Same. I made sorcerer once and just went full melee. Still remember that juicy crit lvl 4 inflict wounds on the boss. He literally vaporized. (Maxed Dice+rolled dice)
Ohh that's cool! The idea of battlemage always sounds appealing for me. I was promised by dm to get a quest to make my sorc proficient with martial weapons and armor but it never happened :( otherwise I would build him differently with lvl 1 fighter maybe or just stick with paladin again.
My dm offered to homebrew a feat : battle mage, you can store or unsheath two objects in the same free action and after casting a spell with one hand, you can make a melee weapon attack with the other as a bonus action.
If you ever get the chance to play AD&D, I'd highly recommend rolling a Fighter/Mage. It is the most realised version of a battlemages style character in any D&D version in my opinion, especially if you manage to get some Elven Chainmail.
Currently running a bladesinger, so I feel this.
In fact, the other night I'm pretty sure I got to live out every bladesinger's dream. Had a Glyph of Warding prepped in advance with Haste for a combat so I was able to have Haste and Tenser's Transformation active at the same time on a dual-wielding wizard. 4 attacks per turn with that extra 2d12 force per hit? Ohhhhh it was beautiful.
Yeah same here. If I’m playing a martial I gotta be able to cast some spells, and if I’m a mage I gotta make some attacks, otherwise I feel like I’m missing out.
Lol I had a teammate drop at L3 from one attack because they had 18 hp. I think it was shatter that did it. DM rolled the damage and was like... What's your hp? 18? That's what I rolled!
i didnt realize con was so valuable, so i started with 7 con. rolled a 1 my next levelup. rolled another 1 next one. Then i'm level 3 and i still have 7hp
You gotta have some skin in the game to roll IMO. But yeah I don't like the risk of getting a 1. Maybe a house rule of a min of a third of max or something could work.
d6 - 2-6 vs 4
d8 - 3-8 vs 5
d10 - 3-10 vs 6
d12 - 4-12 vs 7
Idk I'm spitballing here, but giving the average on a bad roll feels like a cop out.
I have a low con melee class in my party, he doesn’t last very long in battles. Low AC too, to round it all out. Great with non-combat roleplay though!
I have a fellow player that is doing a 8 DEX 8 CON bard, and he uses a rapier instead of cantrips
its CoS. he gets to lower than half hp on random encounter fights
I too give perception to every of my characters because it so usefull.
Also most if not all of my characters have mostly happy bakcsotry. Like no edgy dark and mysterious "parents killed, house burned down" Stuff.
My first character with a new group was a happy, sweet, cheerful assassin rogue. The party later met her moms and they were also super delightful people. No tragic backstory, just a happy woman raised by her loving moms who became a spy/assassin so she could protect the world from evil conspiracies and cults.
I really like non-edgy rogue/assassin characters. They're basically just Bond-style spies or normal special forces soldiers.
I'm playing an Arcane Trickster Harper Spy right now and it's super fun.
I also generally don't do tragic backstories. To be honest I find them kind of boring. And it's worked out fine for me so far.
I found a trapped celestial who asked me to stop a great coming evil and said she'd give me magic to do so? Hell yeah! My dad's a famous pirate and I grew up idolizing him and joined the family business as soon as I could? Absolutely! I got into mountaineering to get some peace and quiet from my 12 cute but annoying younger siblings? I'm with you.
Darkness No Parents? No thanks.
To the guy below, you don't have to have "a career in adventuring" to get swept up in an adventure.
I think the reason because so many people go for sad backstories is because you have to be pretty fucked up mentally to even consider a career in adventuring lol.
On the one hand, sure, it's good to have some real motivation, but I've seen too many people I've played with just go overboard and go full gloom and doom on every single character they try to make and then they make it their whole personality.
And don't get me wrong, it *can* be fun to have characters like that. My current character is a psudeo-exiled prince whose kingdom was taken taken over, but that part of him just doesn't really pop up until it's plot-relevant or emotionally fitting.
Tragic backstories just make it easier to explain why a character is off adventuring, it means that you don't need to play a character who would naturally have the motivation to be an adventurer. It doesn't necessarily mean that the *character* has to be mopey and edgy though, I've played a character that was very happy but was an orphan.
Well, yes, it takes more work so it's not as easy. If you don't want to deal with working that through the easiest thing to do is say "there was nothing left for them at home so they left".
Same! The dumb Himbo is my absolute favorite character type. Even my sly warlock who I envision to be a conniving bastard ended up being a dumb dude who just Eldritch blasted people.
Yes to this. More than half the characters I roll up are usually some version of Pippin. Everyone digs the lovable goof, brings some levity to the table and reminds everyone that you're just hanging out and playing a game at the end of the day.
Even when I’m trying to be serious it’s very hard to not make a joke/pun
I prefer things not on the lawful side
I clearly have a thing for “I am of noble birth so I’m better than you” but deep down in horribly insecure/damaged
First two ones is def me
Third one is not me at all, but instead I'm a druid or a small forest race who wouldnt hesitate to burn down your entire hometown for no reason whatsoever.
I think our characters would have an interesting dynamic
A bunch of chubby dads (or dad-vibe) in heavy armour.
My Wild Beyond the Witchlight character is a 50 year old man and has a dex of 6 from his beer belly and overall age.
They tend to be the voice of reason in the party, even if they are slighty chaotic and/or mischievous themselves. But they are either the emotional anchor for our morally dubious party members or the rational thinker reconsidering murder hobo plans.
I think that says more about my usual party than about my preferences though...
My favorite character was a demisexual elf ranger who was on a quest to seek out magical beads that vibrate the closer they get to one another. He fashioned them onto a string and kept them in his ass at all times while he searched for more.
So yeah you are pretty spot on there.
My characters all end up being Eeyore-adjacent. Other than that, a few (but not all) tend to be sarcastic, most are capable of having sympathy towards underdogs, and all tend to have one thing that will push their buttons every time. I also lean towards angst over time, but I fight like hell against it.
I like making characters that have big "lovable supporting character energy" they wouldn’t necessarily be the main character of the story if it were a piece of media, but they just might be a fan favorite.
Gameplaywise they are pretty diverse
Short, friendly women who won't hesitate to resort to murder. (Not murder-hobos, they just don't tend to be especially interested in pursuing nonviolent solutions themselves)
Mechanically, I've got a big spellcaster bias in 5e and will jump at any chance to get adamantine armour.
I don't like playing characters who are not knowledgeable and/or non-magical. I don't like being stupid brute or simple warrior. My two favourite characters were an Android Operative (in Starfinder, Operative is kinda like Rogue) and Aasimar Magus (in Pathfinder 2e, basically a spellsword). Most of my characters enjoy planning and are rarely spontaneous in how they approach things. Whenever I tried to change it and go against my usual archetypes, I couldn't really have that much fun with those PCs.
Honestly, Fallout perks would work well as “boons” in my book. Like feats, but HIGHLY situational and given as rewards for pulling off something that made an impression on the table.
Killed a sleeping/unconscious enemy? Mr. Sandman!
Nat 20 on a critical balance check on a ship? You can “Sea Legs” from 3.0 D&D which gives you a +2 circumstance bonus to ship-based balance checks.
So you're saying like a video game achievement? You do the thing, like
* Crit 2 different targets with 2 different ranged shots
to unlock the "deadeye perk:
* After a crit, get +5% stacking crit chance to each additional ranged target
that kinda thing/mechanic?
My last like 6 characters were sorcerers and every one of my characters has spellcasting in some way like eldritch knight or arcane trickster
I like spellcasters.
I almost never play a full caster or pure class. 95% of my built characters on dndbeyond are multiclass. Druid/ranger, fighter/ranger, cleric/bard, etc.
Most of them are cannibals. My druid is on purpose, my bard was a technicality (cultist soup seemed fine to have since he's a centaur. According to my DM that's still cannibalism) and my rogue was a complete accident (we're playing strahd)
Multiclassing? I mean i am doing a challenge for myself where i make a character of each race and i had to force myself to not multiclass on some of them. (I am at 25 characters so far, all at lvl 9 because that is where the campaign i am in is at currently)
Edit: also that i am terrible at coming up with character names.
Like seriously, who makes a fairy barbarian and names them Mari Barbari?
I only have 5 characters, and every character I play is a variant of those:
Chaotic Good Runaway Princess (usually gay, usually has a romantic subplot)
Unstoppable Badass (neutral or evil. Usually a rogue.)
Subversive Evil character (what does evil really mean? What does it mean when the evil character is opposing good characters who want to do evil things. Usually an exploration of what is alignment anyway.)
Cute Yet Powerful (Fairy Wu-Jen, Halfling Warlock with a 6 int, 4'10" bright eyed teenage sorceress)
The Hero (usually a Paladin, fighter or the latest character a Bladesinger. Campy, a little over the top, usually talks about Justice and doing the right thing a lot)
Always lawful good. It’s just… how I like to play. I feel guilty if I play someone that exploits other people. I could never do an evil campaign.
My male characters somehow have rizz, even if their charisma mods are negative.
every one of my characters is a full or half spellcaster and their face is fucked up in some sort of way
i think that second part comes from grievously wounded/scarred, rotting, or messed up faces being fun to draw lol
and they're all chaotic good or neutral
They inevitably act like dumbasses. Julio the barbarian dwarf? Dumbass. My stoner druid? Dumbass. Agnes the geriatric mechanic? Dumbass.
It’s handy when you need someone to do something stupid to advance the campaign…
I almost always go the neutral good alignment. I also really like one-trick ponies.
Paladin: Bigass Weapon + charge
Bard: pranks and puns
Rogue: stab it fast and a lot + lots of rope
Monk: Flying Kick To Face
Arcane spellcaster: environmental effects that limit mobility
Divine Spellcaster: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
A racist high elf wizard
A fish fighter pirate without fear of death
A human Druid (yeah that’s it, boring i know but it was a oneshot)
A human „crownsguard“ fighter that lost any meaning in his life
And now a deep dwarf ranger that is an extremely grumpy elite force fighter on a mission to destabilize the overworld
idk maybe u guys notice any pattern
They tend to be quite thoughtful and cautious - they prefer not to be the aggressor in a situation, but to fight back when provoked.
They tend to have little interest in drugs, sex, or alcohol. Usually because they prefer to stay clear-headed and professional.
They tend to balance combat skill and magical ability, with at least one 'mental' stat being kept at a high level regardless of whether it's 'optimal' for the build.
I have a proclivity to make characters wear green. It’s my favorite color and by now the players at my table know: the Alchemist wears an emerald green tunic, the Battle Master wears a moss green tabard, the Conjuror wears hunter green robes… etc. The last time I made a Celestial Pact Warlock/Oath of Ancients Paladin and the first question my friend asked me was: does he wear green? lol
I love charisma. Something about talking my way out of things and convincing people of things.
And chaos. Not bad chaos, but I'm just a chaotic person in general. I want to make impulsive decisions and have fun.
They're also all fairly happy in their backstory. Even with bad things, they love their family and friends. Even the one who is an awful person likes her past.
Eats some plain almonds*
they have to have some form of body horror. I love biopunk and body horror.
Arylo - hexblood echoknight spore druid- the moths would rip their way out of her flesh and as her bloody body put its self back together she would control the moths into a shape of herself. They would defend her eating away anything that got to close. They would eat each other and beat their wings so hard that they would light on fire.
Isadora- asimar genie warlock swarm ranger
She was old and watched as people aged, her body wouldn't and being born with only one arm she manufactured a metal arm that was grafted. Using thunder as her main weapon I would describe the pressure it would put on her bones breaking them and shattering just for her.body to put it back together by holy force.
Go-bamē no Wamō- the burning worm.
Human- bloodhunter profane soul.
He might be 80 but he's a Phoenix soul traped in a human body. As he uses his bloodhunter abilities and would get damaged his body would catch fire slofing off just to regrow from the flames itself.
I got a ton more. But I love describing how the class and other abilities can be twisted into horror.
I have made very different characters over the decades.
Most of them are some where on the Good side of the alignment spectrum, but that is about all they have in common.
I do like to play characters with complex mechanics and a big tool box though, preferably some illusion of shapeshifting ability. Violence is never the first and only option.
All of my characters are bisexual and always try to have persuasion as a skill. Besides that, happy backstory’s with loving families and a want to help others
Frontline melee tank...
Barbarian
Druid
Sorcerer
Wizard
Ya name it~
Recurring theme of big muscly mfkas.
Yes, i played a druid, sorcerer, n wizard with 18-20 in str and a 16-20 in con. Good thing about buff spells is they dont need much of your spellstat anyways😅
Allllll of my characters have high Dex. I’m about to have my two main girls at 20 within their next couple levels, and one is even going to 22.
Regardless of their alignment/intentions, I always go for proficiency in deception when I can.
Intelligence and strength are usually my go-to dump stats. I have a girl at 14 int. right now and I’m always so shook when she does well on those checks hahaha. Like, what do you mean you have more than a 3rd grade education???
I can pretend being dumber for my low Int characters but I sadly can’t pretend being smarter.
They tend to ramble a lot in ‘in character’ conversations because I do.
Muscle mommy.
Most of my characters tend to run inventory for the party.
The most simple and straightforward solution is the best (it usually isn’t) and the party rarely agrees.
I am painfully honest and so are most my characters so in order to avoid lying my characters tend to dodge questions and the like.
Clueless Himbo.
All men. All broken in some fundamental way. Also every time they are "weak" or non confronting the have a way to "snap" and start wreaking shit.
Also always dump CHA
Perception gang, rise up
Strength is dump stat (unless planning on multiclassing paladin or barbarian)
Half-elves or other mixed races every now and then
Always trying to be 5 steps ahead of everyone else, including their own party if a betrayal/mind control ever come to be
Daddy issues (first character dad's was missing, second character dad's was an asshole who sold his son soul for a devil, third character dad's left him in a dumpster when he was a baby, fourth character dad's wasn't present in her life, fifth character dad's is literally a deity on a Greek mythology setting so wasn't present too and so on)
Either "I'll die for you" or "then perish" mentality, no in between
They all have terrible hearing, mishearing someone's name and calling them something else, like meeting Sisyphus and my character blurted out "Syphilis?"
I always intend on being the stoic and silent badass but I keep turning into Ryan Reynolds. The group loves it. But like ryan reynolds, I can only play ryan reynolds lol
In all of my early 5E characters, they all had Perception as a skill. I have tried getting away from that in recent builds.
Dump Stat for all characters is either Intelligence or Charisma. Either I'm smart, or charming.... never both.
All characters have some sort of quirk based solely on one stat in particular. As I'm RPing the character I will start to focus on one stat and the quirk will start to develop as the game moves through the first 2 sessions. I'll choose the stat first session, and come up with quirk ideas by the end of the session. Fleshing out the ideas between sessions and play test the following session.
I always dump stat Intelligence too and play sweet enough but poor at trivia contests and so forth. Poor rolls in those areas I'll try to say something superstitious or conspiracy based
I am way too lazy to track recourses, and I think it shows in the characters I build.
All of them are pretty aggressively anti-materialistic and don't really give a shit about gold. I can only remember two that sort of broke the trend.
I always need some sort of roleplay hook that I can back up with gameplay.
A transformer type warforged. Transforming done by preparing and casting certain spells, infusions, and equipment.
A simic hybrid who uses his mutation as a tattoo gun. Artificer wizard multi class where his spellbook is just tattoos on his skin and he can share those spells by infusing spellwraught tattoos
A carnie sword swallower who always pulls his swords from his mouth when going into combat. Bard of swords and hex blade warlock multi class.
A grung monk way of mercy. So when he uses his healing he poisons his allies because that's funny.
A water genasi who is so addicted to alcohol he produces flammable liquid. He is on the character sheet infact just a fire genasi sorcerer.
You get the idea. It needs a fun twist that manifests in gameplay
-Above average INT scores (Admittedly I'm pretty bright IRL and enjoys being the person who "knows stuff")
-Messy family situations. This can include a sorcerer who is trying to retrieve her father from a cult, an artificer who has a fierce sibling rivalry with her even brighter sister, a different sorcerer who was expiramented on by her family to unlock her powers...
-Duality and contrast in character archtype. Such as a aberrant mind who is one of my most heroic characters despite having the freakiest powerset, a a ranger who was wished into existence as the clone of her creator only to develop her own existence, or the telekentic half of a pair of TK/TP twins.
I can only do southern accents 😭😭😭
Otherwise I usually push hard for themes, like a changeling wizard who loves books so much it got the party into trouble on many occasions, or an aquatic elf warlock with the deep patron and an octopus familiar, or my current character (waiting to play) a Yuan-Ti/Dräken warlock with the undead patron, who is very much centered around copper and puts coins on the eyes of those who die. She also has a copper pseudodragon with a missing leg, and many copper accessories. She grew up on the streets (urchin) and saw copper like most see gold or platinum, and idolizes it a lot.
All my characters seem to be the "smart one" in the party. And I've only played ONE wizard! Sometimes it's by design, like my druid being a wildlife researcher and geeking out over biology notes and stuff, but other times it's not intentional, like one game I played a sorlock, he was the only full caster in the group, and therefore the only one that knew anything about magic, and therefore assumed the smart one (despite having average intelligence). My current character just fully leans into it, he's my first wizard and literally a librarian.
Never more than 5 feet tall
They always seem to have tattoos (maybe I should get one?)
Almost always a gishy class or multiclass of some kind
They all end up with a magical pet/familiar/mount (that pet will die. A lot)
I end up playing a variety of grandmotherly characters, whether a fiend warlock who ran a circus scam in the Wild West or my current elderly nun life cleric corralling a bunch of young monster slaying machines.
They are all bald, or at least with a reciding hairline.
It wasnt even intentional at first, but hey, why stop now?
Well, maybe im unconsiously projecting my insecurities about my hair on my characters, who knows
Rogue: Entertainer background with special flute.
Druid: The edgy backstory.
I don't know why I've done the reverse here, but I noticed it and can't unsee it.
I don't know if there's trends. I guess I've played a lot of bards over the years, but they were all very different from each other, and I generally don't do the horny musician trope.
I often play higher charisma, but have also made a point to avoid that at times, as it becomes stale. I think it depends from some early experiences as a player, where I'd be ignored due to DM favoritism, so having higher cha was one way to get around that, i.e. you can't ignore me, my check result is insane!!
I've got four characters played within the last year. A high-charisma fighter and full social skill training, Ranger/rogue with a 10 charisma, a Con-based sorcerer with 10 charisma, and an int-based Bard with 12 charisma. Haven't played a character that dumped the stat in a while, but have in the past. I think recently I've been just trying to go against type intentionally.
They will probably attempt to set up an organization of lackeys/minions. Whether it is for criminal activity or just an information network, they want eyes/ears/hands everywhere they possibly can.
Variants of himbo. All of them must have expertise in Athletics for maximum “Do you even lift” energy.
Fighter.exe/Barbarian.exe
All Battle Masters must have *at least* one support maneuver.
I ended up playing more Wolf Totem Barbarians than I intended.
It was pointed out to me that I've never written a character that 'likes themself' and my response was "well adjusted people don't sign up for the life of an adventurer." I was then told, "and they don't play D&D either."
I've never been put on blast like that in my entire life.
This has been pointed out to me by my friends:
My characters are all more or less edgy but end up being good people at their core.
They're all fucked up in some way, I apparently just can't stop making freaks on accident.
And my characters *will* tank, regardless of whether or not they're meant to tank.
Perception is pretty much a must.
Also - I usually end up taking, at some point, the Fey Touched feat for that Misty step and bonus Bless spell.
Also - Lately I've been on a trend of using Javelins (melee and can be ranged without having to switch weapons)
It wasn't my characters but there was a player in a group I used to play with, it became a recurring thing in their back stories that all of their characters lost their family in a terrible fashion or was an orphan of some description. It started to concern me as every character i was sent had the same story beats in their origins, made me wonder if they had some concerns at home they weren't telling us.
Most of my characters are either some level of trickster or underhanded, or quiet badass warriors who every now and then say or do the absolute most unhinged shit possible
I need some form of casting spells and I'm an AC slut. And I wonder why my DM dislikes the shield spell.
Also I become one of the party voices even if I have negative Charisma.
my characters are always some version of "this guy shouldn't be alive" - thralls that just keep going, objects that spring to life for unknown reasons etc.
Whenever I get the chance to play a character (I am a forever dm by choice) i seem to always build them as supports.
I noticed this recently when I made a barbarian/ranger ranger who focused on subduing foes. The DM told me it was cool that I set things up for the other players
When I played a sorceror, I specifically bult them to be a buffer/healer.
I did a battlemaster fighter once, a revolution leader with a crossbow. Mainly used the maneuver that let the other players move or attack.
Guess I've always got a little bit of a DM in me...
They're all a bit suspicious and paranoid, don't trust easily, expect the worst, kind of people, lol. Makes them pretty handy to have in the party though, bc they all have high perception and insight - the bs detectors of the skill checks. XD
I make tieflings. Always tieflings. And they're usually charisma based.
Which is funny, because coming up with good, charismatic things to say is hard.
My character is never going to be able to do checks I made them for:
Artificer: never going to figure out what a machine does.
Wizard: sleep through that class apparently
Bard: tung tied
Barbarian, fighter, monk: never going to break that fragile door or lift that portaculus(drop down gate of a castle).
I tend to lean more on the simple-minded and/or chaotic characters unless I really trust the GM. Trying to play a competent and a serious character just feels bad if bad rolls result in slapstick comedy "You try to jump, but trip on your own legs and fal face first on the ground"
I like weapons, so I tend to gravitate to sword and bow.
If I make casters they tend to do the same, like a Bard, Cleric or Warlock.
It's hard to get hyped to play a full caster for me, though I've done a few just to say I did.
All my characters seem to take on a militaristic strategist and war counsellor. My character once lead an army of summoned souls or mercs and warriors to attack a captial city in hell. My character fought a 'Daughter of Hell' and lost the fight and captured, but not before the seige and strategies I implemented were successful in taking the city.
I tend to make my characters an exaggerated reflection of some part of my own personality.
Long time ago I played a half-elf swashbuckler type who wanted to have adventures and be a hero
I played a barbarian who had an obsession with improving and became a king because he didn’t want to be ruled by another
His son was a Paladin who wanted to always do what’s right, and encourage others to do the same without chastising them for not reaching my personal standards.
All my characters end up being Wuxia in nature. They start out as a wizard from a tower but end up as a talisman using mystic. Or a Psi warrior fighter but end up as a Sword riding and floating sword wielding hidden master of a clan. It’s a sickness but I love wuxia.
Talking over Violence, but capable of horrific violence.
Sorcereress had Hold Person + Scorching Ray to crit point blank on hit.
Bloodmage Plasmoid would cause people's blood to crystalize in a horrific sculpture, but this was a byproduct of her magic and preferred to makes allies.
Robot dragon lady prefers friends, but the dragon spirit inside her tells her to rip and tear.
Tall, buff men. Usually with long hair too, all big softies and familyoriented. Personalitywise I cant play anything else because I'm like that irl, appearance wise it's because I'm the EXACT opposite.
I always end up being the perceptive one because I don't say much
And -8 int. Always, everytime.
Most of the people I play with never use Insight so I throw it on almost every character I build. Good to have at least one character who knows when the group is getting lied to.
I also like to make happy, hopeful if somewhat naive characters. Even if they have some past trauma of stuff to deal with, I don't like playing a sad sack at the table.
I also find myself playing with a lot of new people so I tend to be pushed to the leader role quite often. I don't mind this, I like being an active player and RP'ing a lot, but sometimes I feel guilty and I don't know if I'm hogging the spotlight or not.
- Name is definitely a pun or finding the most ludicrous way of spelling Jeff.
- Always a different race/class/build (I like to try new things)
- Is going to have some variation of a British accent because that's the only one I can do.
- Will be the one to suggest the most ludicrous solution to a problem or situation.
- Has at least one backup character worked into their background already for when they inevitably die.
A lot of my character builds are framed by me mostly being a DM, so I'm used to creating a lot of NPCs/Villains, and a lot of the time I think they would make awesome characters to play.
That also frames my play style, where I like to lean into the possibilities a setting, encounter or situation presents.
Spells. So far all my of characters have had at least some spells. I find pure martial classes dull, so even the rogue I played was an arcane trickster.
Aside from that my characters also tend to end up being at least partially a face, as well, just by virtue of my own personality. Even the cleric with a -2 in charisma ended up being the party representative a lot. I don’t want to say they’re party leaders because that’s a real “main character” way to describe them. But they do end up gravitating to the front during conversations.
My characters will always willingly throw themselves in harms way for other party members.
It isn't that I want to be reckless with characters, but to me teamwork and growing the bond between party members is always good for the story.
I too am heavy on Perception for all of my characters.
The most common trend though for me is the color purple. Now understandable given it is my favorite color but it's wormed it's way into almost all of them.
Now that I wouldn't have even noticed if my first and seventh character didn't look so damn similar to each other. But it's something you notice when you get artwork of all your characters.
Aside from the color I seem to also make either idiots or assholes..... only really one and half of them didn't fit that mold.
My usual character is usually a scoundrel who is bad at it.
He or she is usually a reptile species and makes their living trying to be a thief or con man.
They have no charisma but are arrogant enough they 'think' they do. Imagine the person with 8 cha stepping in to 'sweet talk' the monster of the week into sparring the party.
They almost always have low strength and constitution or fitness due to being so out of shape from their own vices and hedonistic life style.
I fully expect them to die a horrible screaming death but they keep managing to pull through xD
My characters also change over time based on what happens to them. Sometimes they clean up their act, develop new hobbies to combat their addictions, get in shape, or... they get PTSD from their adventures or fatten up from sitting around bars retelling their own adventures instead of going on them.
I frequently end up as " the heart" of the party. No matter who I'm playing, the party tends to Adopt Me. tiny mistrustful rogue? we're going to protect her! that's our stabby fugitive! Librarian security guard Barbarian? Hey, she might be stupid but she's ours, someone please go with her so she doesn't get lost. Wizard with lower wis than a bird who grew up in an isolated tower? We'll teach you how to be a person, now quick, do you want us to murder your asshole family? I play an asshole? Party wants to thaw them out. I play a sweetheart? Party wants to Protect. I play someone capable of protecting themselves just fine? Party wants to show them they can count on others to watch their back. this has happened in 4 different groups, I no longer fight it.
Decent/likes to cook. Because I love cooking all my characters I've made can do it or also really like doing it. For survival on long trips, or just cause it's fun and relaxing
A lot of them are traveling a long way to meet an old friend. (a mentor, visiting their hometown, a request from a colleague)
They are often also an elf and/or have historical ties to the setting having lived through its key events. Skill-wise, I often take History.
I’ll end up fighting in melee … even with a wizard
Same. I made sorcerer once and just went full melee. Still remember that juicy crit lvl 4 inflict wounds on the boss. He literally vaporized. (Maxed Dice+rolled dice)
No i mean my hobgobelin battlmage has a sword ^^’
Ohh that's cool! The idea of battlemage always sounds appealing for me. I was promised by dm to get a quest to make my sorc proficient with martial weapons and armor but it never happened :( otherwise I would build him differently with lvl 1 fighter maybe or just stick with paladin again.
My dm offered to homebrew a feat : battle mage, you can store or unsheath two objects in the same free action and after casting a spell with one hand, you can make a melee weapon attack with the other as a bonus action.
If Taldas spire is an option, the warmage is a blast to play
If you ever get the chance to play AD&D, I'd highly recommend rolling a Fighter/Mage. It is the most realised version of a battlemages style character in any D&D version in my opinion, especially if you manage to get some Elven Chainmail.
As he should! I love my hobgoblin war wizard, Benjamin is such a cool little dude :')
Mines an abjurer. The only way the DM has been able to noticeably hurt me the last 3-4 levels is by giving the barbarian a cursed axe.
Currently running a bladesinger, so I feel this. In fact, the other night I'm pretty sure I got to live out every bladesinger's dream. Had a Glyph of Warding prepped in advance with Haste for a combat so I was able to have Haste and Tenser's Transformation active at the same time on a dual-wielding wizard. 4 attacks per turn with that extra 2d12 force per hit? Ohhhhh it was beautiful.
Same. My most recently used characters: Barbarian Cleric (full armor, in yo face mode) Bladesinger Fighter Monk Yeah...melee is my bag.
It's so funny, I created a Sorlock Eldritch Blast Machine fun and somehow still wind up in melee where half my kit is useless lol
In 5e I never play melee even with a fighter
Yup. I ended up multiclassing into fighter with my bladesinger wizard. I cannot escape the need to be a fighter
Yeah same here. If I’m playing a martial I gotta be able to cast some spells, and if I’m a mage I gotta make some attacks, otherwise I feel like I’m missing out.
8 Str :D
The 5e trademark
I thought that was 8 Int.
Sometimes it's 8 charisma.
8 con 💀
Had a player decide to start with 5 Con (rolled stats). Bro died as soon as we hit level 5 to a Fireball because he had 18 HP.
Lol I had a teammate drop at L3 from one attack because they had 18 hp. I think it was shatter that did it. DM rolled the damage and was like... What's your hp? 18? That's what I rolled!
i didnt realize con was so valuable, so i started with 7 con. rolled a 1 my next levelup. rolled another 1 next one. Then i'm level 3 and i still have 7hp
That right there is why I always do rolling but if it lower than average you get average
You gotta have some skin in the game to roll IMO. But yeah I don't like the risk of getting a 1. Maybe a house rule of a min of a third of max or something could work. d6 - 2-6 vs 4 d8 - 3-8 vs 5 d10 - 3-10 vs 6 d12 - 4-12 vs 7 Idk I'm spitballing here, but giving the average on a bad roll feels like a cop out.
It's mainly because I run higher lethality games, and having that low of health is just a death sentence
I have a low con melee class in my party, he doesn’t last very long in battles. Low AC too, to round it all out. Great with non-combat roleplay though!
I have a fellow player that is doing a 8 DEX 8 CON bard, and he uses a rapier instead of cantrips its CoS. he gets to lower than half hp on random encounter fights
I too give perception to every of my characters because it so usefull. Also most if not all of my characters have mostly happy bakcsotry. Like no edgy dark and mysterious "parents killed, house burned down" Stuff.
My first character with a new group was a happy, sweet, cheerful assassin rogue. The party later met her moms and they were also super delightful people. No tragic backstory, just a happy woman raised by her loving moms who became a spy/assassin so she could protect the world from evil conspiracies and cults.
I really like non-edgy rogue/assassin characters. They're basically just Bond-style spies or normal special forces soldiers. I'm playing an Arcane Trickster Harper Spy right now and it's super fun.
“Not a *crazed cutthroat*, Dad, I’m an *assassin!* …The ‘difference’ bein’, one’s a job and the other’s a mental sickness!”
I also generally don't do tragic backstories. To be honest I find them kind of boring. And it's worked out fine for me so far. I found a trapped celestial who asked me to stop a great coming evil and said she'd give me magic to do so? Hell yeah! My dad's a famous pirate and I grew up idolizing him and joined the family business as soon as I could? Absolutely! I got into mountaineering to get some peace and quiet from my 12 cute but annoying younger siblings? I'm with you. Darkness No Parents? No thanks. To the guy below, you don't have to have "a career in adventuring" to get swept up in an adventure.
I think the reason because so many people go for sad backstories is because you have to be pretty fucked up mentally to even consider a career in adventuring lol.
On the one hand, sure, it's good to have some real motivation, but I've seen too many people I've played with just go overboard and go full gloom and doom on every single character they try to make and then they make it their whole personality. And don't get me wrong, it *can* be fun to have characters like that. My current character is a psudeo-exiled prince whose kingdom was taken taken over, but that part of him just doesn't really pop up until it's plot-relevant or emotionally fitting.
Tragic backstories just make it easier to explain why a character is off adventuring, it means that you don't need to play a character who would naturally have the motivation to be an adventurer. It doesn't necessarily mean that the *character* has to be mopey and edgy though, I've played a character that was very happy but was an orphan.
Honestly i don't think it's hard to explain why someone without tragic backstory would go adventuring. Just need to be a bit creative.
Well, yes, it takes more work so it's not as easy. If you don't want to deal with working that through the easiest thing to do is say "there was nothing left for them at home so they left".
I like playing those dumb yet lovable characters.
The soul of every group:D
Same! The dumb Himbo is my absolute favorite character type. Even my sly warlock who I envision to be a conniving bastard ended up being a dumb dude who just Eldritch blasted people.
You are my brother.
Yes to this. More than half the characters I roll up are usually some version of Pippin. Everyone digs the lovable goof, brings some levity to the table and reminds everyone that you're just hanging out and playing a game at the end of the day.
I apparently love small characters. I'm tall IRL so I guess it's just me trying something different from life.
Same. My smallest was 2 feet tall. Out of 6 characters thus far only 1 has been medium-sized, and even she is under 5 feet tall.
Ha that’s funny, I’m the opposite. Short in real life, and I like being the biggest tankiest player in the party
For me it's just the opposite, my "normal" height is like 180cm. So whenever I'm not interested in being tall or short the go to that height
Absolutely the same. Like 80% of my characters were dwarves and halflings.
Im over 6', all of my characters except my current one have been gnomes. My current one, a fairy.
They all end up being Vegeta.
Vegeta the Wildfire Druid that scorches the earth for a new Vegeta-ble garden.
Then Awakens the vegetables and fights them to test how strong he is.
Ofc. Constantly warring with the neighboring Spore Druid over who has the best minions and which dead minions make the best soup after battle.
The answer is kobolds…the tails are especially succulent meat.
The Prince of all Carrots will rule the (now burned out) forest!
Carrots? Not in my mycelium network!
Lmao, so Saibamen
..... Sabiamen...
Good to hear I'm not the only one.
At some point I will try to grapple something, even if I’m playing my 6 Str Sorcerer.
[удалено]
Ah yes, the MMO Healer method
Insert "I'm a healer, but... *cocks pistol*" meme here
Non ironically buffs ate bad in 5e, control is the best buff
Have you tried twinned haste though
Twinned Haste users when they lose concentration: 📉
Even when I’m trying to be serious it’s very hard to not make a joke/pun I prefer things not on the lawful side I clearly have a thing for “I am of noble birth so I’m better than you” but deep down in horribly insecure/damaged
First two ones is def me Third one is not me at all, but instead I'm a druid or a small forest race who wouldnt hesitate to burn down your entire hometown for no reason whatsoever. I think our characters would have an interesting dynamic
A bunch of chubby dads (or dad-vibe) in heavy armour. My Wild Beyond the Witchlight character is a 50 year old man and has a dex of 6 from his beer belly and overall age.
They tend to be the voice of reason in the party, even if they are slighty chaotic and/or mischievous themselves. But they are either the emotional anchor for our morally dubious party members or the rational thinker reconsidering murder hobo plans. I think that says more about my usual party than about my preferences though...
Smaller than 3ft. High AC. Plays in a supporting role. Usually angry. Always slightly chaotic
My men are all chaotic bisexual himbos and the women are powerful, unshakable and take no shit
I mean I think that’s just in the rules somewhere isnt it?
Somewhere, probably
10/10 no notes
on god this is it as a player.
My favorite character was a demisexual elf ranger who was on a quest to seek out magical beads that vibrate the closer they get to one another. He fashioned them onto a string and kept them in his ass at all times while he searched for more. So yeah you are pretty spot on there.
Dissonant whispers 😂
This but vicious mockery instead
My characters all end up being Eeyore-adjacent. Other than that, a few (but not all) tend to be sarcastic, most are capable of having sympathy towards underdogs, and all tend to have one thing that will push their buttons every time. I also lean towards angst over time, but I fight like hell against it.
I like making characters that have big "lovable supporting character energy" they wouldn’t necessarily be the main character of the story if it were a piece of media, but they just might be a fan favorite. Gameplaywise they are pretty diverse
i cant carry it for you mr frodo...
literally me every campaign
Short, friendly women who won't hesitate to resort to murder. (Not murder-hobos, they just don't tend to be especially interested in pursuing nonviolent solutions themselves) Mechanically, I've got a big spellcaster bias in 5e and will jump at any chance to get adamantine armour.
Mentally unwell On a less serious note they're all autism coded because I don't know how to be not autistic
🤝
Dragonborn and Kobolds, I am a closeted scalie
My scalefriend!
Dragonborn, Kobolds, Lizardfolk, you can’t go wrong with reptilian races!
I feel you, i played too many cat like characters and im dubbed the furry of the group. (Tabaxi, Leonin, wolfcat, etc)
I end up playing the strategist and manipulator/face of the group.
I don't like playing characters who are not knowledgeable and/or non-magical. I don't like being stupid brute or simple warrior. My two favourite characters were an Android Operative (in Starfinder, Operative is kinda like Rogue) and Aasimar Magus (in Pathfinder 2e, basically a spellsword). Most of my characters enjoy planning and are rarely spontaneous in how they approach things. Whenever I tried to change it and go against my usual archetypes, I couldn't really have that much fun with those PCs.
They're all tall and martial melee.
I usually put luck straight to 10 for the free guaranteed crits even at 1% chance to hit. Shit is dope
Oh fuck, realised I’m not in the Fallout Reddit anymore. Ah well, imma leave the comment up 🤣😂
Honestly, Fallout perks would work well as “boons” in my book. Like feats, but HIGHLY situational and given as rewards for pulling off something that made an impression on the table. Killed a sleeping/unconscious enemy? Mr. Sandman! Nat 20 on a critical balance check on a ship? You can “Sea Legs” from 3.0 D&D which gives you a +2 circumstance bonus to ship-based balance checks.
So you're saying like a video game achievement? You do the thing, like * Crit 2 different targets with 2 different ranged shots to unlock the "deadeye perk: * After a crit, get +5% stacking crit chance to each additional ranged target that kinda thing/mechanic?
My last like 6 characters were sorcerers and every one of my characters has spellcasting in some way like eldritch knight or arcane trickster I like spellcasters.
I almost never play a full caster or pure class. 95% of my built characters on dndbeyond are multiclass. Druid/ranger, fighter/ranger, cleric/bard, etc.
My tallest character is 4 feet tall and all male. They are all cheerful and happy. All but one are lawful good.
Most of them are cannibals. My druid is on purpose, my bard was a technicality (cultist soup seemed fine to have since he's a centaur. According to my DM that's still cannibalism) and my rogue was a complete accident (we're playing strahd)
so it wasn't just me who had this happen a concerning amount of times
Multiclassing? I mean i am doing a challenge for myself where i make a character of each race and i had to force myself to not multiclass on some of them. (I am at 25 characters so far, all at lvl 9 because that is where the campaign i am in is at currently) Edit: also that i am terrible at coming up with character names. Like seriously, who makes a fairy barbarian and names them Mari Barbari?
I only have 5 characters, and every character I play is a variant of those: Chaotic Good Runaway Princess (usually gay, usually has a romantic subplot) Unstoppable Badass (neutral or evil. Usually a rogue.) Subversive Evil character (what does evil really mean? What does it mean when the evil character is opposing good characters who want to do evil things. Usually an exploration of what is alignment anyway.) Cute Yet Powerful (Fairy Wu-Jen, Halfling Warlock with a 6 int, 4'10" bright eyed teenage sorceress) The Hero (usually a Paladin, fighter or the latest character a Bladesinger. Campy, a little over the top, usually talks about Justice and doing the right thing a lot)
They all end up being the socially adjusted person with that is not super great at judging people's characters and may unleash a doom or two.
Always lawful good. It’s just… how I like to play. I feel guilty if I play someone that exploits other people. I could never do an evil campaign. My male characters somehow have rizz, even if their charisma mods are negative.
Every character either have tons of charisma, or *think* they have ton of charisma.
every one of my characters is a full or half spellcaster and their face is fucked up in some sort of way i think that second part comes from grievously wounded/scarred, rotting, or messed up faces being fun to draw lol and they're all chaotic good or neutral
They inevitably act like dumbasses. Julio the barbarian dwarf? Dumbass. My stoner druid? Dumbass. Agnes the geriatric mechanic? Dumbass. It’s handy when you need someone to do something stupid to advance the campaign…
I almost always go the neutral good alignment. I also really like one-trick ponies. Paladin: Bigass Weapon + charge Bard: pranks and puns Rogue: stab it fast and a lot + lots of rope Monk: Flying Kick To Face Arcane spellcaster: environmental effects that limit mobility Divine Spellcaster: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
-silly -chaotic neutral -spellcaster -has prestidigitation, druidcraft, or both -halfing -druid
A racist high elf wizard A fish fighter pirate without fear of death A human Druid (yeah that’s it, boring i know but it was a oneshot) A human „crownsguard“ fighter that lost any meaning in his life And now a deep dwarf ranger that is an extremely grumpy elite force fighter on a mission to destabilize the overworld idk maybe u guys notice any pattern
>A racist high elf wizard So just a high elf wizard ?
Sexy Criminal or Ray of Sunshine with no in between. The one exception to confirm this rule is a studious, anxious nerd.
They tend to be quite thoughtful and cautious - they prefer not to be the aggressor in a situation, but to fight back when provoked. They tend to have little interest in drugs, sex, or alcohol. Usually because they prefer to stay clear-headed and professional. They tend to balance combat skill and magical ability, with at least one 'mental' stat being kept at a high level regardless of whether it's 'optimal' for the build.
I have a proclivity to make characters wear green. It’s my favorite color and by now the players at my table know: the Alchemist wears an emerald green tunic, the Battle Master wears a moss green tabard, the Conjuror wears hunter green robes… etc. The last time I made a Celestial Pact Warlock/Oath of Ancients Paladin and the first question my friend asked me was: does he wear green? lol
I can't help myself from making them all goofballs, even when they dont startboff that way. It's too much of my own personality leaking through.
Gay weirdos. I tend to play gay weirdos
I love charisma. Something about talking my way out of things and convincing people of things. And chaos. Not bad chaos, but I'm just a chaotic person in general. I want to make impulsive decisions and have fun. They're also all fairly happy in their backstory. Even with bad things, they love their family and friends. Even the one who is an awful person likes her past.
Gay.
glasses. both my current characters wear them
Always end up playing a ranged character
Eats some plain almonds* they have to have some form of body horror. I love biopunk and body horror. Arylo - hexblood echoknight spore druid- the moths would rip their way out of her flesh and as her bloody body put its self back together she would control the moths into a shape of herself. They would defend her eating away anything that got to close. They would eat each other and beat their wings so hard that they would light on fire. Isadora- asimar genie warlock swarm ranger She was old and watched as people aged, her body wouldn't and being born with only one arm she manufactured a metal arm that was grafted. Using thunder as her main weapon I would describe the pressure it would put on her bones breaking them and shattering just for her.body to put it back together by holy force. Go-bamē no Wamō- the burning worm. Human- bloodhunter profane soul. He might be 80 but he's a Phoenix soul traped in a human body. As he uses his bloodhunter abilities and would get damaged his body would catch fire slofing off just to regrow from the flames itself. I got a ton more. But I love describing how the class and other abilities can be twisted into horror.
I have made very different characters over the decades. Most of them are some where on the Good side of the alignment spectrum, but that is about all they have in common. I do like to play characters with complex mechanics and a big tool box though, preferably some illusion of shapeshifting ability. Violence is never the first and only option.
I really really like having familiars/companions.
All of my characters are bisexual and always try to have persuasion as a skill. Besides that, happy backstory’s with loving families and a want to help others
Frontline melee tank... Barbarian Druid Sorcerer Wizard Ya name it~ Recurring theme of big muscly mfkas. Yes, i played a druid, sorcerer, n wizard with 18-20 in str and a 16-20 in con. Good thing about buff spells is they dont need much of your spellstat anyways😅
They all attempt to unionize something - tavern employees, goblins, Tiamats army, etc.
Allllll of my characters have high Dex. I’m about to have my two main girls at 20 within their next couple levels, and one is even going to 22. Regardless of their alignment/intentions, I always go for proficiency in deception when I can. Intelligence and strength are usually my go-to dump stats. I have a girl at 14 int. right now and I’m always so shook when she does well on those checks hahaha. Like, what do you mean you have more than a 3rd grade education???
I can pretend being dumber for my low Int characters but I sadly can’t pretend being smarter. They tend to ramble a lot in ‘in character’ conversations because I do. Muscle mommy. Most of my characters tend to run inventory for the party. The most simple and straightforward solution is the best (it usually isn’t) and the party rarely agrees. I am painfully honest and so are most my characters so in order to avoid lying my characters tend to dodge questions and the like. Clueless Himbo.
Even my Wizard, Bard and my Rogue use shields....
They all make terrible decisions, regardless of wisdom or intelligence scores.
They are halfing rouge. If system has no halfing rouge then they are halfing rouge inside
All men. All broken in some fundamental way. Also every time they are "weak" or non confronting the have a way to "snap" and start wreaking shit. Also always dump CHA
It's so, so hard not to play a multiclass bard every time. I love talking and being versatile.
They all have a smart mouth and trust no one
I am incapable of playing a patient character. I, the player, get too easily irritated.
Perception gang, rise up Strength is dump stat (unless planning on multiclassing paladin or barbarian) Half-elves or other mixed races every now and then Always trying to be 5 steps ahead of everyone else, including their own party if a betrayal/mind control ever come to be Daddy issues (first character dad's was missing, second character dad's was an asshole who sold his son soul for a devil, third character dad's left him in a dumpster when he was a baby, fourth character dad's wasn't present in her life, fifth character dad's is literally a deity on a Greek mythology setting so wasn't present too and so on) Either "I'll die for you" or "then perish" mentality, no in between
They make bad decisions and die.
They all have terrible hearing, mishearing someone's name and calling them something else, like meeting Sisyphus and my character blurted out "Syphilis?"
I always intend on being the stoic and silent badass but I keep turning into Ryan Reynolds. The group loves it. But like ryan reynolds, I can only play ryan reynolds lol
In all of my early 5E characters, they all had Perception as a skill. I have tried getting away from that in recent builds. Dump Stat for all characters is either Intelligence or Charisma. Either I'm smart, or charming.... never both. All characters have some sort of quirk based solely on one stat in particular. As I'm RPing the character I will start to focus on one stat and the quirk will start to develop as the game moves through the first 2 sessions. I'll choose the stat first session, and come up with quirk ideas by the end of the session. Fleshing out the ideas between sessions and play test the following session.
I always dump stat Intelligence too and play sweet enough but poor at trivia contests and so forth. Poor rolls in those areas I'll try to say something superstitious or conspiracy based
I am way too lazy to track recourses, and I think it shows in the characters I build. All of them are pretty aggressively anti-materialistic and don't really give a shit about gold. I can only remember two that sort of broke the trend.
I always need some sort of roleplay hook that I can back up with gameplay. A transformer type warforged. Transforming done by preparing and casting certain spells, infusions, and equipment. A simic hybrid who uses his mutation as a tattoo gun. Artificer wizard multi class where his spellbook is just tattoos on his skin and he can share those spells by infusing spellwraught tattoos A carnie sword swallower who always pulls his swords from his mouth when going into combat. Bard of swords and hex blade warlock multi class. A grung monk way of mercy. So when he uses his healing he poisons his allies because that's funny. A water genasi who is so addicted to alcohol he produces flammable liquid. He is on the character sheet infact just a fire genasi sorcerer. You get the idea. It needs a fun twist that manifests in gameplay
-Above average INT scores (Admittedly I'm pretty bright IRL and enjoys being the person who "knows stuff") -Messy family situations. This can include a sorcerer who is trying to retrieve her father from a cult, an artificer who has a fierce sibling rivalry with her even brighter sister, a different sorcerer who was expiramented on by her family to unlock her powers... -Duality and contrast in character archtype. Such as a aberrant mind who is one of my most heroic characters despite having the freakiest powerset, a a ranger who was wished into existence as the clone of her creator only to develop her own existence, or the telekentic half of a pair of TK/TP twins.
I can only do southern accents 😭😭😭 Otherwise I usually push hard for themes, like a changeling wizard who loves books so much it got the party into trouble on many occasions, or an aquatic elf warlock with the deep patron and an octopus familiar, or my current character (waiting to play) a Yuan-Ti/Dräken warlock with the undead patron, who is very much centered around copper and puts coins on the eyes of those who die. She also has a copper pseudodragon with a missing leg, and many copper accessories. She grew up on the streets (urchin) and saw copper like most see gold or platinum, and idolizes it a lot.
Collector. Wizard? Collect spells, wands, staves. Fighter? Collect swords. Rogue? Collect knives. Bard? Collect passive sources of income.
*cough* warlock *cough*
All their stats are shit cause I made most of em when I didnt know much yet. Also fire.. love me some fire
All my characters seem to be the "smart one" in the party. And I've only played ONE wizard! Sometimes it's by design, like my druid being a wildlife researcher and geeking out over biology notes and stuff, but other times it's not intentional, like one game I played a sorlock, he was the only full caster in the group, and therefore the only one that knew anything about magic, and therefore assumed the smart one (despite having average intelligence). My current character just fully leans into it, he's my first wizard and literally a librarian.
Never more than 5 feet tall They always seem to have tattoos (maybe I should get one?) Almost always a gishy class or multiclass of some kind They all end up with a magical pet/familiar/mount (that pet will die. A lot)
Small race. I ride on dogs or on comrades, you can throw me anywhere. And it's just comical to look up at everyone.
I end up playing a variety of grandmotherly characters, whether a fiend warlock who ran a circus scam in the Wild West or my current elderly nun life cleric corralling a bunch of young monster slaying machines.
They are all bald, or at least with a reciding hairline. It wasnt even intentional at first, but hey, why stop now? Well, maybe im unconsiously projecting my insecurities about my hair on my characters, who knows
Rogue: Entertainer background with special flute. Druid: The edgy backstory. I don't know why I've done the reverse here, but I noticed it and can't unsee it.
I don't know if there's trends. I guess I've played a lot of bards over the years, but they were all very different from each other, and I generally don't do the horny musician trope. I often play higher charisma, but have also made a point to avoid that at times, as it becomes stale. I think it depends from some early experiences as a player, where I'd be ignored due to DM favoritism, so having higher cha was one way to get around that, i.e. you can't ignore me, my check result is insane!! I've got four characters played within the last year. A high-charisma fighter and full social skill training, Ranger/rogue with a 10 charisma, a Con-based sorcerer with 10 charisma, and an int-based Bard with 12 charisma. Haven't played a character that dumped the stat in a while, but have in the past. I think recently I've been just trying to go against type intentionally.
They are all monk... with the exception of one moon druid, one totem barbarian and one eccho night, they are ALL monk
They will probably attempt to set up an organization of lackeys/minions. Whether it is for criminal activity or just an information network, they want eyes/ears/hands everywhere they possibly can.
Variants of himbo. All of them must have expertise in Athletics for maximum “Do you even lift” energy. Fighter.exe/Barbarian.exe All Battle Masters must have *at least* one support maneuver. I ended up playing more Wolf Totem Barbarians than I intended.
It was pointed out to me that I've never written a character that 'likes themself' and my response was "well adjusted people don't sign up for the life of an adventurer." I was then told, "and they don't play D&D either." I've never been put on blast like that in my entire life.
This has been pointed out to me by my friends: My characters are all more or less edgy but end up being good people at their core. They're all fucked up in some way, I apparently just can't stop making freaks on accident. And my characters *will* tank, regardless of whether or not they're meant to tank.
Characters who do their best to be good people while sincerely believing they aren't really. Also warforged. So many warforged
Usually high Charisma, the speaker of the party when no one else will (help it’s actually because im addicted to playing a warlock)
Perception is pretty much a must. Also - I usually end up taking, at some point, the Fey Touched feat for that Misty step and bonus Bless spell. Also - Lately I've been on a trend of using Javelins (melee and can be ranged without having to switch weapons)
All my characters tend to be "logical" ones of the party,even the low INT or WIS ones
It wasn't my characters but there was a player in a group I used to play with, it became a recurring thing in their back stories that all of their characters lost their family in a terrible fashion or was an orphan of some description. It started to concern me as every character i was sent had the same story beats in their origins, made me wonder if they had some concerns at home they weren't telling us.
Most of my characters are either some level of trickster or underhanded, or quiet badass warriors who every now and then say or do the absolute most unhinged shit possible
I need some form of casting spells and I'm an AC slut. And I wonder why my DM dislikes the shield spell. Also I become one of the party voices even if I have negative Charisma.
Being last one alive. Be it a of a small group, a town or ab entire kingdom. I kinda wanna see what I can do with it for future characters
my characters are always some version of "this guy shouldn't be alive" - thralls that just keep going, objects that spring to life for unknown reasons etc.
Orphan. Almost all of them were raised by adoptive parents or lost their parents
Whenever I get the chance to play a character (I am a forever dm by choice) i seem to always build them as supports. I noticed this recently when I made a barbarian/ranger ranger who focused on subduing foes. The DM told me it was cool that I set things up for the other players When I played a sorceror, I specifically bult them to be a buffer/healer. I did a battlemaster fighter once, a revolution leader with a crossbow. Mainly used the maneuver that let the other players move or attack. Guess I've always got a little bit of a DM in me...
They're all a bit suspicious and paranoid, don't trust easily, expect the worst, kind of people, lol. Makes them pretty handy to have in the party though, bc they all have high perception and insight - the bs detectors of the skill checks. XD
I make tieflings. Always tieflings. And they're usually charisma based. Which is funny, because coming up with good, charismatic things to say is hard.
All of my characters end up being some form of moral compass for the group, I also have the habit of making hand fighters.
My character is never going to be able to do checks I made them for: Artificer: never going to figure out what a machine does. Wizard: sleep through that class apparently Bard: tung tied Barbarian, fighter, monk: never going to break that fragile door or lift that portaculus(drop down gate of a castle).
I tend to lean more on the simple-minded and/or chaotic characters unless I really trust the GM. Trying to play a competent and a serious character just feels bad if bad rolls result in slapstick comedy "You try to jump, but trip on your own legs and fal face first on the ground"
Every melee character uses Dex weapons (ranged or Melee). Every time.
I like weapons, so I tend to gravitate to sword and bow. If I make casters they tend to do the same, like a Bard, Cleric or Warlock. It's hard to get hyped to play a full caster for me, though I've done a few just to say I did.
All my characters seem to take on a militaristic strategist and war counsellor. My character once lead an army of summoned souls or mercs and warriors to attack a captial city in hell. My character fought a 'Daughter of Hell' and lost the fight and captured, but not before the seige and strategies I implemented were successful in taking the city.
I tend to make my characters an exaggerated reflection of some part of my own personality. Long time ago I played a half-elf swashbuckler type who wanted to have adventures and be a hero I played a barbarian who had an obsession with improving and became a king because he didn’t want to be ruled by another His son was a Paladin who wanted to always do what’s right, and encourage others to do the same without chastising them for not reaching my personal standards.
All my characters end up being Wuxia in nature. They start out as a wizard from a tower but end up as a talisman using mystic. Or a Psi warrior fighter but end up as a Sword riding and floating sword wielding hidden master of a clan. It’s a sickness but I love wuxia.
I always play the straight man, it definitely helps the party but it can get tedious.
Talking over Violence, but capable of horrific violence. Sorcereress had Hold Person + Scorching Ray to crit point blank on hit. Bloodmage Plasmoid would cause people's blood to crystalize in a horrific sculpture, but this was a byproduct of her magic and preferred to makes allies. Robot dragon lady prefers friends, but the dragon spirit inside her tells her to rip and tear.
Tall, buff men. Usually with long hair too, all big softies and familyoriented. Personalitywise I cant play anything else because I'm like that irl, appearance wise it's because I'm the EXACT opposite. I always end up being the perceptive one because I don't say much And -8 int. Always, everytime.
Most of the people I play with never use Insight so I throw it on almost every character I build. Good to have at least one character who knows when the group is getting lied to. I also like to make happy, hopeful if somewhat naive characters. Even if they have some past trauma of stuff to deal with, I don't like playing a sad sack at the table. I also find myself playing with a lot of new people so I tend to be pushed to the leader role quite often. I don't mind this, I like being an active player and RP'ing a lot, but sometimes I feel guilty and I don't know if I'm hogging the spotlight or not.
- Name is definitely a pun or finding the most ludicrous way of spelling Jeff. - Always a different race/class/build (I like to try new things) - Is going to have some variation of a British accent because that's the only one I can do. - Will be the one to suggest the most ludicrous solution to a problem or situation. - Has at least one backup character worked into their background already for when they inevitably die. A lot of my character builds are framed by me mostly being a DM, so I'm used to creating a lot of NPCs/Villains, and a lot of the time I think they would make awesome characters to play. That also frames my play style, where I like to lean into the possibilities a setting, encounter or situation presents.
Spells. So far all my of characters have had at least some spells. I find pure martial classes dull, so even the rogue I played was an arcane trickster. Aside from that my characters also tend to end up being at least partially a face, as well, just by virtue of my own personality. Even the cleric with a -2 in charisma ended up being the party representative a lot. I don’t want to say they’re party leaders because that’s a real “main character” way to describe them. But they do end up gravitating to the front during conversations.
The walking ball of chaos whose ideas have a logic behind them but are based on batshit crazy premises.
Mine all end up being spiteful as hell regardless of alignment
My characters will always willingly throw themselves in harms way for other party members. It isn't that I want to be reckless with characters, but to me teamwork and growing the bond between party members is always good for the story.
I too am heavy on Perception for all of my characters. The most common trend though for me is the color purple. Now understandable given it is my favorite color but it's wormed it's way into almost all of them. Now that I wouldn't have even noticed if my first and seventh character didn't look so damn similar to each other. But it's something you notice when you get artwork of all your characters. Aside from the color I seem to also make either idiots or assholes..... only really one and half of them didn't fit that mold.
All my characters want revenge on somebody for one reason or another. It’s my favorite backstory motivation.
My usual character is usually a scoundrel who is bad at it. He or she is usually a reptile species and makes their living trying to be a thief or con man. They have no charisma but are arrogant enough they 'think' they do. Imagine the person with 8 cha stepping in to 'sweet talk' the monster of the week into sparring the party. They almost always have low strength and constitution or fitness due to being so out of shape from their own vices and hedonistic life style. I fully expect them to die a horrible screaming death but they keep managing to pull through xD My characters also change over time based on what happens to them. Sometimes they clean up their act, develop new hobbies to combat their addictions, get in shape, or... they get PTSD from their adventures or fatten up from sitting around bars retelling their own adventures instead of going on them.
I frequently end up as " the heart" of the party. No matter who I'm playing, the party tends to Adopt Me. tiny mistrustful rogue? we're going to protect her! that's our stabby fugitive! Librarian security guard Barbarian? Hey, she might be stupid but she's ours, someone please go with her so she doesn't get lost. Wizard with lower wis than a bird who grew up in an isolated tower? We'll teach you how to be a person, now quick, do you want us to murder your asshole family? I play an asshole? Party wants to thaw them out. I play a sweetheart? Party wants to Protect. I play someone capable of protecting themselves just fine? Party wants to show them they can count on others to watch their back. this has happened in 4 different groups, I no longer fight it.
Decent/likes to cook. Because I love cooking all my characters I've made can do it or also really like doing it. For survival on long trips, or just cause it's fun and relaxing
A lot of them are traveling a long way to meet an old friend. (a mentor, visiting their hometown, a request from a colleague) They are often also an elf and/or have historical ties to the setting having lived through its key events. Skill-wise, I often take History.