Heroica Theatre

[Zepher]

I love Heckz. He is really perfect - he can play a quest well, can interact with tons of characters, and he's always fun to watch. He's got a quirk, and while it is a sizable part of his personality it isn't the only thing he ever talks about: he's obsessed with looks but we know that he is friendly, easily disgusted, petty, etc. I think that he's a great character, and I hope to host him eventually or quest alongside him.

[Kintobor]

The only times Heckz is righteous, polite, calm, intelligent, lawful and good is when someone calls him beautiful, then he is exactly the opposite when someone even says "Not that pretty." in a conversation with him.

Speaking of which, what does everyone think about Heckz? I have a backstory for him but I'm not sure I should reveal it anytime soon, partially because the opportunity never comes up.

You know what I think of Heckz.

Despite him and Karie not getting along, it's only because their ego's are clashing. I love how obsessive he is of his look, and I love how down vain he is! Honestly, he's a perfect character.

[Scubacarrot]

I don't think it's as bad as you say Pyro. I think a lot of characters are polite when facing a lot of people... when there's something to be gotten, a possible reward, or success or failure, or just wanting to keep up good relations, for instance. In situations that this isn't the case, I think a lot of characters are not as polite and well-behaved.

My second character is going to be Chaotic Evil. Not sure if and how it works. But I will do my best.

[Waterbrick Down]

As with any aspect of roleplaying, there's a spectrum. Too little and the character is easily forgotten, too much and the character becomes annoying and not payed any attention to. Accents are generally better implied than written, I've lessened the amount I do for Skrall over time because I think he's come to a point where most folks know what he sounds like. When you have to seriously think "how" you're character is going to say something and interrupt the dialog, you're no longer "playing" a character, you're "writing" a character.

As for Heckz, I like reading him. If you have a back story, small doses are ideal if necessary at all. Once your character has been in Heroica long enough, their backstory is all the things that have happened to them on quests, not what happened before they joined Heroica, to me they give a better sense of realism.

[Pyrovisionary]

If I can pull it off one my characters is going to be an insane sadistic killer.

I think it's easier to play a "good guy" than a sociopathic killer. Everyone has flaws, and everyone faces adversity in their own way. If they brush it off with a shrug and a sigh, they're a Mary Sue. I think Spoony said it best when he said that if there was even one villainous character, the party dynamic just stops, and the good or neutral heroes outright kill the evil one, because honestly, why should they trust him? He's going to stab them in the back, he's going to do something for his own self gain, so why should the party deal with it? And no, this isn't a rant, it's a discussion. I think it's important we bring this up, because as much as I disagree with suggestions, I do so with an intent to improve others roleplay. If you want an accent, go for it. You feel your character should be religious, go ahead, by all means. But do so with a reason. A character who casually worships a deity is less interesting than one who feels devotion to the point that they'd adopt it as a lifestyle, since when the time comes for them to question it, it feels important and it feels real! I'm glad we had this discussion, Pyro, because it gets the community talking!

Oh yes, I completely agree that there has got to be a reason for everything. But a character doesn't have to be truly evil. I mean look at Arthur betraying the party in 53. It wasn't evil and didn't he that many lasting effects as far as I'm aware but It's actions like those that make heroes human.

Acts that are greedy or selfish. Acts for the benefit of that character.

I'm going to use Sarge as an example now even though I don't play him very well. In 47, Edit: Tried that, went off on a rant on sarge's character development.

So In roleplaying and in the points discussed I believe that they should be done in moderation. There are very many 70%-of-the-time goody goody two shoes characters, but a few people should start using maybe a small speech mannerism? Or some characters should try and be a little less good? Chaotic lawful? Chaotic Neutral?

As with any aspect of roleplaying, there's a spectrum. Too little and the character is easily forgotten, too much and the character becomes annoying and not payed any attention to.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Pyrovisionary

[Vash the Stampede]

Well my own character and Sylph are less heroic than average but DLL still hasn't returned. Even then I don't really see many not heroic people wanting to join Heroica. Whether or not the NPC's or even several PC's see heroica as corrupt I don't see many people who'd put their foot in the door if they didn't plan to do something heroic which puts the straightforward villains out of the picture. The furthest evil ways you could go I think would be Lawful Evil (obeys the law but ultimately acts towards an evil goal).

[Chromeknight]

Nerwen's mannerisms are quite subtle. She doesn't does not use contractions. Means she comes off a little more formal. She also tends to longer sentences, with comma breaks indicating subclauses, which make use of polysyllabic words where possible.

[Sandy]

Not being a native English-speaker adds a whole new level of difficulty to giving characters recognizable speech patterns or mannerisms. The blatant, over-the-top accents of Umbra, Count Shadeaux and Dr. Cula relate to that - I wanted to make them distinctly "foreign" because I didn't want all my NPCs to speak the same way. That's also why Madame Butterfly "hmmm"s alot and Nuitan stutters. I know those mannerisms are quite clichéd, but it also sets them apart from the masses.

As for Ellaria, she's not unique as a character when it comes to fiction, but in the context of this game, there are very few innocent, borderline naïve characters such as her. She's a simple country girl, but uneducated rather than dumb. I wasn't confident enough to give her a "doo-hicky" speach pattern, but her lack of eloquence surfaces at times (such as having a hard time to pronounce Vibrataphone).

[Palathadric]

So I have a number of second characters that I've thought up, but one of them was totally going to be a male human (teen-aged ) rogue who would just be out for money all the way. Kill, kill, kill; blood, blood, blood; sell my soul to the highest bidder. But I realize such a character may not be the most fun to play. I still think I'd go with the Toddler knight, but I can't find any way that he would be related/fit (forget how the actual requirements were worded) with Pretzel's character.

[Pyrovisionary]

On speech mannerisms and accents and whatnot, what does everyone think of Sarge? I have a load of stuff planned, and am not sure how to play out his current health (Him having a fatal disease) ,or if anyone's noticed the fact.

I'm ashamed to say that I'm rather desperate for criticism, as I think most of us are....

Edited January 25, 2014 by Pyrovisionary

[The Legonater]

For Dyric I generally try to give a 'noble' air to him while he speaks, given his background. A lot of his speaking patterns are pulled from a sort of old-English or Middle-Ages of era.

[CMP]

I like I to think I do fine with Atramor's accent. Obvious but not overly annoying. I've been roleplaying for a long time. Even when I'm not in character I have a tendency to type 'gonna' rather than 'going to' as I do in real life. It's more natural for a lot of people, no reason it shouldn't hold true in the game. I go out of my way to try and use a different tone or manner of speaking for several of my NPCs. It just adds to the realism.

I'm ashamed to say that I'm rather desperate for criticism, as I think most of us are....

I'd more ashamed of myself if I didn't want criticism.

I like that Sarge is becoming more idealistic but less impulsive. He's sounding more and more like the grumpy old bastard he already looks like. I wouldn't make too big a deal out of it when he fully discovers he's dying, but instead let it shape what happens to his character after. How would someone like him cope with the fact that he's more or less resigned to death? In addition to killing more stuff, of course.

Edited January 25, 2014 by CallMePie

[Scubacarrot]

English is not my first language, Common is not Guts' first language. I make mistakes, so Guts makes mistakes. It's a speech pattern.

[Pyrovisionary]

I'd more ashamed of myself if I didn't want criticism.

I like that Sarge is becoming more idealistic but less impulsive. He's sounding more and more like the grumpy old bastard he already looks like. I wouldn't make too big a deal out of it when he fully discovers he's dying, but instead let it shape what happens to his character after. How would someone like him cope with the fact that he's more or less resigned to death? In addition to killing more stuff, of course.

Thanks! I see Sarge as a mix of Atramor and guts.

Sarge has actually already found out about his ailment, and I've done a few things progressing it slightly but I've got a big change planned, then after waiting a quest or two something huge..... Which I will probably fail at.

A good similarity between me and Sarge is that we both have awful memories, and I always forget who he has and hasn't met.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Pyrovisionary

[Flipz]

Arthur has something of an air of nobility around him (think a very light London accent), but as he's spent time in Eubric and especially when he's feeling moody or devious it'll drop out and resort to slang and shortened words--ironically enough, he picked it up primarily from Atramor, who he now hates.

I'm tempted to make a U'kin as my second character, but I'm not quite sure how she'd tie in to Arthur's storyline. I don't think I'd go for an orc or half-orc, but maybe another race with a distinctive but unobtrusive speech pattern.

Well, either that or a human female with a Midlands Irish accent, since I've seen some smart but readable ways of writing that phonetically. Or maybe an elf...though I don't know if anyone else could imagine Quenya spoken with an Irish accent.

[Professor Flitwick]

When writing for Thothwick, I take words from episodes of Downton Abbey and Frasier, then structure sentences around them.

[Scorpiox]

I've been trying to perfect how I write Haldor's speech for a good while, as I know at many points he was too-correct and perhaps came off as wooden, and in others I went too heavy on the phonetic spellings and his text read like the stereotypical Texan dialect (accidently, of course). I hope that the current blend of slang and loose word meanings is more interesting.

Right now I am aiming for a lighter version of this pseudo-Scandinavian accent.

Arthur has something of an air of nobility around him (think a very light London accent), but as he's spent time in Eubric and especially when he's feeling moody or devious it'll drop out and resort to slang and shortened words--ironically enough, he picked it up primarily from Atramor, who he now hates.

By 'London', I'm guessing that you mean a Queen's English type accent. I couldn't possibly imagine Arthur speaking like Ray Winstone.

[Pyrovisionary]

*Snip*

Arthur as a cockney....

[Duvors]

Arthur as a cockney....

I don't... actually yes, I do think that is funny.

As for Throlar, I can't say, I just go with whatever fits his mood.

And on that subject, examine Throlar, I don't think he has multiple personalities,(thank goodness), but he has subtle(mostly) personality shifts accompanying his mood changes, does this work? I know that Throlar is not a perfect character, and I alred... no wait, pretend I didn't write that, but I want to know what people think of him.

[Flare]

I never imagined an accent for Benji, I suppose he'd just have a normal gruff sort of voice with no real accent.

However, I totally want my second character to have am Aussie accent Although I honestly have no good ideas for a second character. Which of these ideas sound the best to you all: Long-lost brother/sister, childhood friend, mentor, father/mother, ex-lover, devoted fan. These 6 are my main threads of thought so far...

Edited January 26, 2014 by Flare

[Pyrovisionary]

Do the wizard of Aus.

[Palathadric]

Do the wizard of Aus.

He's got to be a devoted fan then.

[Duvors]

Although I honestly have no good ideas for a second character. Which of these ideas sound the best to you all: Long-lost brother/sister, childhood friend, mentor, father/mother, ex-lover, devoted fan. These 6 are my main threads of thought so far...

Parent, that's the most original, always go with original.

[Flare]

Parent, that's the most original, always go with original.

How humorous.

He's got to be a devoted fan then.

Yeah, devoted fan sounds best (for my ego at least)

[Flipz]

Honestly, I probably wouldn't have developed out Arthur's homeland as much as I did if it weren't for the rule that the second Hero has to be connected to the first--it would have been just a casually-mentioned background element for him, and he probably wouldn't have gotten as much backstory, either. My original concept for second character was literally a relative, but now that I know that the second character doesn't have to be literally "related" to Arthur, I'm able to explore other concepts.