Heroica Theatre

[JimBee]

I'm trying to decide on a second character. I've come up with some ideas and thought about them a lot, but I thought I could ask in here for some advice, especially from those who already have a second character. First, because it seems like you all have weighed the options of different second characters to play as, and second because a few of you have dropped your first second character and started a new one for some reason. So by now I think you could come up with criteria for starting a new character, and maybe be able to say which are more important. The ones that I've considered are:

- How different will the second character be from your first? Are the amount and magnitudes of differences important, or can they be similar?

- How different will the character be from other PCs in the game? Similar to the first point. Will having an angsty character be too similar to Guts or Eric, or a having a wise one be too similar to Nerwen? I know that you can't fully define a character just by one personality trait, but having a certain quirk can make them recognizable and distinguished from others.

- Job class. I don't think anyone has had the same job class with both characters, but was this an important factor? Also, did you pick the class based on your interest in playing or did the character's background affect that decision?

- Background. Did you develop a lot of background for the second character before you introduced them? Was this different for your first character?

- Variety. Sort of tying in with background and personality, were your decisions on race, class, gender, etc. affected by what we already had in the game? Zepher's choice of a teenage male human Rogue was interesting, but I think that was the idea because Bobby is distinguished from the stereotype in a lot of ways. I know that WBD has mentioned an interest in keeping the PC population diverse, and a highway-ogre, a spell-flinging child with an imaginary panda friend and a grudge, and a cleric of Ennon-turned-vampire are all unique.

And this question mainly goes to Endgame and Waterbrick Down, but if anyone else has thought about it (including others who have changed characters), feel free to add input: Why did you drop your first additional characters? Did something not work out the way you thought it would, were you bored? I think there are many times where people, myself included, think about dropping their character in favor of a new one for various reasons. Personally, when I first started playing Hybros I saw that other people were having success with other characters and classes and wanted to change to a more interesting/accessible character and a different job class. The main reason why I didn't was because I had already invested a lot of time into Hybros and didn't want that to go to waste, in terms of roleplaying and build. I'm glad I stuck with Hybros now. Was your thought process similar? Do you think if you gave Polly or Lynn more time, they'd be more fun to play as and develop into "better" characters in your eyes?

So, some thoughts on these points would be appreciated. I have two or three solid ideas on a second character but I want to make a choice that I'll stick with for at least a while.

[Endgame]

I axed Lynne for some reasons:

A) Just wasn't really enjoying RPing as her.

B) Too firmly rooted in one of the weaker parts of my quest's storyline.

C) Continuing off of C, 105 established that Regret Dead = Minions all dead. (Bookmark is an exception, as he's literally just a spellbook Regret stole from daranza and wrote in. Bastard. ) I wanted to stay internally consistent.

[The Legonater]

I once heard someone say that if you want to try something new, or to change what you've had in mind, go with the complete opposite of the original. A kind of ying/yang scenario, often your new idea will be pretty fresh and original, and you won't have the concerns of being too similar to your last character. Obviously you can't just flip everything and leave it at that, but it definitely provides a new base to start from.

[K-Nut]

- How different will the second character be from your first? Are the amount and magnitudes of differences important, or can they be similar?

- How different will the character be from other PCs in the game? Similar to the first point. Will having an angsty character be too similar to Guts or Eric, or a having a wise one be too similar to Nerwen? I know that you can't fully define a character just by one personality trait, but having a certain quirk can make them recognizable and distinguished from others.

- Job class. I don't think anyone has had the same job class with both characters, but was this an important factor? Also, did you pick the class based on your interest in playing or did the character's background affect that decision?

- Background. Did you develop a lot of background for the second character before you introduced them? Was this different for your first character?

- Variety. Sort of tying in with background and personality, were your decisions on race, class, gender, etc. affected by what we already had in the game? Zepher's choice of a teenage male human Rogue was interesting, but I think that was the idea because Bobby is distinguished from the stereotype in a lot of ways. I know that WBD has mentioned an interest in keeping the PC population diverse, and a highway-ogre, a spell-flinging child with an imaginary panda friend and a grudge, and a cleric of Ennon-turned-vampire are all unique.

- I really want my second character to be vastly different than my first. I don't want to double my comfort, I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and see where I can go.

- I've had this same problem. I've had a few ideas, but they're similar to Kaire. Or Ellaria. Or even Althior. I want something fresh, but something that I still enjoy playing with.

- I know that, for my second character, I wanted Knight, Rogue, or Barbarian. Like with my first point, I don't want to rehash my first character at all; not the characteristics or the classes. I definitely want to try out physical battle since I haven't done that before.

- I'm trying really, really hard not to craft a huge backstory. With Althior, I made it a point not to develop backstory and focus more on what he's doing. I have some traits and a few past events whipped up for each character idea, but no full backstory.

- Again, same issue. I had an idea for a female orc character, but that's already been done with Miderun. Some may be fine with that, but I'd rather come up with something unique as opposed to rehashing something that someone else made work

[Asphalt]

There is always Female Half Giant.

[Kintobor]

Using Annienal and Karie as a template:

-Karie was a loud, abrasive, in-your-face sort of character. I didn't want my second character to be 100% like Karie, and one way I did that was race. I made Annienal an elf because we have a lot of humans, and looking back perhaps a dwarf or some other race would've been better since we do have a good amount of female elves, but I still wanted to make sure that Annienal was not the same person Karie was. You can make a character that is similar to your first, but for me I like portraying a different type of person with each character I play.

-Similar personalities are fine, really. Guts and Eric aren't similar in all reality. Where I'd call Guts brooding, Eric is more violent and forceful. Again, play a character you want to play, and one you feel comfortable playing.

-For Annienal, I chose the class first and worked her character out second, mainly because Karie was the opposite. I knew who Karie was, and Rogue fit that character best. With Annie, I knew I wanted to play a knight, so I began fiddling with what hadn't been attempted with a knight character.

-Annienal background was sparse, and I worked it up. All I had written out was she was timid, and she came from a military academy and was here because the academy no longer wanted her. I built up her book worminess and literature adoration over time.

-I thought the idea of a timid knight was both new and conflicted with the general idea of how knights have always been portrayed in this game, as loud, upfront, and general social characters. The moment I had that idea planted in my head, I went about making sure that the rest of the character made sense.

I don't think the issue is "has someone already done this?" For me it's "how do I add my own spin on this, and would I enjoy playing this?"

[Waterbrick Down]

- How different will the second character be from your first? Are the amount and magnitudes of differences important, or can they be similar?

- How different will the character be from other PCs in the game? Similar to the first point. Will having an angsty character be too similar to Guts or Eric, or a having a wise one be too similar to Nerwen? I know that you can't fully define a character just by one personality trait, but having a certain quirk can make them recognizable and distinguished from others.

- Job class. I don't think anyone has had the same job class with both characters, but was this an important factor? Also, did you pick the class based on your interest in playing or did the character's background affect that decision?

- Background. Did you develop a lot of background for the second character before you introduced them? Was this different for your first character?

- Variety. Sort of tying in with background and personality, were your decisions on race, class, gender, etc. affected by what we already had in the game? Zepher's choice of a teenage male human Rogue was interesting, but I think that was the idea because Bobby is distinguished from the stereotype in a lot of ways. I know that WBD has mentioned an interest in keeping the PC population diverse, and a highway-ogre, a spell-flinging child with an imaginary panda friend and a grudge, and a cleric of Ennon-turned-vampire are all unique.

And this question mainly goes to Endgame and Waterbrick Down, but if anyone else has thought about it (including others who have changed characters), feel free to add input: Why did you drop your first additional characters? Did something not work out the way you thought it would, were you bored? I think there are many times where people, myself included, think about dropping their character in favor of a new one for various reasons. Personally, when I first started playing Hybros I saw that other people were having success with other characters and classes and wanted to change to a more interesting/accessible character and a different job class. The main reason why I didn't was because I had already invested a lot of time into Hybros and didn't want that to go to waste, in terms of roleplaying and build. I'm glad I stuck with Hybros now. Was your thought process similar? Do you think if you gave Polly or Lynn more time, they'd be more fun to play as and develop into "better" characters in your eyes?

So, some thoughts on these points would be appreciated. I have two or three solid ideas on a second character but I want to make a choice that I'll stick with for at least a while.

- For both Boris and Polly I wanted something different from Skrall. I wanted someone with less experience and more of a penchant for brashness. The choice was an intentional one and while Boris and Skrall share a few traits, I'm attempting to differentiate them for my own sake. This is only as important as you make it.

- Eventually we'll have seen all the stereotypes/tropes/quirks/and traits under the sun so at some point there's going to be repetition, that's not to say it's a bad thing. I think finding that one thing that pops into your head or anyone else's head when they hear your character's name is helpful in making them memorable, the trick is to not be controlled by it. If you ever find yourself including a trope or a trait in a certain scene just for the sake of including it to be "consistent" then it's no longer about the character but about the trope.

- In both cases job class came first and then I build a background, I've got a dozen characters with classes flitting around my head, including two more Rangers, I simply wanted to try something new from a gaming perspective.

- In both Boris and Polly's cases I had little background established, only enough to make sense of who they are. As their stories unfolded parts of their backgrounds naturally unfolded, whether it be Polly's admiration for her older siblings or Boris's time as a priest. I've found characters evolve more naturally if you don't have an arc planned out for them, similarly they respond more naturally if your flexible with their history. Granted it's something of a paradox, how can you base your actions in a situation off of your background if your background is being shaped by your current situation, but it's a paradox I've been able to work with at least.

- I always aim for unique in some way just because I like seeing how the world reacts, it also makes me work at role-playing as opposed to just living out my own life in a fantasy world. Barkeeps interact with humans all the time, how will they act around an ogre? I'm an ogre, I shouldn't be reacting to the barkeep's reaction like a normal human does, how do I really feel about the situation? Generally I figbarf for a long time (Skrall), watch movies/gaming (LOL -> Polly), or listen to music (AC/DC Back in Black -> Boris) until I come up with an interesting character visually and then fill out the rest of their story from there.

I came up with Polly from an LOL trailer because I thought it'd be neat to see the concept translated into the game. The issue was that she was built around the one singular idea, Evoker with a giant Panda summon and didn't really have a story of her own. I attempted to give her a story, but the more I played her, the more I realized she wasn't an adventurer, she was a lost little girl who had ran away from home and while she had potential, it wasn't her time to be a hero. From a character perspective her natural progression was to learn that Heroica wasn't for kids, especially when she still had a family who loved her and wanted the best for her. Yes the concept was cool, kid wizard fling spells with giant spirit bear guardian, but it didn't have staying power and wasn't going to get there without me pushing it there. I wouldn't say she couldn't develop into a "better" character, the time simply wasn't right for her to do so. I'm happy with Boris for now and want to start laying out more of his differences from Skrall, I don't have an end goal for him (or at least am trying not to), we'll see. I guess with a second character I'm more willing to let go if things don't work out. I've put in my time with Skrall both from a RP stand-point and a gaming stand-point, I'm willing to experiment more and see what else I enjoy.

[LordoftheNoobs]

I plan on making my second character the opposite of my first.

Young, female, overconfident, brash, etc.

[KotZ]

I'm at a lost situation with Kiray right now. I'm not sure if I want to take her Paladin or Black Knight because I feel like she's gone both ways recently. She's seemed to have started off a little nervous about adventuring, wanting to figure out what happened to her mother, but now I'm not sure where to go with her. Suggestions?

[Pyrovisionary]

I'm not sure how I feel about being a middle aged man wielding two 5ft long greatsword and a kite shield, whilst missing a leg and cultivating a curse.

[Kintobor]

I'm at a lost situation with Kiray right now. I'm not sure if I want to take her Paladin or Black Knight because I feel like she's gone both ways recently. She's seemed to have started off a little nervous about adventuring, wanting to figure out what happened to her mother, but now I'm not sure where to go with her. Suggestions?

Keep the mom aspect, but downplay it. If your ever in a new location, ask around the inn or tavern if anyone has seen a woman that looks like your mom. A QM may just allow you some interesting role-play.

If she's no longer nervous about adventuring, what's her attitude toward it now? Is it just her job, or does she find something else in it, like helping others out, or gaining power and wealth? If it's just a job, or she wants power and wealth, Black Knight might be the more reasonable choice, and if she enjoys helping others and spreading good, Paladin's the clear way to go. That being said, you could play a paladin who's not 100% virtuous, and you can play a Black Knight who's not out for themselves and not a greedy bastard.

Hope this helps!

[StickFig]

I'm not sure if I want to take her Paladin or Black Knight because I feel like she's gone both ways recently.

...you could play a paladin who's not 100% virtuous, and you can play a Black Knight who's not out for themselves and not a greedy bastard.

This being Heroica, you can have her go Paladin for a quest and decide she just doesn't care about others enough and switch her to Black Knight, or you can have her play a Black Knight for a quest and the terror of her own evil drives her back to the path of light and she changes to Paladin... you could even do the Arthur the Weather Dragoon thing and just switch back and forth and back and forth....

[Sandy]

I'm at a lost situation with Kiray right now. I'm not sure if I want to take her Paladin or Black Knight because I feel like she's gone both ways recently. She's seemed to have started off a little nervous about adventuring, wanting to figure out what happened to her mother, but now I'm not sure where to go with her. Suggestions?

There's always Warden, Berserker and Mystic Knight for those knights who don't see things black and white.

[KotZ]

If she's no longer nervous about adventuring, what's her attitude toward it now? Is it just her job, or does she find something else in it, like helping others out, or gaining power and wealth? If it's just a job, or she wants power and wealth, Black Knight might be the more reasonable choice, and if she enjoys helping others and spreading good, Paladin's the clear way to go. That being said, you could play a paladin who's not 100% virtuous, and you can play a Black Knight who's not out for themselves and not a greedy bastard.

I think she sees it as a way to make a difference, especially after gaining rep with Wolfgang in her second quest. Difference can be good or bad though.

This being Heroica, you can have her go Paladin for a quest and decide she just doesn't care about others enough and switch her to Black Knight, or you can have her play a Black Knight for a quest and the terror of her own evil drives her back to the path of light and she changes to Paladin... you could even do the Arthur the Weather Dragoon thing and just switch back and forth and back and forth....

There's always Warden, Berserker and Mystic Knight for those knights who don't see things black and white.

I was thinking of making a second character later go Warden so I wanted to avoid that path with Kiray. I think I may as well just wait to see how she evolves over the rest of #127 to see where she ends up.

[Yzalirk]

I axed Lynne for some reasons:

A) Just wasn't really enjoying RPing as her.

B) Too firmly rooted in one of the weaker parts of my quest's storyline.

C) Continuing off of C, 105 established that Regret Dead = Minions all dead. (Bookmark is an exception, as he's literally just a spellbook Regret stole from daranza and wrote in. Bastard. ) I wanted to stay internally consistent.

Does that mean you basically "killed" your character to start a new one?

I feel like doing that because typically I like being a headstrong Leroy Jenkins type of character. Sitting back and taking potshots and having little health is not really my style. I just don't feel like going through the trouble of leveling up a few times again and having to buy the items I bought again. I would love to start over again but I don't know for sure, what do you guys think?

[Palathadric]

"Well, you have more than you'd have as almost any Level 1, so don't know if restarting is abundantly necessary.

[Kintobor]

I feel like doing that because typically I like being a headstrong Leroy Jenkins type of character. Sitting back and taking potshots and having little health is not really my style. I just don't feel like going through the trouble of leveling up a few times again and having to buy the items I bought again. I would love to start over again but I don't know for sure, what do you guys think?

See, here's my issue: if your just going to continually start over, you're missing the point of an RPG. Before hand you said you wanted to play someone besides Salt On Wounds, and now your saying you want to play a class that is exactly what your previous class and character was, which if I remember correctly was a barbarian.

Everyone else here is going to tell you similar things, but if you want my opinion; the fun of RPGs is sticking with a character. Even in a game like Skyrim or WoW, the fun of those games are sticking with your choices and sticking to the class you've started as. As much as I would love to play some of the other classes and portray different characters, I've created Karie and Annie. It's more rewarding to stick to these characters and level them up and see them grow both in their abilities and their story. If you keep acting all wishy washy, you're not going to have nearly as much fun as others are in this game.

[Yzalirk]

See, here's my issue: if your just going to continually start over, you're missing the point of an RPG. Before hand you said you wanted to play someone besides Salt On Wounds, and now your saying you want to play a class that is exactly what your previous class and character was, which if I remember correctly was a barbarian.

Everyone else here is going to tell you similar things, but if you want my opinion; the fun of RPGs is sticking with a character. Even in a game like Skyrim or WoW, the fun of those games are sticking with your choices and sticking to the class you've started as. As much as I would love to play some of the other classes and portray different characters, I've created Karie and Annie. It's more rewarding to stick to these characters and level them up and see them grow both in their abilities and their story. If you keep acting all wishy washy, you're not going to have nearly as much fun as others are in this game.

I see your points, really. Although I haven't played WoW, I've played lots of Skyrim and I would make a few characters, all of which were warrior-based characters. Despite the fact Skyrim has limited races and Heroica is more lenient on races makes it harder to decide on who I want to be. It's not fun to play as a character you don't like and I've gotten so used to that, which is a bit upsetting. This time around, I like Mhinak as a character but his class and play style is what I find to be a real kick in the head. Salt-Upon-Wounds would have been a really nice character to play as but I feel that I screwed up on portraying his as a Hobgoblin which I know little about to make for an interesting character. Typically I like to experiment with characters before sticking with them, which could be a hassle for many players but I'm not sure if I could act out a post character, if that makes sense.

Just thinking about this has my head spinning around. Perhaps it's because I want to play as a cool looking character, I don't know.

[Kintobor]

Just thinking about this has my head spinning around. Perhaps it's because I want to play as a cool looking character, I don't know.

If you want some solid advice, keep Mhinak, and take a look at the Advanced Classes. I know you don't like playing a ranged character, but Assassin and Warden have the potential for melee weapons, and Hunter can get some insanely high damage. Whenever you make a character, think about who they are, and why they're that way. I feel Hunter Mhinak or Warden Mhinak would make sense. If you seriously need help, drop me a PM. I've made plenty of RPG characters, and I can lend a hand.

[StickFig]

Here's a thought for you, based on my open experience with Matthias: separate yourself from your character. If you are worried more about making your character into the coolest possible reflection of yourself, you'll struggle as you learn because you'll think you've made mistakes. Instead, try to see the story of who your character is, separate from who you are.

Hope that makes any sort of sense whatsoever.

[Asphalt]

Dont swap him out yet man. He has some clever things going for him. Give him another quest or two to see how he fleshes out. You never know what might happen. Vindsval was supposed to be a Giant green shield bearing Paladin after all.

[K-Nut]

Here's a thought for you, based on my open experience with Matthias: separate yourself from your character. If you are worried more about making your character into the coolest possible reflection of yourself, you'll struggle as you learn because you'll think you've made mistakes. Instead, try to see the story of who your character is, separate from who you are.

Hope that makes any sort of sense whatsoever.

I agree with this 100%. Althior is pretty different from me; he's very arrogant and (to quote Flipz) has an ego the size of Jupiter. Then again, there's also some parts of Althior that I see in myself; he's a loner, he does question his actions. I think you just need to find that balance. Have a character different from yourself, but still be able to empathize with them.

[Cutcobra]

Just thinking about this has my head spinning around. Perhaps it's because I want to play as a cool looking character, I don't know.

Like eveyone else said, wait for a few quests. He might turn out to be something you didn't think about but is still cool. I'll have you know, when I started Heckz he was just going to be a normal man who's got magic powers because a demon trapped a leprechaun, a warrior and other living beings inside him. I puke at that thought now.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Cutcobra

[Palathadric]

Like eveyone else said, wait for a few quests. He might turn out to be something you didn't think about but is still cool. I'll have you know, when I started Heckz he was just going to be a normal man who's got magic powers because a demon trapped a leprechaun, a warrior and other living beings inside him. I puke at that thought now.

Heroica would not be the same without Heckz.

[samurai-turtle]

I'll have you know, when I started Heckz he was just going to be a normal man who's got magic powers because a demon trapped a leprechaun, a warrior and other living beings inside him. I puke at that thought now.

Why does that sounds cool to me?