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View Full Version : Roleplaying Role playing Help: Coming up with the personality of a Praetor Legate



sage20500
2016-04-04, 12:32 AM
Ok, so in the next couple of months the group I game with is going to be running a d&d homebrew that is based in the Devil May Cry/Bayonetta universe, just swapping out the different gods and pantheons for D&D's pantheons, and all the different race's are being fluffed as humans that had **** happen to them. The character I'm going to be playing is an Eladrin Sorcerer King Pact Warlock/Warlord hybrid as according to the game stats, in universe I was going for a character who was alive during the founding of Rome, and made a deal with a fallen angel that came out to being him giving up his soul and his chance of ever ending up in Elysium in order to spend the rest of the earth's existence protecting the people of Rome from supernatural threats. (Sort of like what happened to Kaulder in The Last Witch Hunter, only my character made this choice voluntarily instead of it being forced onto him.) A big character history point is supposed to be that he served in the Legion as a Legate throughout the time that the Empire existed, and he is a devout believer of the ideals of the Legion. (In game wise he would be a devout follower of Erathis)

I've been picturing the character as being the Colonel Badass type of trope in that he's a Int/Cha primary character who picks mostly lazy lord powers, but is also willing to get up in peoples faces and stab them with an Eldritch Strike or punch them with arcane magic (Sorcerer King spells were all able to be used as Melee Touch attacks). Fighting wise, he tends to be more of a tactician than a strategist; he tends to go with his gut feeling and use spur of the moment type ideas to win his fights. That and he tends to view himself and those he works with in the sort of pack mentality, in that its the group that wins the fight, not a single person. I've also been seeing him as acting like a major Otaku type of character, though for human culture in general instead of just Japanese culture because of how much and how rapidly human culture seems to advance and expand compared to his perception of time. That and he also is willing to look beyond the flaws that humanity as a whole seems to have because he believes that they are capable of rising above and beyond where they are at in order to become better.

I guess what I'm getting at is, how would you guys recommend portraying a person like this that is also supposed to be at least 1500 years old, possibly more (Dm has mentioned the setting is the future of where the DMC games left off) Any ideas or suggestions?

Gildedragon
2016-04-04, 02:29 AM
Well at 1.5kyo this person has probably seen A LOT, and has had to learn (the hard way) that things change and old mindsets get knocked down and out.
Has developed an appreciation for fleeting things, modern comforts (Hot clean running water! cheap books! toilets that don't smell! fresh fruit all year round! shoes, that are comfortable and practical! zippers!)
if good: they may find delight in helping others, realizing how much power small acts of kindness can have, echoing forward in time. Has a guilty pleasure for watching "historical" movies and period pieces and raging at how wrong everything is (but also how cool it looks)

sage20500
2016-04-04, 08:00 PM
Well at 1.5kyo this person has probably seen A LOT, and has had to learn (the hard way) that things change and old mindsets get knocked down and out.
Has developed an appreciation for fleeting things, modern comforts (Hot clean running water! cheap books! toilets that don't smell! fresh fruit all year round! shoes, that are comfortable and practical! zippers!)
if good: they may find delight in helping others, realizing how much power small acts of kindness can have, echoing forward in time. Has a guilty pleasure for watching "historical" movies and period pieces and raging at how wrong everything is (but also how cool it looks)

Thanks very much for that idea! I had sort of thought about having him be super excited for the latest tech advances and everything because of how much it has changed the world, I hadn't thought though of the historical movie and pieces idea though, I could probably have a lot of fun with in character banter when the character that makes history checks in the party starts rolling X) "What do you mean I'm wrong about how this city is laid out, I was here when they were bloody well building it!"

Gildedragon
2016-04-04, 08:31 PM
Thanks very much for that idea! I had sort of thought about having him be super excited for the latest tech advances and everything because of how much it has changed the world, I hadn't thought though of the historical movie and pieces idea though, I could probably have a lot of fun with in character banter when the character that makes history checks in the party starts rolling X) "What do you mean I'm wrong about how this city is laid out, I was here when they were bloody well building it!"

If the DM allows something like the Speak Authoritatively mechanics: There is a pie shop in (city) that has been in the same spot, or nearly so, for the whole life of your character. Same family. Recipes have changed some; name has changed because of marriages and time; decor has changed; but it is, fundamentally, the same place as ever.

veti
2016-04-05, 07:26 AM
As an auditor. The sort of person who will never, ever just let something go. He will worry about every little inconsistency, every loophole, every ambiguity. The words "so what?" drive him to fury. His subordinates learn quickly to do things by the book.

The rationale for this is his rank, role and age, all of which imply responsibility and experience. He knows what the rules are for, because he was there when they were made. He probably made many himself. So all those arcane details in the law or the drill manual - he knows the story behind them. And because he's a loyal patriot, he cares.

sage20500
2016-04-05, 11:05 PM
I'm actually thinking as a quirk that I might have him quote things from stuff like the Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries and other things like that as situations come up, aside from Gibb's list of Rules and the Seventy Maxims, are there any other funny lists out there that are pretty quotable?