Players: Do your characters need to be kewl?

[The Shaman]

Everyman, every time.

My characters laugh at the kewl characters behind their backs. They'd laugh in their faces, too, but they're trying to be polite - it's an Everyman thing.

 

[Odhanan]

And players, are your characters more kewl than they are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances?

More kewl, definitely. I occasionally like to run everymen, but I love to have something special about my characters. This doesn't have to be a black sword, an insane combo or the most outrageous appearance, but there is always "something" weird, out of place, about the character. I like characters with inner contrasts: that allows me to undertand and "become" them.

 

[Odhanan]

Is it just my personal experience, or is there a trend towards kewlness and away from the Everyman? If this is a trend, what's behind it?

There is a trend yes. It didn't change much my own playstyle and interests, but there seems to be more "kewl" characters this time around.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

Everyman. It's the Method Actor in me, I think: I want to get a handle on the character's mind, so I don't want that fact that the character is the last drow cleric of Obad-Hai from Podunkoria tends to dominate the character's role, not his personality.

 

[FireLance]

I voted "kewl" because I believe that PCs should start with more natural talent or specialized training than most of the population.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Is Luke Skywalker an Everyman or a Kewl character? On one hand, he's a farm kid brought up in the boonies with no understanding of how the galaxy really works. On the other hand he's the son of an evil warlord and the (kinda-sorta) last of an ancient order who can bring an end to the reign of an evil Empire.

In any case, I voted Kewl. There's always going to be something about my characters that sets them apart. From barbarian decent setting him apart from everyone else to growing up on Acheron and escaping from the Blood War, my characters have all had something that makes them different than everyone else, whether its immediately apparent or not.

 

[Agent Oracle]

My current character is a knight whose father is a spice merchant. Despite the 18 charisma and the overall power in combat situations, he has a name that he hates (Cecil) Which puts him right back at everyman status.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I prefer everyman type characters myself.

 

[Andor]

Wow. 54 votes and still dead even.

 

[Rothe]

I'd like to vote but really seems to be no middle ground. The options seem to be joe farmer with 11's across the board versus proto-demigods. Might honestly say have not played either extreme in all my time gaming.

The middle ground I think of are characters from upper-lower class, middle-class, or lower upper class backgrounds in the campaign, not wretches from the street living off rats, no heirs to the throne either. Yet all the characters are definitively above the average joe in abilities like Strength, Intelligence, etc., isn't just first level in any class better than your average joe across the board?

So maybe the middle ground are badasses, of normal backgrounds but above average almost in every way.