Quotes you can build a character off of III: It's a crowd

[8BitNinja]

"I live in a constant state of fear, and misery" - Filthy Frank

[eru001]

Remember, the hotter the fire the stronger the steel. Take this experience, learn from it, and grow stronger. There is no place here to feel ashamed.
-Sir Matthew Pikebreaker

[GPuzzle]

"Sir, are you destroying the Earth or making a dessert?"

[CrazyPenguin]

"Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book... That I will continue to read... As soon as you leave..."

"Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"There's no such thing as pure evil!"

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

"If you can't fight, you can't survive."

"I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am."

"And we may never be ready! Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait...They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready or not!"

"There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... Someone has to stop it."

"...how can I undo so many years of hate?"

"I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right."

[8BitNinja]

"You wouldn't understand housecarl, you ain't a Nord." - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Whiterun Guard to Ireleth after she says she doesn't believe in the Dragonborn

[Cluedrew]

Spoiler: "When I die I hope there is light in my eyes, fire in my heart and something in my hands."

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You know this seems non-committal, but I don't think it is. Instead of talking about what they want to fight for, they want to make sure they don't waste away near the end of their life. Most people are content to settle down and rest at that point, but they want to keep on going until it kills them.

Spoiler: "I am an endless barrel of exposition! But yeah, I'm done."

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-El Goonish Shive

A very useful character to have, either as an NPC or a very intelligent PC with knowledge skills (or equivalent). I think someone who knows, and in this case also explains, can be a valid character concept.

Spoiler: "I hate watching a movie where the characters are totally clueless!" "This isn't a movie. This is real life." "That just makes it worse!"

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-El Goonish Shive

A very powerful observer character (or characters). Also one who knows more about what is going on than the individual they are observing.

Spoiler: "Bravest. Hall Monitor. EVER."

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-El Goonish Shive: Commentary

There are two ways I can see this. The first is a hall monitor (or some equivalent, like a mall cop) who is a bit more than they would seem. The second is it is just someone who steps up to the occasion, above and beyond the call of duty. Both work although they generally result in different power-levels, which may be relevant.

[CrazyPenguin]

"Oh my god, you really exploded."

"Great, the gang's all here. Now we can die together!"

"Hey, we've got a plan! That's... moderately serious."

"I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

"At least you two have something that drives you. I've just always, gone with the flow, you know."

"I want a life where I don't know what tomorrow will bring. And that will be a good thing."

[8BitNinja]

Yet another one from Skyrim

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home" - Ralof, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

[Cluedrew]

Spoiler: "... Oh, dear lord, what have I become?" "I dunno. Mature?" "Blasphemy."

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-El Goonish Shive

Some people take pride in their faults. And when it is relatively harmless, such as immaturity, you can have a good character with the fault. The other option is to crank it up and have a villain who revels in how villain they are. Or given the original quote are trying to be but not pulling it off.

Spoiler: "It's fair. We expect the one who cheat more to win."

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A rogue's idea of fairness.

I do get the feeling that there are some informal rules around how you can and cannot cheat. Which creates a code of honour around it despite the rule breaking. Or viewed a different way, it is all about who can get away with the most.

Spoiler: "He'd be much wordier than that. And maybe have a chart."

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-El Goonish Shive

Someone is prepared. Sometimes all you need to say the same thing in a different way, instead of saying something new and different. In this case they seem to be overly technical about things.

Spoiler: "That is because I only trust people if it will cost me my life not to trust them."

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Someone who never trusts anyone unless they have no choice in the matter. That is pretty paranoid, to the point it feels like it has to be a conscious decision instead of just being a not very trusting person. Or course then you would have to decide why they decided that.

[Wonton]

May have been been mentioned before, but here's some Dark Tower quotes:

"I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."

- Gunslinger's Oath

"Control the things you can control, maggot. Let everything else take a flying **** at you and if you must go down, go down with your guns blazing."

- Cort

[goto124]

"Okay, Gunslinger Oathers, aren't those the exact reasons to aim and shoot with my hand, and to kill with my gun?"

[Wonton]

"Okay, Gunslinger Oathers, aren't those the exact reasons to aim and shoot with my hand, and to kill with my gun?"

I think Dark Tower gunslingers are much more... meditative and spiritual than they might be in other settings. They really do feel the bullet and such. There's tons of lines about how "the gun must become an extension of your body", etc. I actually multiclassed Gunslinger/Monk when I played mine in Pathfinder, for this reason.

[GPuzzle]

"Nothing amazing happens here. Everything is ordinary."

[CrazyPenguin]

"It just goes to show that it doesn't matter what you can do, it only matters what you make make other think you can do."

"it is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself."

"It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

"Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for most/"

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime on your life."

"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few"

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very interesting one."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

'The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it."

"Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."

[LeighTheDwarf]

I literally met a travelling hypnotist and had this conversation with him:

"So you could potentially hypnotize a woman to think you were the most handsome man in the state?"

"Potentially, but I'd prefer handsomest man in all possible universes."

I started thinking about how if I could do that, I would raise an army. A character concept was born.

[2D8HP]

"So you could potentially hypnotize a woman to think you were the most handsome man in the state?"

"Potentially, but I'd prefer handsomest man in all possible universes."

I started thinking about how if I could do that, I would raise an army. A character concept was born.

An army of the smitten?
It's a stretch but I'm reminded of the 1980's Punk band called Jodie Foster's Army.

[goto124]

I think Dark Tower gunslingers are much more... meditative and spiritual than they might be in other settings. They really do feel the bullet and such. There's tons of lines about how "the gun must become an extension of your body", etc. I actually multiclassed Gunslinger/Monk when I played mine in Pathfinder, for this reason.

They must have likeable fathers too, unlike some people...

"If I was willing to do it myself, I wouldn't be asking others in the first place!"

[LeighTheDwarf]

An army of the smitten?
It's a stretch but I'm reminded of the 1980's Punk band called Jodie Foster's Army.

So far, with his social skills and charm spells, he's made allies with several monsters. The final battle of this campaign is probably going to be with Typhon, the monster from Greek mythology. So my character might be able to raise an army of super-buffed monsters to fight this giant monster alongside the party (and Zeus, who is also fighting this thing).

[GPuzzle]

"Take a hit for catharsis
Take a hit for them all
After the flags they're selling off the wall
I wanna die for a reason
I wanna kill for a cause
After the flags I'm nobody at all" - After the Flags, Area 11

"Strange are the things that will come around
A false parousia made to weigh you down
When truth and lies both compromise
Return to the question, I'm willing to die" - Override [C], Area 11

"Toast to the red queen and all she has seen
Is it time to drink at your table?
We can only wait and watch for so long
Toast to our red queen, all those who have been
Sidelined, a lifetime's conviction unstable
Where you fall is not where you belong" - Red Queen, Area 11

"I want you to give me what I need
Lay waste to your beliefs, rebuild yourself for me
I want you to feel as I feel
Repairing who you are, becoming my ideal
I want you; submit yourself to me
Your body and your mind; give it willingly
I want you to come alive again
To come alive again" - The Contract, Area 11

Area 11's new album just came out, and I'm hyped.

[Socratov]

My backup is currently this: (among others)

'I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.' ~ Havelock Vetinari

[2D8HP]

"I make it my business. I'm a witch. It's what we do. When it's nobody else's business, it's my business,'
~Tiffany Aching, (young Witch)

'The thing about witchcraft,’ ‘is that it’s not like school at all. First you get the test, and then afterwards you spend years findin’ out how you passed it. It’s a bit like life in that respect.'

"There’s no greys, only white that’s got grubby.I'’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.’

"Ain’t got the patience for teaching. But I might let you learn"

That’s the way of it,’ ‘It’s not what you’ve got that matters, it’s how you’ve got it"

'Animals can’t murder. Only us superior races can murder.That’s one of the things that sets us apart from animals.'
~ Esmeralda "Granny" Weatherwax, old "wise women" (Witch)

Granny Weatherwax believed in cups of tea, dry biscuits, washing every morning in cold water and, well, she believed mostly in Granny Weatherwax

[Cluedrew]

Spoiler: "I WANT SOMETHING IN RETURN." "Uh... w-what's that?" "DON'T. BE. BORING."

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-El Goonish Shive: Newspaper

A rule of thumb, if you ever encounter anyone who's primary motivation it to avoid boredom, you should either pity or fear them. Pity if they have nothing more than excitement to hope for, fear if they have everything else. This one falls under fear. Going by the stammering in the reply if nothing else.

Spoiler: "That isn't the weirdest thing I've seen today. I looked in the mirror this morning."

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I'm not entirely sure what definition of weird they are using, but I get feeling they might be the one responsible for introducing the main cast into the 'other' world. Whatever that means in this story.

Or maybe they are some sort of freak of nature and are completely willing to make fun of that. Everyone deals with these things in their own way.

Spoiler: "I had myself assassinated."

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Someone who sits at the center of a web of lies and seems to have quiet the clout because of it. Not only did they fake (assuming no undeath or resurrection) their death, but it was an assassination and no mere murder.

Also they seem to be slightly irresponsible. Just faking there death and leaving everything behind seems a little... wild and free for someone with that kind of political and deceptive power.

Spoiler: "And it will never be enough."

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This line (and I feel like this exact line) is usually associated with sins that can never be satisfied, and hence what they are seeking will never be enough. But I have seen it used in terms of life and joy ("I will keep on living because it will never be enough!") and in terms of heroics ("No matter how much I do, it will never be enough.") all of which give you very different feels to the character.

And the last one, I could see them just doing as much good as they can because they want to, or because they are seeking redemption for something they feel they can never make up for. There are a lot of ways to read this one.

[2D8HP]

For use be a "sell sword":

Upon being greeted by two friars with the words, “God give you peace".

”"What kind of greeting is it to come o me and say, may God make me die of hunger?
Do you not know that I live by war, and that peace would be my undoing?
God take away your alms. For as you live by charity, so do I by war, and to me it is as genuine a vocation as yours.”
– ~Sir John Hawkwood,
14th Century English mercenary Captain in Italy

[HalfTangible]

"................ Let me get this straight. You steal from my friend, bully and cajole the people of his kingdom, and have not even apologized for it... and you want me to PAY YOU so that I can FORGIVE YOU."
"Well when you put it that way it sounds like extortion."

[Efrate]

"You lie, cheat, steal, and murder!"
"And? I'm still alive aren't I?"

[HalfTangible]

"Of course the good die young. Ya know what Mark did for his last act on the mortal coil? He pushed his girlfriend out of the way of a drunk driver. He saved her life, and after they pronounced him braindead his organs saved 8 more. Someone selfish would've left her to die. Someone older wouldn't have had the strength. Get it? The good die young because the Lord knows someone else would get it wrong."
"I'd rather the Lord just take the drunk driver."
"Getting drunk and getting in your car is a choice, like any other. He left that part to us."
"Still would've preferred the driver."
"... Me too."

[8BitNinja]

A short poem from my brother, called Dogs and Daisies: A Rocket Propelled Grenade, describing a character just like me, I hope you enjoy

I detect evil on all I see
I am a paladin, and the DM hates me
When the DM is mad, I "have to pee"
I hope he doesn't get too mad and kills me

[eru001]

To answer your questions in order. Yes, i am a werewolf. No, I'm not going to eat you, I had a whole deer for lunch and I'm stuffed. No I don't have fleas. And if you throw that stick... grr... I will walk over to where it is pick it up, bring it to you, and ram it through your chest.

-Luke Thatcher

[8BitNinja]

"Sir one more comment like that and I will strangle you with my microphone wire!" -Adam Sandler

[Michael7123]

Spoiler: "I WANT SOMETHING IN RETURN." "Uh... w-what's that?" "DON'T. BE. BORING."

Show

-El Goonish Shive: Newspaper

A rule of thumb, if you ever encounter anyone who's primary motivation it to avoid boredom, you should either pity or fear them. Pity if they have nothing more than excitement to hope for, fear if they have everything else. This one falls under fear. Going by the stammering in the reply if nothing else.

Spoiler: "That isn't the weirdest thing I've seen today. I looked in the mirror this morning."

Show

I'm not entirely sure what definition of weird they are using, but I get feeling they might be the one responsible for introducing the main cast into the 'other' world. Whatever that means in this story.

Or maybe they are some sort of freak of nature and are completely willing to make fun of that. Everyone deals with these things in their own way.

Spoiler: "I had myself assassinated."

Show

Someone who sits at the center of a web of lies and seems to have quiet the clout because of it. Not only did they fake (assuming no undeath or resurrection) their death, but it was an assassination and no mere murder.

Also they seem to be slightly irresponsible. Just faking there death and leaving everything behind seems a little... wild and free for someone with that kind of political and deceptive power.

Spoiler: "And it will never be enough."

Show

This line (and I feel like this exact line) is usually associated with sins that can never be satisfied, and hence what they are seeking will never be enough. But I have seen it used in terms of life and joy ("I will keep on living because it will never be enough!") and in terms of heroics ("No matter how much I do, it will never be enough.") all of which give you very different feels to the character.

And the last one, I could see them just doing as much good as they can because they want to, or because they are seeking redemption for something they feel they can never make up for. There are a lot of ways to read this one.

Oh, some of these work really really well for a character I'm working on right now. Thank you.