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<blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5720658" data-attributes="member: 92511">I'm in with everyone else on pretty much all of these.The Clone/Hack: Taking a character they saw or read somewhere and not changing it at all or giving it the thinnest veneer (I'm a ranger who fights with two scimitars and has a figurine but instead of a panther, it's a lion! And I'm not drow...I'm a wood elf! *smiles like they've achieved some outstanding feat of creativity*The &quot;Exception&quot;: I take this as a step removed from the &quot;Clone&quot;, made most notable (and I believe begun, in the first place) by Drizzt. I'm some race that noone's every heard of or seen, but I've decided to venture through the world of Men. I'm a wizard from a notoriously EVIL cabal who's on some paper-thin exploration for redemption (of course then never actually &quot;redeems&quot; themselves under the auspices that they are remaining &quot;true&quot; to their character's upbringing/training/alignment). I'm a warrior from this brutally savage society but I'm a peace lover (who is built to deal out unfathomable amounts of damage). Yes, yes. We all want to be &quot;different/unique.&quot; We all want to feel &quot;special.&quot; But being a sorcerer with pointy ears or a three foot tall hair-footed sneaky guy is not &quot;different/special&quot; enough?The &quot;Alignment Lawyer&quot;: This can be LG, CN, Any Evil, I've seen it done with just abotu any alignment in the book. It does go to the distinction made here by a few people that it is a problem with the &quot;player&quot; rather than the &quot;character&quot;...but ultimately, it is the character who is in the story, so I count it. But those characters that say, &quot;I can do this or that outrageously unwise or disruptive course because it's in keeping with my alignment&quot; reeeeally gets annoying after a while. Your character should/needs to be more than the sum of his alignment.The &quot;Trope&quot; (if that's the correct word to use?): This is a &quot;maybe&quot; for me. Sometimes these are done exceptionally well. The gruff axe-wielding dwarf (i.e. the &quot;Gimli&quot; or the &quot;Flint Fireforge&quot;), the elf bow-specialist or the dark mysterious but ultimately good-hearted wizard are all examples. If they are played well/with a bit of individual personality, they can be great. But if they aren't, they essentially come off as the &quot;clone/hack&quot; and become tiresome really quickly. &quot;Stop asking yourself what Legolas would do and ask yourself what YOUR character would do!&quot;The &quot;Bad Name&quot;: Pure and simple. I can't take your character seriously, no matter HOW the character is played/created/what class they are, if you tell me your name is &quot;Raistlin&quot;, &quot;Puke Skywalker&quot;, &quot;Darth &lt;Anything&gt;&quot; or &quot;Elfey Elferson&quot;. It's a game of imagination and creativity fer cryin' out loud. Take some vowels and consonants and put them in a blender til you get something you like. I don't care how &quot;cool&quot; they sounded in the book/movie or how &quot;witty&quot; you think you are being. Bad/Stupid/Silly names just immediately ruin immersion/setting continuity...for me and, likely, the other players. I hate it.There's my coppers on that. Good mornin' ENworld.--Steel Dragons</blockquote>

[QUOTE="steeldragons, post: 5720658, member: 92511"] I'm in with everyone else on pretty much all of these. The Clone/Hack: Taking a character they saw or read somewhere and not changing it at all or giving it the thinnest veneer (I'm a ranger who fights with two scimitars and has a figurine but instead of a panther, it's a lion! And I'm not drow...I'm a wood elf! *smiles like they've achieved some outstanding feat of creativity* The "Exception": I take this as a step removed from the "Clone", made most notable (and I believe begun, in the first place) by Drizzt. I'm some race that noone's every heard of or seen, but I've decided to venture through the world of Men. I'm a wizard from a notoriously EVIL cabal who's on some paper-thin exploration for redemption (of course then never actually "redeems" themselves under the auspices that they are remaining "true" to their character's upbringing/training/alignment). I'm a warrior from this brutally savage society but I'm a peace lover (who is built to deal out unfathomable amounts of damage). Yes, yes. We all want to be "different/unique." We all want to feel "special." But being a sorcerer with pointy ears or a three foot tall hair-footed sneaky guy is not "different/special" enough? The "Alignment Lawyer": This can be LG, CN, Any Evil, I've seen it done with just abotu any alignment in the book. It does go to the distinction made here by a few people that it is a problem with the "player" rather than the "character"...but ultimately, it is the character who is in the story, so I count it. But those characters that say, "I can do this or that outrageously unwise or disruptive course because it's in keeping with my alignment" reeeeally gets annoying after a while. Your character should/needs to be more than the sum of his alignment. The "Trope" (if that's the correct word to use?): This is a "maybe" for me. Sometimes these are done exceptionally well. The gruff axe-wielding dwarf (i.e. the "Gimli" or the "Flint Fireforge"), the elf bow-specialist or the dark mysterious but ultimately good-hearted wizard are all examples. If they are played well/with a bit of individual personality, they can be great. But if they aren't, they essentially come off as the "clone/hack" and become tiresome really quickly. "Stop asking yourself what Legolas would do and ask yourself what YOUR character would do!" The "Bad Name": Pure and simple. I can't take your character seriously, no matter HOW the character is played/created/what class they are, if you tell me your name is "Raistlin", "Puke Skywalker", "Darth <Anything>" or "Elfey Elferson". It's a game of imagination and creativity fer cryin' out loud. Take some vowels and consonants and put them in a blender til you get something you like. I don't care how "cool" they sounded in the book/movie or how "witty" you think you are being. Bad/Stupid/Silly names just immediately ruin immersion/setting continuity...for me and, likely, the other players. I hate it. There's my coppers on that. Good mornin' ENworld. --Steel Dragons [/QUOTE]

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