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

[8BitNinja]

" The only reason that you're conscious right now is because I don't want to carry you." - Jack Bauer, 24

[Belac93]

“Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course.”
-House of Chains
A character who knows they are dumb, but wants to keep it that way. Probably a barbarian.

“Witness.”
-Karsa Orlong, Midnight Tides
You might not get this as much if you haven't read the book, but this character pretty much thinks that the rest of the world is just there to witness what he does, and to be his own personal historian. And he is badass. A lot of people in those books are, but I think he might take the cake.

“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Someone who is a nice person, and believes people can be redeemed.

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
-Winston S. Churchill
A charlatan, or some sort of liar.

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
-The Wise Man's Fear
There is not a lot to say about this one, but; Storm sorcerer, Shadowcaster, monk.

Have I mentioned that I love this thread?

[8BitNinja]

"The easy part was removing the brain, the hard part was removing the brain" -Professor Farnsworth, Futurama

Probably a good one for a smart, but very crazy person

[eru001]

Ah, yes, your patented method of shoot first, shoot second, shoot some more, and when everyone's dead try and ask questions.
- wild wild west

when in doubt C4
-Adam Savage

When taking fire, first shoot back, then take cover, then identify where the shooting is coming from, in that order.
-My ROTC battalion Sergeant.

VIVA LA MUERTE (Translation: Long Live Death)
-Battle cry of the Spanish Foreign Legion

Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, Tail on his hat
Nobody Knows where the Swamp Fox At
Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, hidin in the glen
He sneaks away for to strike again
-Ballad of Francis Marion

Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her ... Soldiers, fire
-Michel Ney, Marshal of France under Napoleon, commanding his own firining squad

[8BitNinja]

"I will eat you" - Painis Cupcake, TF2 Machinima

A good one for a psychopath character who is also a cannibal

[Kami2awa]

"When we kill someone, we do it looking them in the eye, and offering to buy them a drink in the next world."

An honorable barbarian type.

[Kami2awa]

Here is another one from a friend

"Every night, a child will be scared to go to sleep because of an evil being under their bed or in their closet. Well I'll tell you that God made some people who will make monsters afraid to go to sleep at night"

- a good Fighter or Paladin

Aren't you scared of monsters?

No. They're scared of me.

- The Doctor

[eru001]

All of the following are from Winston Churchill

In peace, strength, in war courage, in victory magnanimity.
-Any good aligned leader.

Gentlemen, if Satan himself were to declare war on Hitler, I shall at least give him favorable mention in the house of commons
-A leader who is ready and willing to do anything necessary to defeat the foe.

We shall show mercy, but never ask it.
-Any good aligned leader

Too often a man is known as strong and silent, but is only silent because he does not know what to say, and reputed strong because he has remained silent.
-A leader issuing a call to action

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping that it will eat him last.
-A good aligned leader deciding for war over diplomacy

Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver, the greater the general the more he contributes to maneuver and the less he demans in slaughter
-Any good aligned leader

never hold discussions with a monkey while the organ grinder is in the room
-a pragmatic diplomat

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the Empire and its Commonwealth should last a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.
-A good leader rallying the troops to war

[8BitNinja]

"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." -George Washington

A good-aligned character who refuses to work with evil

[falcon1]

“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me.”- Kvothe, from the Name of the Wind

Anybody with a reputation that is well deserved

[8BitNinja]

"Y'know, I think my favorite thing about being a hero of destiny is that it gives you all kinds of narrative justification to just slay any ol' jerk who gets in your way." -Black Mage, 8 Bit Theatre

A good one for an evil character in a good group

[Lord Raziere]

"How do you know if a person is truly just? Kill an innocent that they hate. If they do nothing and smile, they are nothing but a scoundrel and not truly just. If they draw their sword and kill you because doing that was wrong, they are truly just and righteous."

[eru001]

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion, by the juice of the brew that I stimulate thought. Do not disturb me as I prepare it. Do not interrupt this sacred ritual.
-a person who really likes tea, or is incredibly british

[Cluedrew]

"The easy part was removing the brain, the hard part was removing the brain" -Professor Farnsworth, Futurama

Reminds me of a game I played once that had a mad scientist character with a move that caused two characters to switch places. It was called "full body transplant".

when in doubt C4
-Adam Savage

Didn't that come from Jamie? Well I know who said this one:

Spoiler: "Am I missing an eyebrow?"

Show

-Adam Savage

Anyone who works with forces they can't quite control... and may explode if things go wrong. The pyro, certain varieties of wizard, maybe a psychic depending on how that works in the setting.

Spoiler: "Let me guess." "If guess the Spanish Inquisition one more time-"

Show

As it turns out, someone does indeed expect the Spanish Inquisition. Although it doesn't actually appear to be a reasonable guess in this case. Or maybe everyone else is just unsuspecting.

A paranoid, a conspiracy theorist or both. Or someone who sees what is going on too well, but I like the more comedic view.

Spoiler: "Oh that's cute, the kids don't want to leave their pet behind." "Focus, Eldritch Horror."

Show

Someone who fights for the little things. And might be losing it just a bit.

Spoiler: "That moment where you think the world has forgotten you... and then someone asks for your autograph."

Show

Someone who did something that they didn't really think the world cared about, but as it turns out the world did. Or someone who was famous, but is pleasantly surprised to find that they were not completely forgotten.

As an aside, I think this is a great idea for when you need to introduce a higher level character into the store rather suddenly (ex: new PC).

Spoiler: "Why the 'Fist Magus'?" "They got 'em in a null zone with three armours and a covering sniper." "And?" "Sniper escaped."

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A primary caster who has multi-classed into a hand-to-hand combat. Or in a classless system, someone with a lot of magic ability, but not an insignificant amount of punching ability on top of that.

Slightly higher tier characters might be required to make someone sufficiently competent.

Spoiler: "I have lived far too long."

Show

Well the generic answer is an immortal who has grown tired of watching the people grow old and die around them. But I wanted something else. One idea I have is someone who dedicated their life to something and were willing to die for it, but they realized it wasn't quite the cause they were hoping for, or they succeeded and now they feel lost. Or even "life free, die young" type that didn't die entirely by accident.

Spoiler: "Just a minute." "You are gunna tell the teachers you're skipping." "Yes."

Show

There is an interesting mix of lawful and chaotic traits here. Although they seem to have enough respect for authority (or at least these teachers) to tell them about what is going on (plus are consistent enough that their friend called it) they are perfectly happy to spontaneously skip school. If it wasn't spontaneous, I think the teachers would already know.

Although I'm not entirely sure what that makes this character, besides interesting.

Have I mentioned that I love this thread?

That just means we are all doing good work. Also I like the one about the gentle man.

[8BitNinja]

"We are born by the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood" - Bloodborne

A good one for a character with a really violent past and present

[Excession]

I like the one about the gentle man.

A couple of related quotes, both from Doctor Who:

"Demons run when a good man goes to war."

"Give a good man firepower, and he'll never run out of people to kill."

[falcon1]

"Hello. I'm The Doctor. Basically...Run."


"He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and can see the turn of the universe and... he's wonderful." - Tim Latimer in "The Family of Blood"

Dalek: You will be exterminated!

River: Not yet. Your systems are still restoring, which means your shield density is compromised. One alpha-meson burst through your eyestalk would kill you stone dead.

Dalek: Records indicate you will show mercy. You are an associate of the Doctor's.

River: I'm River Song. Check your records again. [aims for the eye-stalk]

Dalek: [uneasily] Mercy?

River: Say it again?

Dalek: Mercy!

River: One more time.

Dalek: Mercy!!!

More Doctor Who

[eru001]

There are some things in life violence can't solve, for everything else, theres .50 cal

[8BitNinja]

"Gentlemen, synchronize your death watches." -Spy, Team Fortress 2

A good one for either a character who loves to use AoE or explosions. Or a character who constantly brings his party on suicide missions

[goto124]

Spoiler: "That moment where you think the world has forgotten you... and then someone asks for your autograph."

Show

Someone who did something that they didn't really think the world cared about, but as it turns out the world did. Or someone who was famous, but is pleasantly surprised to find that they were not completely forgotten.

As an aside, I think this is a great idea for when you need to introduce a higher level character into the store rather suddenly (ex: new PC).

Spoiler: Alternative

Show

A famous person who doesn't want to be famous, whose wants consist of peace and quiet... but the world won't have that. "What do you mean, ANOTHER autograph? Why can't I have an uninterrupted lunch?!"

[eru001]

Of course I went to college. I went to sergeant school, I majored in screaming and I minored in OO-RAH

Sgt Johnson was my senior mentor when I was in Sergeant school. He wrote a masters thesis on buttkicking that redefined the way we think of headlocks.
-Sarge Red vs Blue

[8BitNinja]

"I'm not looking for judgement, just a yes or no. Can you assimilate a giraffe?" - Rick, Rick and Morty

[Cluedrew]

Spoiler: "My Aunt's estate was attacked while her husband was up an the walls poring down oil." "As any gentally reared noble woman would do."

Show

Not your traditional princess. But in a tom-boy sort of way, just willing to fight when they have to.

Spoiler: "You literally just made that up right now." "No I didn't. I made it up decades ago."

Show

-Seeds

And older bard-type who is not afraid to be self referential.

Spoiler: "Well despite your best efforts, it's still nice to meet you."

Show

-Take Off

A very diplomatic sort and irrepressibly friendly.

Spoiler: "Three things you have to know about me: 1. I will never lie to you. 2. I am here to help you. 3. I am not your friend."

Show

This sounds like the person who helps the main character(s) but then turns out to be evil later. Except this one seems to be telling them that up front... An interesting idea but I am not sure exactly how you would pull that off.

Spoiler: "Smile, it is one weapon the world can't take from you."

Show

There seems to be a definite optimistic tone here, but I can't help but they notice they use of the word weapon. They are not just holding on, but they are striking back.

Spoiler: "Courage is that feeling you get when you don't fully understand the situation."

Show

-Potato Potato Von Spudsworth 3 (A random commenter, I think it is original.)

Someone who is... not quite a coward but doesn't really respect courage as a virtue. Staying alive is important, glory is not.

Also I like your interpretation of that quote goto124, public reputation is something that is not often touched in RPGs.

[eru001]

You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than you can with just a kind word.
-Al Capone

[8BitNinja]

Also I like your interpretation of that quote goto124, public reputation is something that is not often touched in RPGs.

While not that good, I boiled reputation down to a mechanic in my RPGs, in fact, I added a Reputation counter before I added an Alignment counter

[Cluedrew]

Oh, I know it has been done, but rarely does it receive much attention. Many RPGs focus almost entirely on a character's personal power and traits (current D&D almost exclusively so) so there is not as much as that external...

There is a lot of focus on "how does that character act in the world" and little "how does the world act towards the character".

[goto124]

Also I like your interpretation of that quote goto124, public reputation is something that is not often touched in RPGs.

Thank you, and prepare for more alternate interpretations! And a nitpick at the end.

Spoiler: "Well despite your best efforts, it's still nice to meet you."

Show

-Take Off

A very diplomatic sort and irrepressibly friendly.

Spoiler: Alternate Interpretation

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... who also knows how to snark in a smart and subtle manner. The diplomat knows the aggressor is deliberately trying to stir up trouble, but will not react it to or let the bully win.

Spoiler: "Three things you have to know about me: 1. I will never lie to you. 2. I am here to help you. 3. I am not your friend."

Show

This sounds like the person who helps the main character(s) but then turns out to be evil later. Except this one seems to be telling them that up front... An interesting idea but I am not sure exactly how you would pull that off.

Spoiler: Alternate Interpretation

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Assuming it's a "person" talking to a "party".

The person could be genuinely helping out, but begrudgingly. Maybe the party members just aren't the kind said person likes, to put it mildly... but the world needs to be saved and most people like to have a world to live in. Either way, the person does not want to work with the party but has no real choice anyway, and must make sure the party succeeds.

"I am not your friend" means "Don't get too chummy with me, I actually hate you guys and wish I didn't have to do this".

"Never lie to you" could also mean a character who has taken an oath or personal promise to never lie.

Spoiler: "My Aunt's estate was attacked while her husband was up an the walls poring down oil." "As any gentally reared noble woman would do."

Show

Not your traditional princess. But in a tom-boy sort of way, just willing to fight when they have to.

Spoiler: Nitpick. Sexism is a topic that I'm really interested in, I just had to touch on this.

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"Tomboyish" does sound weird in that "protecting your home" is made to be a "masculine" thing. It attaches gender to something that could otherwise be ungendered.

My reaction to the estate's walls poring down oil would not be "I didn't expect a noble woman to do something useful". It would be "Oil down the walls! She's so smart, coming up with ideas like that". Same reaction as if the noble had been a man instead. I wouldn't be surprised that she's planted defenses on her own estate, even if I'm surprised at the design of the defenses themselves. To me, it seems rather normal for an noble to protect their property, regardless of gender. Why be so shocked that a noble protected their property just because the noble happens to be female?

Then again I'm sensitive to anything resembling gender roles. IMHO, on top of letting females do "masculine" things, we should stop associating actions with genders.

[8BitNinja]

Spoiler: Nitpick. Sexism is a topic that I'm really interested in, I just had to touch on this.

Show

"Tomboyish" does sound weird in that "protecting your home" is made to be a "masculine" thing. It attaches gender to something that could otherwise be ungendered.

My reaction to the estate's walls poring down oil would not be "I didn't expect a noble woman to do something useful". It would be "Oil down the walls! She's so smart, coming up with ideas like that". Same reaction as if the noble had been a man instead. I wouldn't be surprised that she's planted defenses on her own estate, even if I'm surprised at the design of the defenses themselves. To me, it seems rather normal for an noble to protect their property, regardless of gender. Why be so shocked that a noble protected their property just because the noble happens to be female?

Then again I'm sensitive to anything resembling gender roles. IMHO, on top of letting females do "masculine" things, we should stop associating actions with genders.

I'm not going to argue about this, I don't want to argue about this, but think about it in the context of the time period this quote would've been used from. (Almost) No one in Medieval/Renaissance society would expect a Noblewoman to do that

[PersonMan]

A King, The Wealthiest merchant in Venice, the Pope, and a common soldier with a sword are locked in the room. From outside comes the order, "two men may leave the others must be killed". Who leaves the room? The answer is simple, the soldier, and whomever he esteems most. For though all three other men might command more power outside the room, that power is outside, while the soldier and his sword are inside. While the king outside could order him killed, the Pope might order him burned, or the Merchant might buy assassins, those are all outside, these men have left their power at the door, the soldier with his sword, has brought his full might with him.

- a Neutral or Evil fighter

Honestly, I don't see anything inherently non-Good about this.

It's also easily modified to be 'a [PC class] and these important people', so I wouldn't even say it's limited to a fighter-type.

[8BitNinja]

"Lesson! Lesson! If you see a stranger, follow him" -Ed, Cowboy Bebop