Character concepts we want to play

[Roan_Spence]

If this is the wrong place for this I apologize but it's kind of a general DnD question. We all have character concepts we've thought up but will probably never have the necessary time to play so I thought sharing them all might be fun. I enjoy coming up with characters so I'll start.

1. The first idea I had was for a Chaotic Good Inquisitor in Pathfinder of the Chaotic Neutrally alligned god of vengeance, lust and sexuality Calistria who's thing was being a protector of sex workers. In one of the editions (I don't remember which) that god is the patron deity of sex work and this character, arguing every segment of society seems to have an avenging agent but them makes it their thing to ensure brothels were being run respectfully, treating their workers well, providing for their safety and dealing out justice to exploitative proprietors and clients alike.

They were going to be an archer Inquisitor with a short sword or rapier (some sord of dex based weapon) as a secondary and focus on dealing death from a distance with arrows they saw as their answer to Clastria's wasps (even though I'm aware her things were daggers and whips).

2. Female Dwarf Barbarian who was cursed with rage powers and refuses to return home until she masters them so she won't accidentally hurt her husband or kids. She was a former town guard who accidentally injured a new recruit and scared him out of the guard. He had a lot of potential and she broke his spirit without meaning to. I figure this character would be a follower of some war or honorable battle god in the setting and feels bad about crushing a promising warrior (the kid is now working on a farm somewhere). She's probably Neutral Good.

3. A Lawful Neutral Slayer or Rogue who was part of an organization dedicated to eliminating dangerous criminals who had escaped justice in one way or another. In the backstory early in their training they came up against a dangerous Jack the Ripper type criminal and nearly died in the process, now having a large scar down their chest from the encounter. The criminal was eventually slain according to the organization this character isn't so sure and wants to pursue the case further but the organization has ordered them to drop it as long as they're part of the organization. The issue nags at them to the point where they choose to follow the implicit order and resign their commission to pursue the issue, even as they retain the rigid discipline and rules of their former Order.

4. A Draconic bloodline sorcerer who was an experiment by a tyrannical dragon to create a powerful henchmen. He escapes, is raised by a warrior who teaches him a strict code of ethics he adheres to an plans to kill off his draconic progenitor and his mother who helped the dragon with the scheme to create him. Again, I see this character as being lawful neutral.

Does anyone else want to hop in?

[Mike Miller]

I am almost always the DM so I don't get to make many characters, but I've always wanted to play a homebrew Arcane Archer that isn't garbage. I also find the Initiate of the Sevenfold Veils who is seeking the original veils would be cool, too.

[Captn_Flounder]

Also a member of the "permanent DM position," but I inject a lot of characters in my campaign as NPCs. Generally I avoid casters because I don't want to outshine the party, so characters I don't have to think much to properly use in combat. And I don't keep them around as DMPCs for long, they only adventure together to fulfill their mutual goals then go their separate ways. Some I haven't found a use for:

A Chaotic Good Warlock, named Carlestus (Carl for short) who was demon-touched as a small child and now harbors a lesser, unknown demon. Would be a pacifist if left to his own devices, but the demon demands a blood toll or he will takeover the host and kill indiscriminately. He now hunts Necromancers and other Warlocks because they don't truly respect the powers they tap into and he can justify his own actions, otherwise the blood would drive him further towards insanity. He is severly socially retarded and often communes with things his party can't see and that may not exist. The demon plans to take over the body when Carl gains enough power for him to be truly powerful.

Captain Flounder (my online handle) is a pirate lord much in the same vein as Jack Sparrow. He is loud, drunk, obnoxious, and the greatest pirate to sail the seas. Would be something to the tune of Rogue 1/Swashbuckler 3/Spirit Lion Totem Barbarian 1/Dread Pirate/Uncanny Trickster. Not the kind of man you can trust, but certainly the kind you can make use of. Good in a fight, great on the open seas, and could make a good party face if your goals ever align and you feel you could trust him. But he will betray you at some point if properly incentivized. But, if he likes you enough, will then break you out of whatever hellish fate he sold you into with a brave, foolish, and preposterously impossible escape, bordering on complete lunacy. A favorite topic of any bard or inn patron in a seaside town, many folk believe the Pirate Lord to simply be a myth, but others swear they have crossed both swords and wits with the Admiral of the Damned and lived to tell the tale. My current Adventuring party has already heard many legends, don't know if I'll work him in to the story or just keep him as background, world building ambience.

Will post a few more later, need to shower.

[Roan_Spence]

You've both got some pretty cool ones.

[Nifft]

Gestalt Dragonwrought Kobold Dragonfire Adept 20 // Sorcerer 20 (or Sorc + casting prestige classes), trying to convince everyone that he's a True Dragon.

Works best if you're using the web enhancement that allows him to be Tiny (for bonus cuteness) and have a Claw/Claw/Bite attack routine ("just like every other True Dragon").

[Grod_The_Giant]

Chameleon Incarnate/Binder/Chameleon, claiming to be a different character every session.

I also have always kind of wanted to do a Wisdom-SAD Inquisitor 1/Monk 1/Soulknife. The aged, dapper gent who's somehow never quite in the way of an attack, who somehow always has their blade in just the right place to hurt, and who always ALWAYS, has another knife up their sleeve.

[Kafkesque]

I have a pair of characters that I put together for potential Pathfinder Society play (though I'm not 100% sure they're legal), but have never actually gotten to try out:

- Half-Orc Bard with the Overlooked Genius alternate racial trait. Basically a combination that was a joke character in 3.5 becomes a party face par excellence thanks to everybody consistently underestimating him.

- Inquisitor of Sarenrae, member of the Cult of the Dawnflower. Something about the idea of a god(dess) of mercy having a militant faction of worshippers intrigues me. The Vigilants of Stendarr never got very developed in Skyrim, but I thought I could play around with the idea a bit in Pathfinder.

[Nifft]

Chameleon Incarnate/Binder/Chameleon, claiming to be a different character every session.

Psst! Changeling.

Though if there were a Chameleon race...

[Grod_The_Giant]

Psst! Changeling.

Though if there were a Chameleon race...

No.

Tiny lizard characters forever.

(Also, you should maybe stick the image in a spoiler)

[atemu1234]

No.

Tiny lizard characters forever.

(Also, you should maybe stick the image in a spoiler)

This could be about chameleons or it could be about the kobold idea.

I always wanted to play a solipsist.

[thelastorphan]

I have always wanted to play one of a pair of brothers in a game. One person plays a half-elf fighter/barbarian/angry fighty type and a half-orc bard. They share a mother and are only a few years apart. The half orc is younger but due to his orc blood has matured beyond his brother. Insults about their parentage are not advised.

[GilesTheCleric]

I've got two lists: One of characters I'd like to play as a PC, and another of NPCs I should build at some point.

PCs:

• Bouncing "Glaives": A character that attacks like Luna from DotA (moon glaives), where they throw a weapon that bounces between foes and objects. Mechanics might include Chakram Riccochet (FR something) + Manticore Sting Dm, Ricochet Drag343 93, Aptitude Boomerang Daze + Boomerang Ricochet RoE 108.
• Storm: A character that uses a D&D-ified version of the MTG storm mechanic, in which casting more spells makes each spell more powerful and potentially allows you to cast more spells (cascade). So far I haven't done a lot of research into this one, but it seems like a very sub-optimal yet fun way of blasting. Mechanics might include Battle Magic Tactics MM5 84, Spell Rehearsal RotD 105, Dread Witch HoH 98 (engine). No arcane spellsurge allowed.
• Naruto-style Monk: A character reminiscent of Zabuza from Naruto, who is an assassin-type with an affinity for water and uses a Cloud Strife-style buster sword. I'm a bit further along in this build; looks like I've got some draft stuff: Facto 1/ CClr 3/ Rog 1/ Rgr 2/ Marshall 1/ Exemplar 1/ Swordsage 1/ MoM 1/ Iai Master 8; dolgaunt or anthro nifern; tentacle whip or cerebral hood; insectile or unseelie fey; FMI, craven, able learner, item familiar, PA, divine might, flick of the wrist, inhuman reach, knowledge devotion; darkness, shadow, water, weather, windstorm, gluttony, or travel domain.
• Aeromancer: A wind-based caster that makes use of Aeromancer Drag308 76 to make storms and stuff.
• Sha'ir: The ultimate theurge, I haven't decided which way to take one of these yet. Mechanics might include Shair+ Master Astrologer Drag340 36 for shorter spell retrieval times.
• Iaijutsu: Because who doesn't want a cool iaijutsu character? We all need to unleash our inner 14-year-olds sometimes. Flick of the Wrist RotW 150, Mercurial Strike Drag310 69.
• Finger of Death: A character that specialises in Finger of Death and other single-target, fort-based SoDs (preferably that include disintegration or loss of soul). I've been hitting some real roadblocks in optimising this, but I also haven't tried very hard yet.

NPCs:

One day I'll finish making a bunch of different Cleric builds, to investigate just about every possible avenue you could take a Cleric. Until then, I'm soliciting folks to build them for me!

[kuhaica]

Always wanted to play an 'Indiana Jones' type character. Not necessarily using whips, but someone who's intelligence and relies on luck and knowledge more then anything else. Just never been in a campaign where such a character would do well, or have been Dming. I can't even make it an NPC because of how complex a said character would be.

The other character I've wanted to play is a Commoner who thinks he's a wizard by casting spells such as "Sand Blast" (pocket sand to the face) or "Magic Stones" (a thrown rock). I've run NPCs and characters similar to this. But never truly done such a character. Unfortunately never done so as whenever I've been able to. The party would desperately need some Battle Control, 'Healer' or Tank and my Commoner wouldn't fit any of those roles.

Just being able to play such a character I think would be loads of fun. But I would hate to hinder my friends or fellow party members with such a character.

[Wraith]

I have a small army of characters that I'd like to play in D&D. Maybe one day I'll get to give just one of them a try, but for now:

The "Turn Everything" Cleric
It'd take a little finangling, but as a Cleric 2/Sovereign Speaker 10 I could potentially have something like 14 different spell domains, each one allowing me to Turn a different creature type. I never managed to compile a full list, and had to resort to spells to have an effect on Outsiders and a few others, but for some reason I just love the idea of being able to throw down my Holy Symbol and clear pretty much any room that I chose to be in.

The Full-Bard Samurai
This guy is pure Bard levels, but I pretend to be a Samurai in every other way. He gets Exotic Weapon: Katana as the only non-class related concession, and then goes around being impeccably polite and honourable to everyone he meets with Zen-like calm. If the party need to enter a locked castle or dungeon, he'd be the one to walk up to the door, knock and politely ask to be let inside; in battle, he doesn't sing epic sagas so much as recite carefully crafted haiku; he gets Perform (Tea Ceremony) as a class skill.... and so on.
There's really no explanation for this beyond the idea of playing a class in a very atypical, yet effective and cooperative way, and Bard seems more imaginative than being a Fighter with expertise in a Two-Handed Sword and calling him a Samurai instead.

The Planar Shepherd
At some point I would like to play, without irony or intentional disruption, a Planar Shepherd from the Eberron setting. I've read the Planar Shepherd Handbook several times and the very concept intrigues me, let alone how powerful the class is supposed to be.
This is probably the closest that I'd ever come to power gaming - a Shepherd of the Plane of Madness or Dreams to engage in some truly psychedelic adventures and use it to have an ingrained in-character reason to thoroughly explore the D&D cosmos in-game.

The Dual-Wielding-Scythes Guy
I'm not even entirely sure how this'd work, but it's something I saw mentioned very briefly on a forum and found myself wanting to explore more thoroughly; a character that can dual-wield what are typically two-handed weapons, like scythes or great flails. I know that a Large sized race would be needed, as would Improved Monkey Grip, but I've never sat down and really hammered out the mechanics properly; All I know is that, no matter how one-dimensional and ineffective it might be, I would one day like to play a Half-Minotaur (or possibly a Goliath), grab a big honkin' stick in either hand and go on some cathartic rampage.

A Fighter that specialises in Bows
Probably a very mundane concept, but one that I have never personally seen at a table; bow-specialists are almost always Rangers, with a small scattering of Rogues in there occasionally. Just for a change, I'd like to see how a bog-standard Fighter would be able to apply all of his extra feats to a Crossbow and see how well it stacks up. Probably not hugely successful when for the same price I could be fielding a Power Attack/Shock Trooper/Lion Warrior etc etc equivalent in melee.... It'd be a first, for me at least, and probably something very different to what most people think of when they hear "fighter"; just like the Bard-urai above, I guess.

[Nifft]

The "Turn Everything" Cleric
It'd take a little finangling, but as a Cleric 2/Sovereign Speaker 10 I could potentially have something like 14 different spell domains, each one allowing me to Turn a different creature type. I never managed to compile a full list, and had to resort to spells to have an effect on Outsiders and a few others, but for some reason I just love the idea of being able to throw down my Holy Symbol and clear pretty much any room that I chose to be in.

Divine Crusader + Sovereign Speaker is one of my pet projects.

I bet it would perform a lot like your "Turn Everything", just a rather different casting list, since you're casting only from your Domains (and Sanctified maybe).

The Full-Bard Samurai
This guy is pure Bard levels, but I pretend to be a Samurai in every other way. He gets Exotic Weapon: Katana as the only non-class related concession, and then goes around being impeccably polite and honourable to everyone he meets with Zen-like calm. If the party need to enter a locked castle or dungeon, he'd be the one to walk up to the door, knock and politely ask to be let inside; in battle, he doesn't sing epic sagas so much as recite carefully crafted haiku; he gets Perform (Tea Ceremony) as a class skill.... and so on.
There's really no explanation for this beyond the idea of playing a class in a very atypical, yet effective and cooperative way, and Bard seems more imaginative than being a Fighter with expertise in a Two-Handed Sword and calling him a Samurai instead.

Perform (honorable soldier) -- as long as you're acting like an honorable soldier, very loudly, you get enough Inspire Courage perks to perform quite well. Plus everyone "under your command" (i.e. allies within earshot) would perform remarkably well.

If you gestalted a martial character with Bard 20, you could pull this off without even that concession, and you'd have plenty of historical warrior-poets to draw from.

This is a great concept.

The Dual-Wielding-Scythes Guy
I'm not even entirely sure how this'd work, but it's something I saw mentioned very briefly on a forum and found myself wanting to explore more thoroughly; a character that can dual-wield what are typically two-handed weapons, like scythes or great flails. I know that a Large sized race would be needed, as would Improved Monkey Grip, but I've never sat down and really hammered out the mechanics properly; All I know is that, no matter how one-dimensional and ineffective it might be, I would one day like to play a Half-Minotaur (or possibly a Goliath), grab a big honkin' stick in either hand and go on some cathartic rampage.

Would you consider a character with 4 arms?

[Ignimortis]

Hilariously enough, even though I've got about 6 years of roleplaying experience in various systems, I've never had a chance to actually indulge in something that many people do as their first character: an over-the-top, anime-ish character who can wade through mooks like they're nothing, swinging some excessively elaborate weapon and moving like he doesn't even feel the weight of his armor. Basically, someone between Dante from DMC and War from Darksiders, only with more elaborate social side to him, having trouble with expressing his emotions and whatnot, being actually good only with intimidation.

P.S. To clarify my sig: I've DM'd for warblades and made warblade NPCs, but I never played one as a PC, even though I think it'd be perfect for this character. Especially if I can replace White Raven with something else like Sanguine Hand.

[thorr-kan]

LN Frostblood Half-orc Stalwart Battle Sorcerer
Frostblood half-orc: dragonblood subtype, Resistance to Cold 10, Endurance (bonus feat), and Vulnerability to Fire. (DragMagic)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (kurki) - Battle Sorcerer bonus feat (UA)
Weapon Focus (warhammer) - Stalwart Sorcerer bonus feat (CompChamp)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (warhammer) - Stalwart Sorcerer bonus feat (CompChamp)

1 - Mother Cyst (LM, bonus for flaw), Endurance (PH, bonus for race), Necormantic Bloodline (DragonMagComp), Arcane Fatigue [Flaw] (DragMag333), Divine Companion (for familiar, CompChamp).
2 - N/A
3 - Corrupt Arcane Studies (Ghostwalk).
4 - Dragonblood Sorcerer substitution 4th-level (Races of the Dragon).
5 - Domain Access (for Spells Know, CompChamp).
6 - Charnel Miasma (CompChamp).

Future feats: White Dragon Heritage (DragMagic), Kin Mastery (DragonMagComp).

(This isn't a character I've played. But it's one I've designed, and the backstory keeps burning a hole in my mind (insert obligatory B5 reference here).)

"I was born dying.

"My mother was human, favored of Nerull. My father was some nameless orc, probably chief of her bodyguards and touched by draconic influences. And I was destined for sacrifice, the final component in a ritual to cleanse the entire realm of its filthy, human infestation. I can still feel the cold of their hatred.

"Apparently, I also inherited a tendency for melodrama from someone.

"A local band of adventures thought otherwise. They disrupted the ritual, killed the priestess, and slaughtered the orc horde. When the blood settled, all that was left was miscellaneous treasure and a squalling infant.

"My real father and his companions are not paragons of virtue, but they are men of their word. Their contract was suppression of a cult of Nerull, not killing children. Father claimed me as his reward and returned to Jasidan seminary; he is a Karuth, a priest of Wee Jas.

"Apparently, I was not a difficult baby to raise. I got into everything and was strong for my age, but I listened to what I was told and developed appropriately. I am told even then, I was a bit odd. I watched what was not there; cold never bothered me; animals avoided me. I do not know; I do not remember it.

"Childhood, while not idyllic, was enjoyable. I assisted father in his research and help out around the temple. I played with other children in the city. I was never truly accepted, but I was never an outcast. Being an orphan and half-breed always created some distance. There was also the magic. I was infused with a necromantic energy since birth. It manifested without warning and without control. That furthered any gulf between me and my playmates.

"At six, I entered the temple boarding school. Father decreed a course of study in magic and religion. He hoped for a priest or possibly a wizard for a son, but that was not to be. I never felt called to the Ruby Sorceress's clergy, not felt her divine will manifest itself to me. My studies were intriguing, but never the overwhelming obsession any successful wizard must have. Instead, there was my power, untamed and alien to my blood. But it was mine, and I would not dismiss it. My studies lent me understanding of what I was, and what I might be: a sorcerer.

"Boarding school decided, since I was a half-orc, I would receive weapons training. Somebody had to face physical enemies. Our weapons master was a taciturn old dwarf who hated all of us. But he was knowledgeable, and he was fair. We respected that. I enjoyed the training and took to it well. It helped that I excelled with warhammers, a traditional dwarven weapon. I also became enamored of the kukri. It is not Wee Jas's favored weapon, but I enjoy it's exoticness.

"Physical activity helped my focus. I finally gained some control over the necromantic energy running through me. I started manifesting small magics and aquired the nickname Spooky from my dorm mates. Puberty actually increased my control. Magery was looking more and more attainable.

"Then church politics reared its ugly head. Someone decided I would make the perfect component for their summoning ritual. I was charged with necromantic energy and tainted by my mixed blood, so it had to be my destiny, correct? How could I disagree? I was implanted with a mother cyst, and the ritual started.

"Father...disagreed. His strike team seized the renegade temple, freed the prisoners, and killed every heretic they could find.

"Father is not very demonstrative, but I know he loves me. How? He tells me so. And if there is a threat to me, he exterminates it with extreme prejudice. I could have worse role models.

"After my rescue, I turned fanatical in my studies. I pushed myself harder in my martial training. I focused my fear and anger into my magical studies. I researched and pursued divine knowledge of Death's Guardian. I was determined not to be a victim again. It has paid off. My power is harnessed, though it will never be truly tamed. I have tapped The Witch Goddess's divine presence for my magic. I am a sorcerer of some fell power, I have the blessings of Wee Jas on my magic, and I can handle myself in a common tavern brawl or a pitched battle.

"My name is Klotto Rubiini Kosketti. I am a half-orc, I serve the Ruby Sorceress, and my magic brings death to her foes. My enemies don't fare to well, either.

"I *told* you I had a penchant for melodrama."

[HalfQuart]

I built an illiterate goblin "wizard" that I've been itching to play. He's actually a sorcerer, but calls himself a wizard, and wears a pointy wizard hat and robes and dutifully studies his "spellbook" each morning (which is actually just a bunch of haphazard scrawls, squiggles, and really bad drawings).

[Avigor]

A Cleric of the Dream Domain with the dream feats from Heroes of Horror and Secrets of Sarlona who interprets the Dreaming Dark as a corruption of their truth and becomes an Inquisitor to fight it.

[paperarmor]

I've always wanted to play a con man wizard using prestidigitation to mimic the effects of a haunting in order make some money as an exorcist.

[unseenmage]

Bouncer Kobold or other sm monster race who wields oversized gauntlets and is capable of barring the way. Holding the enemy back at chockepoints, hallways, etc.

Traveller Awakened Effigy Flying Monkey (Dragon Mag) Spelljammer captain.
A creation of an old Faerunian gestalt cleric/artificer character of mine he gets lost. Very lost.

Draq More a story than a character. Analogue of myself sent from Earth to Faerun. Uses the stinkiest of cheese to find his way home while avoiding the notice of the gods and epic characters. Campaign setting hopping and metaknowledge abound.

Aparrel Character who has animated object/minor servitor-ed ALL of their mundane equipment.

Changes An Amalgam Doppelganger Mimic master of espianage.

[bahamut920]

1. A Living Grimoire Inquisitor with Throw Anything and some Martial Training for Tempest Gale maneuvers. He literally throws the book at you.
2. A Fortune's Friend with Luck Devotion and a bunch of [Luck] feats; the world's luckiest bastard.
3. A Sherlock Holmes/CSI-style Empiricist Investigator.
4. My character in an upcoming campaign will be an Eldritch "Archer" Magus gunslinger bounty hunter/mercenary.
5. A Summoner or Shaper Psion who summons "clones" of himself to fight.
6. After recently discovering Grod's homebrew, there are a few of his classes I'd like to play; most notably a Shaper flavored as a sort of "living weapon" character given his powers as an experiment to make the ultimate killer, a Mage of the Unseen Hand (preferably gestalted with Duskblade or Magus) because telekinetically wielding weapons is cool, and a Speedster who got his powers by trying to emulate quicklings (possibly even with a neutral/good-aligned one as a mentor).

[exelsisxax]

Tiefling 'paladin' of the Fury. Path of War Rubato archetype to basically make a murderbard, and be heinously deadly in any combat rounds where i'm not dancing on the corpses as an intimidation tactic. Kill monsters, make up songs about crazy adventures, and aggressively seduce everybody, especially any BBEG evil sorceresses. Maybe find the true meaning of love out there one day?

[Wraith]

This is a great concept.

There's a lot of ways in which one could take this little 'twist' and have a lot of fun with it. I've suggested a Bard "Samurai", but I've seen others in a similar vein, to varying degrees of sensibility.

+ A Fighter who specialises in Mounted Combat and acts Lawful Good to be a genuine Knight rather than a Paladin.
+ A Monk who, instead of the being the stuffy, quiet shaolin-style archetype, instead wears a mask and performs exaggerated feats of agility in his fighting style to be a Lucha Wrestler.
+ Casey Jones (A barbarian who uses sports equipment as his weapons; baseballs bats are clubs, hockey sticks as scythes, his armour is a goalie mask and shinpads, and so on)

Heck, I first considered the whole thing while playing Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, and turned my Entertainer class character into a Blood Bowl player (Blood Bowl being, the NFL as set in the Lord of the Rings universe if you are unfamiliar with the concept). All I had to do was paint his Medium Armour in garish team colours, and the rest wrote itself.

Would you consider a character with 4 arms?

Maybe. I know about Tri-Kreen/Multi-arm Fighting, and the Extra Arms feat from Fiends, but it's not really what I had in mind - they're still using a two-handed weapon in two hands, which is patently ridiculous. Just good old brute force will be fine for me

Aparrel Character who has animated object/minor servitor-ed ALL of their mundane equipment.

Prestitigitonium!