How would you feel about this character?

Ithra

Ithra

Apprentice
I have a character concept that i think is quite interesting and unique but i want to see how people would feel because how he would work i might break the illusion of the game for people, but i hope in time people would get used to the character.

my concept is basically a mute biata full alchemist. the only calls i could use are things that are out of game calls, and the only way i can talk to people is by either read and write (for those who can read) and the mental ability mind meld, but he would still show plenty of personality though actions and plenty of gestures and face palms.

it would be a mostly roleplay only character, the main skills i would be using are alchemy, mental abilitys, and read and write. along with a few things here and their like waylay, healing arts, and his trusty little dagger as his only weapon.
he would come with adventurers to battles but not to fight but to study! instead of having compartments to hold weapons i'd have things to hold books that i would use to write notes on monsters (what hurts them, how much body and armor they have, etc) or on people (for his psychology research)

so what do you think? would this character bother you or do you think it would be a cool addition? personally i'm tempted to make this my first character instead of Ithra.
 
I personally have always hated "Mute", "Blind", "Deaf", or in some way "Lame" characters. Partially because they will never rise up the ranks to be a well known character in the eyes of plot. As a plot member, sure, it is your job to make everyone happy by catering to specific players now and then. But it is always SO much easier to cater to those that make or leave an impression. I know that in modules or plot archs I have run, it was so much easier to cater to the guys who walked up boldly to my hooks and did their "biting of the hook" over the guy who was sitting in the corner brooding. Or even over the character that is sitting at the table reading.

Characters are more successful when they are outgoing and upbeat.

Would you have fun playing this mute? I bet you would, for awhile at least. But like all "gimmicky" characters, it will lose its flavor very quickly. Ultimately, the choice is up to you though. If you feel the need to do it, then rock it out with your socks out!

Paul Iverson
 
Mute characters are HARD to play. This will take an intense amount of discipline on your part to pull it off. I've seen it done, but I can't imagine it was easy.

It wouldn't both me personally, but I would probably not talk with you much, because communicating non verbally with someone all day can be exhausting. I can imagine others might have that same problem.

Stephen
 
p.richard said:
I personally have always hated "Mute", "Blind", "Deaf", or in some way "Lame" characters. Partially because they will never rise up the ranks to be a well known character in the eyes of plot. As a plot member, sure, it is your job to make everyone happy by catering to specific players now and then. But it is always SO much easier to cater to those that make or leave an impression. I know that in modules or plot archs I have run, it was so much easier to cater to the guys who walked up boldly to my hooks and did their "biting of the hook" over the guy who was sitting in the corner brooding. Or even over the character that is sitting at the table reading.

Characters are more successful when they are outgoing and upbeat.

Would you have fun playing this mute? I bet you would, for awhile at least. But like all "gimmicky" characters, it will lose its flavor very quickly. Ultimately, the choice is up to you though. If you feel the need to do it, then rock it out with your socks out!

Paul Iverson
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As a plot member I couldn't disagree with this more. It is a plot member's job to attempt to provide the game to all players. Also, I don't think just because a character is deaf, blind, mute, etc. they are going to be brooding in the corner and not out adventuring. Heck, several years back I ran a plot arch that featured a blind man as the villain and it seemed a fairly popular storyline. While often you will find stereotypes and played out tropes at LARPs, you will also find unique and refreshing concepts, characters, and stories. I try to never close myself off from new rp opportunities by going into a situation and expecting everyone to be serving up the same old ideas such as an assistant pig-keeper turned hero of the kingdom or timid hobling saves us all from certain doom.
 
My advice - save it for a later character. Make your first character something you enjoy playing, the harder you make it on yourself the more difficult it is to play the game. Once you are established and people get to know you better, go for the more difficult to play characters, and return to your old stand-by.

Mute characters are OK, and if you think you can do it, and do it well - ROCK ON. But if you don't like the idea of possibly having a difficult time with it, or losing friends within the can't read/write population it'd be better to play something quirky and unique in a different way like with a really cool background or experiences. Maybe instead of a mute alchemist, he's been cooped up in a lab doing all sorts of research his entire life, he never wanted to be an adventurer but his lab caught fire and he went to the closest population center. Or perhaps his dream was to be a great adventurer his whole life but he's kind of an awkward geek and his alchemy skills aren't as awesome as he thought they were at home.

Granted, those ideas are kind of lame, but run with it, go for something interesting and cool. Who have you always wanted to be? What characters have you had the most fun playing in D&D or in video games? Different is good, difficult isn't always.

If you are married to the concept - and if you are, ignore everything above because I'm not the type to tell you what to do with YOUR character (hell, I never listened to advice about mine!). Ask NPC camp to try it out, pick a different race and go with it, take him to dinner and interact. If you have fun with it and there are no major issues with how it goes down - yay! The main thing is to have fun and that is hard to do sometimes when you have to do more work as a *player* just to get the same thing done.

That's my (1.5 years out of practice) take.
 
I remember a mute character several years ago... He and I thought on such a wave length that it was like we really could just communicate telepathically.

My advice to you on a mute character would be to find someone you can fall in with like that.
 
Agree with my statement or disagree, it matters little to me. I am only offering one side of a coin.

I am just going off of situations I have seen in the past. "Lame" or otherwise "Socially inept" characters tend to be side-kicks or overlooked. I would say my friend Tom Bird is a good example. He made a toon that was mute but used a bicycle horn to communicate. It was exhausting trying to figure out his meanings and words. Finally we (or rather a large group of us) just ignored him. Don't get me wrong, he was still in communication with other like minded players, but overall he turned into a sidekick and was not really involved in plot lines as a major player. Likewise can be said to blind characters or deaf characters. Players by nature would rather go out and do their own thing with like minded players, not sit back and "babysit" other players. Sure it might be good fun for awhile, but in the end the gimmick wears off and people get bored. Especially as a first character.

Regarding the Blind NPC, well that is a different story. You are playing a character that demands attention as he gives out information, treasure and other potential resources. Because of this, people will be forced to interact with him thus making him a "popular" character. Don't misunderstand me. Sometimes people like to stay out of the light. Sometimes they enjoy being in that "crowd". But others seek more money, more information, more adventure, more glory. You won't do that if you put yourself at a disadvantage. *shrugs*

Paul Iverson
 
You know and as a side note, you honestly should do what you feel. I may be against the concept of a character that doesn't speak. But perhaps you are a different person than me and have your own personal likes and dislikes. So perhaps I should make a more friendly post lol.

Being a mute character is tough. Not going to lie. It takes a lot of discipline and sacrifices in order to make it work. You have to understand that people will get frustrated which might cause some issues. The ways around this are always being helpful to the party and to try to find away around the mute-ness in order to get your points across. Another factor would be what Sarah is talking about and perhaps having a translator of sorts. It would vastly improve your concept to work with someone of the like mind. Hopefully that makes sense?

Paul Iverson
 
Oh yeah! Also know that you will be "gimping" your character further as you could not use a lot of magical items, scrolls or cast magic. Remember you still need to "Activate" items with a command word. Though some plot teams might work around that with you. You still wouldn't be able to use scrolls or cast magic. :-(
 
p.richard said:
Oh yeah! Also know that you will be "gimping" your character further as you could not use a lot of magical items, scrolls or cast magic. Remember you still need to "Activate" items with a command word. Though some plot teams might work around that with you. You still wouldn't be able to use scrolls or cast magic. :-(
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Biata can't use scrolls anyway, so I doubt he'll be missing that much. ;)
 
thanks for all the feedback guys, but can't say this keeps me from wanting to do this, because there are a few things you must understand

1) with biatas mind meld i can speak to anyone as long as i can touch them, so if i really need to say something i'll use mindmeld. read the rule book, it says you can do mindmeld with non biata or stone elf, they just can't talk back with their mind, so when i speak to people only that person knows what i'm saying but they could just talk to me as normal.

2) who said he would be a sit in the corner type of character? and who said all i will be is that gimmick? this character will have a HUGE desire for knowledge and would often be in peoples faces studying, thinking outside the box in fights like lets say he gets the chance to waylay someone, instead of killing blowing them afterwards, he feeds them a berzerk elixer and give them back to his people ;)

3) one thing you should understand about me is i do my best acting though actions, not words, i've had a role in a play where i had almost no lines and my only job was to sit in the background and look tough, but i found ways through my actions to make the character come alive and people actually noticed me! afterwards when greeting the audiance i'd have people come up to me because they actually took note of my nobody background character. and some oregon folk have seen me turn a crunchie ant into a roleplay experiance.

i am very quirky and expressive through my body and thats what i would do to make the character come to life! the idea of the character is, he doesn't talk, but he sure does have alot to say!

4) thanks inaryn for the idea of having a partner, i did have the idea of having him eventually hiring a body guard but now that you mention it i think i might want to find someone to play my bodyguard from the start, come up with some story of why he takes the job. their is one guy i know who is still learning to roleplay who i've been helping. we have reaccuring NPCs who are brothers and if he'd be up to the idea i think it would work out great. and thanks also Aara i might have to try practicing the muteness at the next oregon event.
 
Keep in mind that mind powers really aren't intended to be used for communication. You can't just walk up to someone willy-nilly and mind meld with them. Let alone that most people won't just let some random biata touch their head.

You also run into the problem of potentially using mind powers to circumvent effects such as silence, which is explicitly against the rules.

The last "mute" character I saw ig (the same one sarah mentioned) was quiet most of the time, but still got 'caught' talking almost every game, so expect it to be very challenging. A mute character may work out ok, but I don't think that trying to circumvent your limitation with mind powers is very valid.
 
I love the concept and would definitely get a kick out of seeing it in game/interacting with it.

Most importantly I would say if this is the character that really calls to you then it is the character you should play.
 
obcidian_bandit said:
Keep in mind that mind powers really aren't intended to be used for communication. You can't just walk up to someone willy-nilly and mind meld with them. Let alone that most people won't just let some random biata touch their head.

You also run into the problem of potentially using mind powers to circumvent effects such as silence, which is explicitly against the rules.

The last "mute" character I saw ig (the same one sarah mentioned) was quiet most of the time, but still got 'caught' talking almost every game, so expect it to be very challenging. A mute character may work out ok, but I don't think that trying to circumvent your limitation with mind powers is very valid.
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yeah i'm fully aware that some people won't let me touch them in order to talk to them, actually truth is i'm hoping for that! if everyone let me touch them then my muteness wouldn't change much, the challenge of sometimes having to communicate without mindmeld is part of the fun and will make for fun roleplay with my actions. and also if mind abilitys were not ment for communicating they wouldn't have put mind meld into the game.

and i don't see why it would be breaking the rules at all. if people want to make it so silence will remove my ability to mind meld fine, but just because you can't get around a silence spell with mind powers doesn't mean i shouldn't be allowed to use it for a character who was born mute.
 
Michiko said:
I love the concept and would definitely get a kick out of seeing it in game/interacting with it.

Most importantly I would say if this is the character that really calls to you then it is the character you should play.
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thanks :) it is something thats really calling to me but i'm just trying to decide what i should do first, i'm split between 3 different character concepts, all of them i hope to play one day, Ithra being the easyest and best for fighting, but i don't see his roleplay being as good as the other 2, this guy who would be more of a challenge to play but would have run roleplay (still don't have a name, i wanted to name him Kane but naming guys after video game characters is stupid)
and the 3rd guy, well i doubt it would be wise to make him my first character...
 
Theres a player on the east cost who plays a mostly mute elf. My interactions with her have always been interesting. I say if you feel up to the challange then go for it, just understand the limitations you are placing upon yourself by playing a Biata and by playing a mute on on top of that.

I have been playing a biata for almost 9 years and I can tell you it gets frustrating sometimes with so many tools of magic being off limits. To take the rest of them out of the equation on anything other than a fighter put you at a significant disadvantage, particulary over time.

That all being said, if you feel it would be fun, then by all means go for it. Besides, you can always choose to be "cured" if you find its not working for you.
--bill
 
I played a Blind character at Crossroads about a year ago. I had a great time, PCs responded to the disability very well and it hindered me in ways that enriched the story overall.

Two things: 1. Make sure you pack your sense of humor. Blind jokes hammered me like red-taped boffers from all sides. I made my chice of character and stuck it out. I laughed along with the horrendous puns and the offhand remarks. I also had to shrug off the frustration of being useless on a puzzle mod, since I could not see the puzzle. 2. Find it in yourself to become a valuable and outgoing member of the community. Mute's a tough one, but you can still be a high-profile badass. Don't sell yourself short at any point.

Anyone brave enough to take on both Biata and Mute is, in my book, brave enough to stand proudly with the PCs as a memorable character.

I wish you all the best.

Collin
 
I thought some more.

The problem with communicating by written word is the speed of communication. But, if you plan it right you can probably make communication pretty quick with some props. Handwriting everything would SUCK.

I would recommend you spend some time before you play making at LEAST one book that is prefilled with stuff you KNOW you'll say a lot.

1. Who you are... what your deal is. "My name is Bob.... I'm an alchemist and stuff."
2. What's your name?
3. Yes, No, Maybe, I don't know, I can't remember
4. A page that lists all the alchemy types... so you can tell people what you have on you and what you can use/make/sell

This way most BASIC conversations can be done pretty easily and quickly...
 
Learning some basic ASL (american sign language) can be useful to as much of it is kinda self explanitory.
--bill
 
Evan, you might look into a small chalkboard that could be carried around and modify it to fit your character (cover the edges with bamboo, foam painted with stone looking spray paint, etc). You could also look into the chalkboard spray paint and make your own chalkboard, that way you're not burning through loads of paper and you have something quickly erasable to communicate with.
 
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