Pathfinder 1E PCs Based on Pop Culture Characters

[Fauchard1520]

In PbP games on this very website I have briefly tried out Jack Randlay, a custom platemail wearing, repeating heavy crossbow wielding combination of Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay fighting demon hordes, and Batknight, aka Bru'ekk Vaiyune, a noble drow fighter who hid his identity and combating on the surface the scourge of his own wicked people ever since his parents had his best friend killed.

I like the Batman riff. It feels appropriate to the Underdark, and being an enemy of your own parents is enough of a twist to make it more than a carbon copy.

 

[Xaoc]

As long as you are having fun with it and no one else really cares why shouldn't you? Maybe add a twist or something to make it wholly your character? Like a character I have in mind for an upcoming game (stupid pandemic delays) is a Human Swashbuckler Rogue with the Sailor background using the Variant Feature: Bad Reputation.

"No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When you are in a civilized settlement, you can get away with minor crimial offenses, such as refusing to pay for food at a tavern or breaking down doors at a local shop, since most people will not report your activity to the authorities."

His name is Roberts. He's not actually the Dread Pirate Roberts but everyone thinks that he is the Dread Pirate Roberts (and I'll play him as being soooo oblivious, naive and clumsy) so that when he goes into a tavern, people give him food and drinks out of fear and he does not pay for them thinking that people are really just nice to him. Or when he stumbles into a shop window and accidentally breaks the glass people let it slide out of fear and maybe actually give him something from the shop stating it was an "old" window and needed replacing anyway and they thank him for making it easier to replace it now that it's broken, and he, again, just thinks that everyone is always so nice to him and that's just the way the world is.

Also, in combat he starts fights left handed and I plan on flavoring his Rakish Audacity as him saying "I know something you don't know..." to get the sneak attack (I know, that was the other character from the movie, but in my defense, he was offered the job at the end of the movie).

In your defense, that was both of them.

 

[Blue Orange]

Actually, I think the rules around copyright make a lot of stories people naturally want to retell involving popular characters impossible to publish, so RPGs are kind of a fun way around that, like fanfiction--if you tried to write an Aang story and publish it ViacomCBS (who owns Nickeolodeon) would sue you, so why not play Aang in Pathfinder? The only real restriction is the tolerance of the other players.

I mean, why so serious?

 

[nevin]

With Last Airbender getting popular all over again, I find myself once again excited to play a kineticist. However, all my old self-consciousness about ripping off an existing character is creeping back on me. When you're running a PC inspired by pop culture, how do you make sure it's an interesting homage rather than an eye-rolling ripoff?

Comic for illustrative purposes.

There is almost nothing you can play as a character that isn't a rip off of something that's already been thought of. Just have fun.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

When creating other forms of art ripping off a bunch of different stuff isn't plagiarism, it's influences (or research).
So just rip off a bunch of different sources.