Awkward Characters

Kristmaus · Mar 30, 2019

Hi everyone.

Do you enjoy playing with "awkward" characters?

I am usually a DM in other RPGs, but recently I was invited to join a D&D5 party, and I wanted to make a Barbarian Goliath... so, to make it more fun to play, I decided that he wouldn't talk in common... unless it's a "The Simpsons" quote.

I agreed with my DM to have it hidden from the other players in the table, so I had to modify some quotes when they refer to a recognizable character.

Immortal Sun · Mar 30, 2019

I once made a were-bear monk called "Obearon". He constantly made bear-puns while talking. The party even got in on it. It was funny for like, 15 minutes. Then it was annoying and we stopped.

GlassJaw · Mar 30, 2019

Kristmaus said:
Do you enjoy playing with "awkward" characters?

I am usually a DM in other RPGs, but recently I was invited to join a D&D5 party, and I wanted to make a Barbarian Goliath... so, to make it more fun to play, I decided that he wouldn't talk in common... unless it's a "The Simpsons" quote.

There's a big difference between awkward and corny.

What you described had nothing to do with creating a character with an interesting quirk or flaw. I really dislike joke names and bringing modern memes and jokes in game as it breaks immersion and is just distracting.

You can joke and have fun at the table but there is a line that gets crossed.

MockingBird · Mar 30, 2019

I had a character, he was a magus, he lost his wife in the past. Everything reminded him of his wife, even in the most unopportunistic times. It eventually became a running gag lol.

A player in my Tomb of Annihilation game is a druid who has spent most of his life in solitar around the island of Chult. He has zero social skills and doesnt understand the concept of personal space. He cause the medusa to attack the party, first with poisoned wine then just out right haha.

Kristmaus · Mar 30, 2019

GlassJaw said:
What you described had nothing to do with creating a character with an interesting quirk or flaw. I really dislike joke names and bringing modern memes and jokes in game as it breaks immersion and is just distracting.

Well, that's the point of my character. Trying to not to break inmersion and distract other players.

ad_hoc · Mar 30, 2019

It's one thing to make jokes at the table, it's another to make a joke of the game.

I would not enjoy playing with that group.

I did play in one group where a player decided that their character was awkward and really bad at interacting (esp. lying). He sabotaged any attempt the party made at deception and usually at diplomacy too in the name of character personality. After unsuccessfully petitioning against this behaviour I left that group.

Guest 6801328 · Mar 30, 2019

GlassJaw said:
There's a big difference between awkward and corny.

What you described had nothing to do with creating a character with an interesting quirk or flaw. I really dislike joke names and bringing modern memes and jokes in game as it breaks immersion and is just distracting.

You can joke and have fun at the table but there is a line that gets crossed.

Dang. I was right there with you until you had to go and use the magic phrase "breaks immersion". That just translates, from gamer-speak to English, as "is something I don't like".

Shiroiken · Mar 30, 2019

I am generally not a fan of awkward characters, either as a player or DM. They tend to cause tension within the party, often derailing plot and social encounters by being difficult.

In one game, a player was talking about a character idea with myself and the DM away from the table. It was a human druid who carried around a rotting ear of corn, and regularly "listened" to it to determine what he should do. His plan was to roll a die if the DM didn't have the corn talk back to him, with a list of options for each result. He was super excited about the idea, until I pointed out that we would have absolutely no reason to EVER adventure with him. If he tried to just tag along, we'd probably kill him the first time he screwed something up, because he's dangerously psychotic. He grudgingly admitted such a character wouldn't work, and the DM laughed, saying "too bad... I was going to have a demon answer each time!"

TarionzCousin · Mar 30, 2019

A player in my 3.5 game rolled a 7 in Charisma. She made an urban druid who lived in the sewers under the city full-time.

Her character never bathed and was oblivious to everyone else's reaction to her character's smell. In fact, she tried to be "polite" and shake everyone's hand.

It never got old.

GlassJaw · Mar 30, 2019

Elfcrusher said:
Dang. I was right there with you until you had to go and use the magic phrase "breaks immersion". That just translates, from gamer-speak to English, as "is something I don't like".

It's definitely something I don't like because whenever the quirk/meme/catch phrase is invoked, it pulls the entire table out of the game. It draws attention to the fact that it doesn't belong in the game.

There's a big difference with people joking at the table about non-gaming things or even joking about things in the game. But when the pun is meant to exist in the game world, it doesn't work. It breaks the fourth wall.

So replace "breaks immersion" with annoying.

Awkward Characters

Kristmaus

First Post

Immortal Sun

Guest

GlassJaw

Hero

MockingBird

Hero

Kristmaus

First Post

ad_hoc

(they/them)

Guest 6801328

Guest

Shiroiken

Legend

TarionzCousin

Second Most Angelic Devil Ever

GlassJaw

Hero

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