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Arpig -> A cast of characters (6/19/2011 12:29:20 AM)
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In the Undomly thread, while listing the various geeky RPGs I've played, I started thinking about some of the many characters I have played over the years.I thought it might be fun to share some of these. Just tell us a bit about the character, and some of the things that make him or her so memorable.
I'm going to start with one of my all-time favourites (he is also very fondly remembered by the other players).
Skreech Foulbreath
He was a 1/2-orc fighter/priest who worshiped Osiris (in AD&D terms, Osiris is a Lawful Good deity of the dead). Now in this particular campaign, when your PC (Player Character) died and you rolled up a new one, the DM quickly and somewhat clumsily inserted the new PC into the dungeon to meet up with the others. In Skreech's case he decided that I had been trapped at some time in the distant past and chained to a wall and put under some form of temporal stasis field to prevent me from aging or dying. OK, more than just a little hokey, but I can go with it...I asked him if the PC was aware of the passage of time while so entrapped, and he said yes.
Aha! says I to myself...I've found the schtick!. I figured if I had been chained to a wall for centuries, aware of the passage of time, I would go insane, so...Skreech was insane. Being a worshiper of the god of the dead, and not dying for all those years, he became convinced that he had somehow displeased his god, and therefore not been allowed to die and get his reward for his devoted service. So his aim in life was to die. I also decided that another aspect of his insanity was that rather than being Lawful GOOD, he would be a very twisted sort of Lawful EVIL, that believed himself to be good. Under the rules for clerics, being the wrong alignment means you only have access to the lowest level of spells, which Skreech took as yet further proof of Osiris' displeasure.
His twisted view was such that his answer to almost any situation was to kill whoever he was dealing with. If he thought you were bad...he would want to kill you so you could go be judged by Osiris and get the punishment you deserved. Conversely, if you were perceived to be good, he would want to kill you so you could get your reward. This led to some very amusing situations.
One time he bought a chariot. One of the other players asked if I had checked it out to make sure it wasn't a lemon. Screech's reply was that he hadn't (he knew nothing of chariots, he just wanted one to ride around in), but that there was no need, because the merchant wouldn't try cheat him. When the other player asked why he was so certain of that, he replied "Because if he cheats me I will kill him". the chariot salesman then spoke up quickly to point out that the chariot I had been looking at was just for display purposes, and the one I would actually be purchasing was in the back of the lot..."just let me bring it around for you sir" [:D]
Another time, when two of the city watch rescued a peasant girl, his reaction was to attempt to kill the watchmen on the spot, so they would be judged right then before they had a chance to do anything bad to muck up their karma so to speak. The other players had to physically restrain him. On several occasions they had to knock him unconscious to prevent him from "rewarding" somebody.
In this campaign, when the PCs were in the main city (which the DM had detailed exhaustively) you always had to tell the DM exactly where in town you were staying, so he could arrange various nasty surprises for you. So when Skreech arrived at the town and the DM asked where he was staying, I answered "the graveyard, to protect it from undead".
Well he didn't like that at all, because that wasn't anywhere he had thieves and such to harass me, so he said that I wasn't allowed to stay there. "Screw that" says Skreech, and takes up residence. He couldn't be reasoned with, because he was convinced he was doing Osiris' will, and he couldn't be effectively threatened because he wanted to die...so in the end (i.e. after 20 or so watchmen had been dispatched while trying to evict him) they just gave up and he was appointed the official guardian of the cemetery and received a salary from the town.
Because his aim was to die and go before Osiris, he was stupidly reckless...but also incredibly effective. He died...a lot! With frightening regularity. But every time he died, the party would bring him back to life. And of course, having died and returning to life, was to him just further proof that he was unworthy, so his insanity deepened. The other players brought him back again and again, often at enormous risk and expense, just because they thought he was so fucking much fun. Several of their PCs died in their efforts to resurrect Skreech, at least one permanently, but they never wavered in their dedication to bring him back "just one more time".
And every time they brought him back he was even crazier and even more determined to die and stay dead. It was fun to play a raving homicidal maniac who was convinced he was the paragon of virtue, and that the kindest way to repay a favour was to kill the one who had done you the favour. Good times, indeed.
That was Skreech Foulbreath. What about yours? Tell us about one of your favourite characters in one of your RPGs (online counts as well)
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