On making a memorable character

[abirdcall]

Neither playing an archetype nor against one makes a character memorable. What I quote directly below, however, is 100% true:



Then you say this:


It IS a way. It isn’t a guarantee.

But equally, playing an archetype is no guarantee, either. Archetypal PCs can easily become cookie cutter and forgettable. A buddy of mine played a human mage the first time we gamed together. Over the next 20 years, every mage (his favorite class) save two he played in other D&D campaigns from 1Ed to 4Ed had the exact same spell list. The only ones I can remember are the very first one, the last one he played in 3.5Ed, and the 4Ed one that couldn’t have the same spell list because 4Ed had changed what spells were available and the effects of those that remained.

Another guy who joined the group later played a sniper archetype 90% of the time, even in other RPG systems. Again, only a few stand out.

You should read my post again.

 

[abirdcall]

I mostly DM and the PCs I remember usually had quirks or stories outside of their respective builds. They often had some great quotes.

All of these were played by different people, but the quirks made them fun and interesting PCs. It had almost nothing to do with class/race combos.

This is the same thing. To me a ridiculous quirk is not what makes a character memorable. Those are a dime a dozen. The next iteration of 'look at how zany my character is' is something I forget straight away. At worst it is just annoying, which I suppose if it it annoying enough it would be memorable? But not for that long.

 

[abirdcall]

Stop trying to make fetch happen.

It's that simple. You can't make your character interesting with their build. Or their backstory. Or their "hilarious accent." Or by playing against, or with, type.

The character is only interesting in play.

It's an emergent game. Let the character emerge. Sometimes it's awesome. Stop trying so hard.

This.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

For my part, I think it’s the personality, how the character is played, that makes them stand out. Like the half-orc that was obsessed with drow, or the surly elven cleric that worshipped a god of booze (and had a barstool for a spiritual weapon).

But it’s not all about personality and quirks. You don’t want to be remembered as the PC that hogged the spotlight just to RP their weirdness. It’s about being able to get your character across while still keeping in mind that this is a group activity, and other people want to role-play their characters as well. To that extent, it’s also in how they RP with the other PCs.

 

[AmerginLiath]

D&D is not a soliloquy. You can design the most fascinating build or interesting backstory, but the emergence of a character is in the interaction of the player and PC with the other players and DM and their characters/NPCs. Just as how we perceive ourselves is not the same as how others perceive us and the most memorable stories about us in real life are those told by others about their interactions with us, the true character builds from how characters interact at the table in the story — the most memorable characters come nearly always from the most memorable stories (which is the not same thing as the most memorable plots).

We often intend one thing of our characters and find that they develop into something else (I don’t mean a different choice of feats or combat role) as we operate among other players and their characters in a dance of dialogues. It’s why we so often remember characters based on choices incidental to the main plot, because the DM’s development of the plot and the group’s communal development of the story is actually something very different.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Memorable characters just kind of happen naturally. Creating a memorable character isn't something that can be accomplished with any decisions made at creation.

 

[Warpiglet]

I firmly believe that there is an interaction between what you put on paper and what happens in the game. You might be pretty vanilla on paper and have something cool happen over the course of campaigns. You can also sketch out the bones of who you want to be and have that emerge in play. Or, you can see your bones are less interesting than your experience in play.

Either way I do not believe it can be forced. You can have fun with something that is not memorable but you cannot guarantee you will really stand out.

 

[Lanefan]

How to make a character memorable regardless of its class, stats, or any other game-mechanics consideration:

Personality - take whatever personality you've got in mind for your character and push it just a bit over the top. Or, if you're me, completely over the top.
Catchphrase* - some otherwise quite forgettable characters have been long remembered in our crew just because of their personal slogan or catchphrase or quote.
Signature action - similar to catchphrase, something you're known for consistently doing in the game (an example: no furniture remains whole once this character sees it).
Theme - a longer-term thing where a character becomes associated with a particular theme e.g. longswords, fire spells, colours, pranks, or whatever.
Craziness - if you're playing a character that you know or suspect won't last long anyway, make it bat-guano crazy somehow and let its shooting-star career be a blaze of hilarity.

* - or if you're so inclined, a (preferably original) theme song that either you or the character sings at every opportunity.

And note these suggestions are for making a character memorable, not necessarily likeable; as memorable and likeable can sometimes run at cross-purposes. Often the best-liked characters in the here and now are the easygoing quiet ones - the same ones you'll struggle to remember at all in ten years.

Lan-"you're the worst character I ever heard of - yes, but you have heard of me"-efan

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You should read my post again.

You should read mine again.

 

[abirdcall]

I firmly believe that there is an interaction between what you put on paper and what happens in the game. You might be pretty vanilla on paper and have something cool happen over the course of campaigns. You can also sketch out the bones of who you want to be and have that emerge in play. Or, you can see your bones are less interesting than your experience in play.

Either way I do not believe it can be forced. You can have fun with something that is not memorable but you cannot guarantee you will really stand out.

This thread has helped me articulate my thoughts on this. It's nice to have a bunch of posters who think similarly.

I think for me having a character more in line with an archetype gives me more space to make them memorable in game. Fewer distractions. Also more relatable to others as we can all get to know the character based on what happens in game.

You should read mine again.

I know you quoted me, but your response didn't have anything to do with what I said.

I'd ignore you, but I can't.