I have to make a character and I'm totally out of ideas, ugh.

[Wulf Ratbane]

I would have to disagree that it's limited. What makes a character interesting and unique isn't race or class, but personality. I mean, no one here is an elf or a halfling, we're all lvl commoners or experts, but most of us are at least partly interesting .

I totally agree.

That is why I didn't recommend any of that "boring" stuff like skills and feats.

So which part do you need help with again? Personality or crunchy bits?

 

[Arravis]

Little of both actually. I want a character that allows for ALOT of RP. It's too easy to make the quiet-brooder type in this sort of world, but I'd rather not do that. I want something that's a bit less subtle. Something with quirks, little stupid habits, etc... I just really need some pointers, I can work out the details. I do like the bad con-man idea, that has potential, but I'd like to hear others if possible .

 

[Spenser]

Arravis,

If you want to do more role-playing, try playing a little bit "against type" for this campaign. Start out with a level or two of Aristocrat. (I assume this world has some rich people in the cities, yes?) For whatever reason, you've been separated from your cushy life as a sycophant in the palace of the decadent and evil King, and you've been forced to take up with a bunch of scruffy ruffians and treasure-hunters. Maybe a rival spread lies about you and forced you to flee the court in disgrace. Whatever.

Anyway, you're far from Daddy's money and protection. You're arrogant, naive, somewhat cowardly and foppish, but when push comes to shove, you're not a bad fighter. Even in your reduced state, you're still a smooth talker, and can finesse the group past some situations that your illiterate dirt-encrusted comrades couldn't deal with.

Good luck! The campaign sounds like a lot of fun... I wish I could convince my friends to try something like this, but we like our shiny magic toys too much, methinks.

 

[The_lone_gunman]

Make him a jolly man type, the kind who finds everything about the world wonderful and is just glad to be a part of it. Kind of like the big goof ball from The lone gunmen series. I wouldn't make him stupid like that guy was though. He could be the kind of guy that is always in bad situations but somehow, by sheer luck, survives (kind of like a Forrest Gump type character).


You could also make him a split personality. When he is out in the desert, where the is hitting the fan, his "alter ego" takes over, making him the fast thinking, survivor type. But his normal self is simply jovial, kind of niave, without a care in the world. If the DM is cool, you could even have two character sheets with different skills.


Also, I would like to say just because the guy is a quiet brooding type, doesn't mean he wouldn't have lots of opportunities to roleplay. Look at Raistlin, would you say that he was not a strong "roleplaying" character? It doesnt really make sense for someone to be happy-go-lucky in the type of world you describe. I would think that the quiet brooding type, the survivor, trying to get past his distrust of others in order to survive and thrive in the world, would provide plenty of roleplaying opportunites.

It seems that without magic, and in a world like the one you have described, a fighting character would be in order. Perhaps someone based on the Aiel or desert people of the Anarach (can't think of their names).


TLG

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

How about making him one of those annoying but lovable sidekicks?

 

[KnowTheToe]

using rogue as the main class create a merchant based on the western Cliche of the tonic salesman. You know, the guy who sold home brewed beverage as medicine. A quick talked who can get people to buy sand in the desert.

 

[Saigo]

What about a human dwarf just shy of 5' tall, kinda stout, goateed, cap pulled low over his eyes. He plays a "mouth harp" and sings the campaign's version of the blues. Work a deal with the DM so that he gets double any skill points he spends on "perform" because of that deal he made when he sold his soul at the crossroads. The catch is, one day the buyer's going to come to collect.

 

[Henry]

Even better, take a character from TV, and play it up:

Such as:

• a serious version of BA Barracus from A-Team
• a version of either the Gyro-pilot from Road Warrior or Murdoch from the A-Team - he's good at fixing and making things, but not a strong combatant except for ranged weapons
• a character like Johnathan LaPaglia's character from Seven Days, a psychotic nut with an inhuman intolerance for pain

Also, if you want a REAL "against type" character - have you ever watched the movie Me, Myself, and Irene?

 

[Andor]

Play a warrior, buy up sense motive and bluff and play the cheerfully corrupt town guard. Outgoing, friendly and in it for himself. You know, the kind of guy who confiscates beer from teenagers and has one cracked before he even rounds the corner.

-Andor

 

[phoamslinger]

Expert, Knowledge Skill: Dowser - 4 levels (Wis based).

Talk about being in high demand.

Main Entry: dows·er
Pronunciation: 'dau-z&r
Function: noun
Date: 1838
: DIVINING ROD; also : a person who uses it

Main Entry: divining rod
Function: noun
Date: 1751
: a forked rod believed to indicate the presence of water or minerals especially by dipping downward when held over a vein