D&D 5E Literary Clones

[Wik]

A few times, I've STARTED with a clone, but then watched them get a unique personality. For example, a few years back I was stumped for a second character to create in a 1e game where we each had to run 2 PCs (because 1e). So I rolled up a fighter, and named him "Ferris Vanson" or something like that, off a Tad Williams book I was reading at the time. At first, he was a shy guardsman type... but within a few sessions, he was much more swashbuckly. And then he died, and that was that.

Nowadays, I more often make characters based off original ideas, or based off literary characters only loosely. For example, if I ever get a chance to play in 5th this year, I sort of want to make a ranger of some sort named "Huck", after Huckleberry Finn. He won't at all be a direct port, but will share some similarities (a little naive and slow, but with a heart of gold that he personally thinks is black as night).

 

[GMforPowergamers]

How about you? Have you *really* never made a copy of a beloved character??

all the time as GM and PC...

My favorate warlord was a mix of Sheridan from B5 and The main military guy from ST Atlantis

I made a Drizt clone once myself

I have played heman and shazam

90% of my NPCs that I throw togather quick are X xharacter but with Y feature...

I tried to play a half elf bard based on Link form Zelda...but it fell apart...

back in 3e I made a character from a 3rd party book call Avatar, basicly I had all summoning spells in the game and based my character on Seto Kiaba from yugioh... I even named all of my summons after cards from the game with a twist...

 

[Rhenny]

I've never actually played a complete Literary clone. I usually just borrow traits and ideas from them.

Favorite ones:

Gray Mouser
Raistlin
Elric
Aragorn

 

[steeldragons]

Well, now...I'm not sure.

Visually, my very first cleric PC was entirely based on Sheila the Thief from the D&D cartoon. She was nothing LIKE her, obviously. She was cleric and the tv character was a thief. I did play up the "healer" angle and had her avoid fights if she could...or use magic before her mace. Even went so far as to find [beg the DM for] an elvin cloak so she could "turn invisible" to stay out of danger. But other than the looks and the cloak, I wouldn't really consider her a clone. AND, as the character progressed, she became quite the hard-nosed, battle-ready badass.

I mean, I played my first halfling character...a Halfling in B/X...which made him a "thief", basically [even though the game says "You're like a fighter." Bollocks]. Did a lot of sneaking and grabbing stuff, fought when he had to and tried to hide a lot...and when I created his AD&D analogue, he was a halfling fighter/thief.

Was he a "Bilbo" clone because a Basic/BX/BECM Halfling was, essentially, a Bilbo clone? And even though I never once thought about him as a Bilbo character and, visually, pictured him as Jeff Dee's muscled halfling from B/X...was that still a clone?

If yes, then yes I have. If no, then I haven't.

 

[MarkB]

Would playing a character who explicitly is the literary character count as making a clone?

In a Deadlands game, I built a character who very specifically was Doctor John Watson, right down to his former association with world-famous detective Sherlock Holmes (currently believed to have perished at Reichenbach Falls). I even wrote up in-character memoirs of our adventure.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Why have you hidden the results of this poll? Why have a poll at all?

On topic:
Certainly characters I have made emulated characters I knew from fiction. I had a rogue in the 80s who was named "Desslock" and while I know he didn't have blue skin, the voice in my head was clear. Was that a clone? Not really; I was playing D&D. My imagination has improved since then, at least in terms of naming characters, but I think that emulation of that sort is a crucial part of the hobby -- putting you in the driver's seat, and letting you explore what being other people is like, how they'll react to new situations. And many of the people we are curious about are literary figures.

 

[thalmin]

How about you? Have you *really* never made a copy of a beloved character??

What is the big secret? Why are the voting results hidden?

 

[Jester David]

What is the big secret? Why are the voting results hidden?

No secret, just fumbling fingers. If a mod or someone like [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] could make the poll results public it'd be awesome. Doesn't seem to be a way to edit polls that I can see.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[steeldragons]

And the people that find a-through-d all to be true and correct? What about us?