Character Archtypes

[akaihyo]

Looking over some old files, I would one which briefly discussed the

The Naive Expert / Talented Innocent
This is one of my favour conceptions, someone who is very, very skilled in a specific field but naive about the greater world. These character are very good at what they do and very confident of their own abilities in their field and totally lost once they step out of that narrow area. This allows them to ask lots of questions as they try to figure out the world around them, usually in context of their specialized field. (“Ah, so this is like a mass-energy conversion then?”)

I think this is my most often used archetype, most recently as Graceful Wanderer in wuxiadaddy’s Qin game and Moky the Narcoalchemist in nemloen's world underground game.

The Pro from Dover (to steal a title from Aaron Alston)
Another variation on the expert theme, the top man or woman in their field, or at least one of the top people. I like having characters that are good at what they do and who are recognized for it. Rarely that is the focus of the characters existence.

My Champions martial artist, Demon, had being the best as an obsession.

The Reforming Zealot
A religious true believer who wishes to insure that his the other followers of his faith does not go astray. Almost inevitably in conflict with the hierarchy of his faith who support the status quo to which the reformer is opposed. I rarely play characters with this level of dedication/obsession with religion but when I have it has been in a world with a monotheistic ‘quasi-Christian’ faith. These characters wish to see the truth they see as self evident spread throughout the faithful to bring the people closer to their god.

My paladin Kolya in Pat Leavenworth’s Rosaria campaign (“Yes, God does speak to me. Why do you ask?”) and the Priest Martaine in Wayne Peacock’s Palaestra game (“Slavery denies free will, Logos’ greatest gift to us. How can the Church tolerate it?”) are examples of this archetype.


I like to occasionally play characters that have an entirely different worldview from me, it gives me a chance to explore new view points. But most of my characters share a broad similarity in beliefs with me.

What sorts of characters do you like to play?

Comments

[shieldhaven.livejournal.com]

The core of Constantine's nature matches up with one of the archetypes I play: Nobleman Warrior. (The fact that he could heal and buff was... sort of irrelevant to his personality.) Extreme emotional isolation isn't quite as strong of a recurring theme, but it's there. I'm currently playing Cassio in King's Gate and Gracchus in Pendragon, both of whom would be instantly recognizable as quite similar to Constantine. =)

The other characters that I play quite frequently are the Clever Scholar (who may or may not be a nobleman). The "clever" comes from always having just a few more tricks up his sleeve to either escape from jams, or BS his way out of them. Balthasar at SI and Teagen in Eberron are the real poster children of this type.

[akaihyo.livejournal.com]

Constantine was certainly a bit isolated, but loosing ten of so years of your life trapped in a magic portrait will do that to you.

You also seem to have a noble subtheme running there.

[shieldhaven.livejournal.com]

I think it's my internal elitist expressing himself in a not-so-subtle but inoffensive kind of way. =) In an Exalted game that comic_monkey is running, I'm playing a Lunar ranger-type. He will eventually go deeply into Deadly Beastman Transformation, just to break up my limited range of character types.

[akaihyo.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with elitism. Indeed, it is a positive thing to my mind.

How are you enjoying Exalted? It look like a very interesting system.

[shieldhaven.livejournal.com]

I've played one session so far, and since we're going from Heroic Mortals to Exalts in-play, I don't even have all of my basic powers yet. I think it'll be a lot of fun once I'm able to throw down a bit more convincingly. =) It's a lot to learn, too - I'm having to overcome/ignore years of nWoD training in how combat works.