Post your best PC secrets!

[shilsen]

Quick off-topic question.. what exactly is a gestalt game? I have seen references to it several times, but never really understood it.

Gestalt is a system introduced in the Unearthed Arcana book (not sure if it occurs elsewhere too) whereby characters are made by blending the best characteristics of two classes. They get the best HD, the best saves, the best skill list, special abilities from both classes, etc. For example, you can have a cleric/wizard gestalt, which would have all the spellcasting ability of an equal level cleric and an equal level wizard. It tends to make PCs a fair bit stronger than the standard system, but not as much as one would think at first glance.

 

[Corbert]

I once ran a game where everyone was required to have a dark secret. My wife played a 14 year old girl pretending to be a boy. Another player had two characters - one had a "shadow brother". The brother only appeared when the character wasn't around, and being of opposite alignment would pretty much trash the PCs reputation. The other character he played was cursed, so that he stole lifeforce (in the form of aging) from anyone he had sex with. That character was a cleric who took a vow of celibacy because of that. Another characters secret was that he was foretold to kill a god, so he feared all clerics, thinking they were out to kill him . The other female player couldn't come up with anything, so I let her dark secret be that she had no dark secret (yeah, I know, lame ). The final characters dark secret was that he was so clumsy (very low Dex) he was responsible for the deaths of many people in him home village because he basically tripped and ruined all the ingredients of some type of disease cure, I don't recall all the details now.

 

[The Curious D1]

I played a game once where the ongoing antagonist (a very precise and destructive wizard from 2e) of our party would show up at the most unfortunate times (for us) but would always seem to disappear at the critical moment, when they had the upper hand and most everyone was stunned, paralyzed, or otherwise incapacitated. I was able to focus my attention on the wizard while the others focused on the task at hand (though focus would redirect from time to time, by all individuals, including the wizard). It was the only game I have ever played that I was actually allowed to have a fellow PC as an apprentice. I guess that's the price you pay for having a chaotic-neutral archmage with Advanced Chain Contingency for a teacher.

Unless they are registered to this board and see this post, they still (to this day, after 5 years) do not know that I was the culprit. We still play on occasion though my character was retired long ago and is under the control of the DM now (and rarely makes guest appearances). Interestingly enough, now I am playing an apprentice of the very PC that my previous character had trained.

I imagine I will be slain in and out of game if they find out.

 

[helium3]

I once played a ranger who traumatically lost his wife to a (possibly magical) wolf, and in the process was gravely wounded. Unable to deal with the loss, his shattered mind came up with the belief that he had been infected with lycanthropy by the wolf, and killed his wife himself as a werewolf. The entire campaign he was secretly searching for a 'cure' to his condition, but remove curse never seemed to do the trick, since he had an insanity, not a magical curse.

Every full moon, he'd ditch the party at night, strip off his equipment, and stalk the nearest humanoids and kill them bare handed, then come to his senses the next day, clean up, get his equipment, silently bemoan his affliction, and rejoin the group. Between his dissaperances and the monthly stories of peasants horribly murdered, the group eventually figured out that he was a werewolf. Boy were they surprized when they finally confronted him on the night of a full moon and he didn't transform, simply started frothing at the mouth and leap at one of them using his hands and teeth.

He also always refused silver items and coins in treasure, and displayed a pyschosomatic rash/burning sensation whenever silver touched him.

Eventually, after 11th level, he finally got cured with a heal spell, since that could cure insanity, but up until then, he was the driving force of the party to accept new quests from various churches and wizards in order to earn a cure.

That's really cool.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

The PCs in my home game were all fairly high level (16+) when they finally started planes hopping. All of them approached or got approached by various factions during their stay in Union, with one of my PC's the fey'ri (elven tiefling) bard finally confronting his father after years of searching. His father was another fey'ri, a thrall to Grazz't and tempted the PC in question to work for the same master. After proving his loyalty by doing a minor betrayal to the party (copying some arcane texts they found from a dungeon) he eventually got a token from Grazz't-an operation that removed his hand and replaced it with one of Grazz't's 6-fingered ones IMC, Grazz't gives out these hands (using regeneration on himself to reproduce them) to keep a watch on some of his agents (it has quasi-intelligence) as well as show his favor. So far, the bard who received the hand has hidden this fact from the rest of the PCs by buying a new bracer and overall being discreet. He avoided fighting a marillith in the service of Grazz't by showing her his hand, with his back facing the rest of the PCs, although recently the assignments he's been getting from Grazz't has been conflicting with the party's monk, so the rest of the group may find out his new allegiance in a few more sessions.

 

[The Curious D1]

That's really cool.

Yeah, that's the best one IMO so far, all are very interesting, but that one tops them all. I wish I could read the whole adventure, would make a great book it sounds like.

 

[Tatsukun]

The best one I have seen was a group I play in. Every time the paladin had to make a heal check, the player would tell the DM "I'm going to use that special item".

Then his PC would hide himself from the other PC's and make the check.

This drove us (the other players) nuts with curiosity. Finally, we found out, his PC was far sighted, and thought it was embarrassing for a Paladin to need glasses.

Great role-playing

-Tatsu

 

[krunchyfrogg]

My PC in the FRCS grew up without ever knowing his real parents or heritage, but after a series of events unfolded and I met up with other adventurures and formed a fun party, it became clear that my character was a spawn of the dead god Bhaal.


Oh wait...

 

[Wraith Form]

I was dead. ** SNIP** And now we're going to get my soul back!

........Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand YOINK.

Thanks! And cool idea!

 

[painandgreed]

I was in a very long campaign (3+ years with weekly games) and become party leader after the paladin died at the hands of an evil mage. This was the same evil mage who had cheated us out of an artifact level sword for a cursed one (that my character got). After the paladin's death, I not only became the leader of the party but also the commander of the troops of the good kingdom against those of the evil kingdom under the control of an anti-paladin. We defeated him quite soundly in the first war. During the second, he met with me and asked what I wanted to secretly work for him. I wanted the head of the evil magic-user (who was his servant by that time) and the sword, both of which I got. From there we planned out the rest of the war to make me look good (also to keep my party from trying to kill him and kill some of his more troublesome troops) until the last battle where I surrendered to him. I retired to my estates secretly a rich man and the party left for another continent.