or saying his lines out loud.
It just means you create a character with a background, and take actions in the game based on your character's knowledge, aspirations, personality, beliefs etc... and not the metagame. Frankly that's the only way I would play a singleplayer ROLEPLAYING game.
At least if it is multiplayer game, my competitive side would compel me to metagame for the sake of trying to beat other people. But in single player games, it's all about creating an interesting story. You don't need an audience or a partner to enjoy that.
When IWD was released, I played as NPCs or other characters from BG1 - until I realized that the two games actually take place 100 years apart, LOL.
I know it's not fantasy, but it's my favorite series. If anyone has any ideas, I'll try it.
~House Ascerion
As for stats, I think
Str: 15/16
Dex: 19/20 (he's more or less superhuman, after all)
Con: 16
Int: 19/20 (Mentat)
Wis: 18
Cha: 18
Edit: Almost forgot about Voice. Charm or Dire Charm should be able to cover it.
Alignment is also tricky. Young Paul can either be lawful or neutral good. Emperor Paul should be lawful neutral.
Despite being from a sci-fi setting, Paul is a pretty good choice. He's seen by many of his subjects as semi-divine, so why not have him be the son of a god?
They were all crazier than a ranger who took way to many hits to the head. And funny as hell too.
I seem to remember a lot of shenanigans arising from them. I recently found some of them again, along with a slime druid, and will be trying to keep them out of trouble.
I was thinking of Kensai, but I saw him as more of a swashbuckler. We are really close on the stats, I just went a little less powerful with them. Almost -2 on everything.
I gave him single weapon mastery and dagger proficiency so far.
Here's some pictures of him. I think the one I found of him by a deviantart artist works really well with the avatar.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/myJACzy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Du3RwJb.jpg[/IMG]
A lot of fun so far. Oh, the reason for swashy was that the description said the fighting style was the epitome of finesse, charm, and wit. Sounded like the fighting style Gurney Halleck taught him. Oh, and seeing through illusions (prescience) and finding (hunter-seeker/saudakar) traps made sense, too.
Mine was a human Kensai (dual daggers) (attributes something around 16/17/14/16/12/12) whom I have dualled around level 10 to a Thief (mimicking going from a Duke's son (Warrior) to a more guerilla-fighting Fremen outcast (Thief).