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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 2971583" data-attributes="member: 3051">It says you're normal.  Well, relative to the rest of the people around here, anyway.Here's the thing, and it's going to sound vaguely stalker-ish.  A while back, I realized that whenever I made a new character or big NPC, the first rules of thumb I'd use were based on the story hours on these boards.  First, I'd think how this character would fit into Abernathy's Company, or the Defenders of Daybreak, or Wulf's gang, or the Savage Sword of Meepo, or the Halmae guys, or on rare occasions the guys and gal from the Drunk Southern Girls thread.  (Oh, and the original Return to the ToEE meatgrinder, of course.)  Then, I'd think of how this character would contribute in the encounters these groups had faced.I made a Half-Elf Psychic Warrior, then immediately wondered what she'd have done against the Necropede, or when the DoD were ambushed in their mansion by Soder's pet.  I made a Halfling Paladin, then wondered how badly Wulf would have tormented him.   I made a Psion (Constructor) and wondered how useful he'd have been in Het Branoi.  And so on.The reason is that these story hours excel in two (not unrelated) ways:1> The DM.Anyone up with generic encounters, facing a lone orc guarding a chest in a 10x10 room.  We talk about the ratbastardliness of certain DMs, but really I'm just impressed with anyone who can continually come up with encounters that confound experienced players without being simple unwinnable deathtraps.  Sure, there exist certain threads-which-shall-not-be-named, but no one would ever claim these guys are just sponging off everyone else.  Besides, it makes me feel better about using concepts, err, "inspired" by these story hours in my own world.2> The Players.Many of these have become the Iconic characters to me, the ideal that groups should be aiming towards.  It's not because they have good stats or are optimally built; I've just played with way too many people who just viewed their characters as just sets of numbers to screw around with.  If the character had any personality at all, it was just a carbon-copy of the player's own.  This clearly isn't the case in the good story hours.Anyway, don't feel strange about being jealous.  It's perfectly natural.</blockquote>

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