Favorite actual/wished for fantasy character that wouldn't work well with D&D rules

Nonei

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I am working on a character-building system that will mesh with 3.5 rules - meaning it's for PC building only (and maybe BBEG :) ), so no extra work for building monsters/etc. I am trying to make it extremely flexible.

I am doing this because I've been frustrated in the past by starting with a character concept and then trying to figure out how to fit it into a class/feat progression concept. It seems to me that character building could be much more organic.

So, I am (for selfish reasons) asking for stories to help me picture what is needed. Has this happened to you? Did you have an awesome idea or concept for a character, and then were disappointed by the results once you started trying to build it with the classes/tools in the books? (Any edition!)

I would also love to hear ideas like this that worked because of a flexible DM (and what the DM did to make it work and also be balanced).

As simple examples, a human raised by elves might want to start out with an affinity for the longsword and longbow like an elf. Or a fighter might want to be more brawler/wrestler than sword-and-shield (and the rules don't really support this well).

Thanks!
 
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I have been wanting to build Sherlock Holmes (as recently played by Robert Downey Jr). I have not tried to build it yet, so I'm not yet sure where there would be issues... but it's an idea ;)
 

I didn't watch the movie, but have read about it (so please correct me if I'm wrong): The character you're talking about would excel at and enjoy a good fist fight as much as solving puzzles/mysteries, have some amount of intuition, and (at higher levels I would guess) think quickly enough to be able to slow down the perception of time and perform awesome combos that were well thought out in a split second.

That is an excellent example :)
 

I didn't watch the movie, but have read about it (so please correct me if I'm wrong): The character you're talking about would excel at and enjoy a good fist fight as much as solving puzzles/mysteries, have some amount of intuition, and (at higher levels I would guess) think quickly enough to be able to slow down the perception of time and perform awesome combos that were well thought out in a split second.

Sounds about right!

That is an excellent example :)

Good, hehe...

Added note - I liked the movie quite a bit. Maybe it's because I had lowered expectations, i don't know, but I thought it was great - good fun. We just grabbed the bluray version (when it came out) and I watched it again (after seeing it when it came out in theaters) and it really got me thinking of how cool a class that encompassed his character would be :) A good mix of combat, and non-combat skills.
 



Simple, any character who is defined as the one (and only or of a select few), most powerful Wizard on the planet. D&D is not designed for such a thing. The twins in Janny Wurts Mistwraith saga (and the 7 other magicians in that world) do not translate to D&D at all.

Similarly, you can't be "The best swordsman of all time" in standard D&D as a 1st level character.
 

I'm sort of confused as to what concepts you're asking for. Would wanting to be a non-humanoid (shape, not type) creature count as an example? Or are you talking about things that are possible with 3.5 D&D (without odd supplements like maybe savage species) but are just inconvenient?
 

I'm sort of confused as to what concepts you're asking for. Would wanting to be a non-humanoid (shape, not type) creature count as an example? Or are you talking about things that are possible with 3.5 D&D (without odd supplements like maybe savage species) but are just inconvenient?

I was actually deliberately vague, because I knew there were some things that I had not thought of - and intelligent items would definitely qualify under that. I am looking for concepts that are either unsupported or inconvienient, no matter how mundane or extraordinary.

Maybe something you wanted to try but were told you couldn't (or didn't even ask), or you did try and it was unsatisfactory b/c of the way the rules worked. Or something that just popped into your head while reading the thread.

I remember hearing about a campaign one time - I think it was PbP - and one PC was an awakened horse, and the mount of one of the other PCs. That would be difficult to build - and balance - in a "standard" campaign.

Now, satisfactorally fitting something like an intelligent ship that's a PC into a campaign without leaving them at the dock for long periods of time is a whole different matter...
 

One core concept that has been done, but never been done well, is the rune caster, most prominently on display in Weis and Hickman's Death Gate Cycle. It may just be because of inherent balance issues (i.e., Patryns and Sartans are essentially allowed to cast any spell they want, any time, infinitely), but the core concept / fluff for a character like that is fascinating, and no one has ever really captured the real flavor of a character like Haplo the Patryn.

Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved runethain is in the general vein, but severely weak compared to the book characters; the "truenaming" system in the 3.5 magic system variant splatbook (whose name eludes me) was another attempt at capturing the same type of flavor, but did it horribly, and with awful mechanics.

While I'm thinking about it, I've also never seen a good approximation of the character Garet Jax from the original Sword of Shannara. I'd imagine he'd be a weird monk/fighter hybrid, but to actually try and spec out a viable build of the character as described in the book would be a real challenge.
 
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