What trait(s) annoys you most in characters?

[DrTrollinski]

you sometimes do have introverted people that don't shut up. i'm one of them. my shyness and nervousness make me even more likely to repeat things.

That's not what I mean. Nervousness and shyness isn't the same as what I'm saying; I can relate to you because I used to be very much the same and still am to a certain extent, but what I mean was characters who are meant to be these heavy introverts but turn out to always be the most social and the true life of the party. It annoys me because I know more than enough introverted people to know that it's not like that at all.

 

[Umbrie]

That's not what I mean. Nervousness and shyness isn't the same as what I'm saying; I can relate to you because I used to be very much the same and still am to a certain extent, but what I mean was characters who are meant to be these heavy introverts but turn out to always be the most social and the true life of the party. It annoys me because I know more than enough introverted people to know that it's not like that at all.

there is a difference between being talkative and being social. i agree an introvert shouldn't be the life of the party. i'm fine with an introvert talking off the ears of their friends. but they shouldn't be the center of the focus. difference between annoying your friends and actually partying.

 

[DrTrollinski]

there is a difference between being talkative and being social. i agree an introvert shouldn't be the life of the party. i'm fine with an introvert talking off the ears of their friends. but they shouldn't be the center of the focus. difference between annoying your friends and actually partying.

That's what Im trying to say; all we've done here is reword my initial point three times over, haha.


Plus, the introvert thing was just an example to demonstrate what I was saying. Nothing wrong with introverted characters.

 

[Eye of Nowhere]

I hate it when people have cloned characters with different names and such or always use the same race...


For example, one of my friends in real life showed me their RP Character sheets file... Practically Twilight all over again


Next thing you know, all Neko (Cat) Characters


Really people? The best you can do is a dog character too... but id love to see another fish person rper

I actually have a "fish-person" character. He's a warrior or a monk, depending on the setting. 

 

[Umbrie]

That's what Im trying to say; all we've done here is reword my initial point three times over, haha.


Plus, the introvert thing was just an example to demonstrate what I was saying. Nothing wrong with introverted characters.

i'm an introvert IRL, and i tend to try to play Extroverted characters.

 

[DrTrollinski]

i'm an introvert IRL, and i tend to try to play Extroverted characters.

That's fair enough, but it now feels like this is being taken beyond the initial point I was making.

 

[Umbrie]

That's fair enough, but it now feels like this is being taken beyond the initial point I was making.

sorriesies.


even though not every Introvert is one of the Quiet Ones, they should not be Intentionally Acting in an Extroverted Manner without some Heavy Accruing of Strain and Fatigue. i mean, Introverts can Party in Short Bursts, but it is extremely tiring for them due to the amount of mental energy it consumes.

 

[call me rae]

sorriesies.


even though not every Introvert is one of the Quiet Ones, they should not be Intentionally Acting in an Extroverted Manner without some Heavy Accruing of Strain and Fatigue. i mean, Introverts can Party in Short Bursts, but it is extremely tiring for them due to the amount of mental energy it consumes.

Doc is agreeing with you though. Like your literally just repeating what they were saying in the first place in different words. 

 

[DrTrollinski]

2 minutes ago, Umbrie said:







sorriesies.


even though not every Introvert is one of the Quiet Ones, they should not be Intentionally Acting in an Extroverted Manner without some Heavy Accruing of Strain and Fatigue. i mean, Introverts can Party in Short Bursts, but it is extremely tiring for them due to the amount of mental energy it consumes.




 

Yeah, most definitely. I agree with that entirely; it's people that don't RP it properly and such that annoys me, because it doesn't match the CS usually. This often forces anyone else in the RP to adapt, which can ultimately piss everyone off. As we discussed already, introverted is a trait that's fine to have in a character, but I think a lot of people don't understand what an 'introvert' is - they either RP them as someone who literally has no social skill whatsoever (which is quite incredibly inaccurate), or they make them so backward from an introvert that they're not an introvert anymore. But eh, what can you do.

 

[call me rae]

Actually character traits that irritate me ( and I can't remember if I put this before or not )


OC Canons. Basically people who try to play a canon character without understanding the canon's characterization. Now I'm not saying only mouth breathing nerds can play canon characters or anything but at least have some idea who the character IS before you try to play them. Too many people just pick a character with powersets they like and then just use those powers to essentially make their character into the center of attention. 


Like there is a difference between knowing what a character does and what powers they have and knowing who that character is as a person.


Superman is a prime example of this. Like most people you ask them who Superman is and they'll say that guy with Super Strength, Laser Vision, Invulnerability, etc. Oh and he's like an alien who is allergic to kryptonite. 


Same thing with Batman. or most superheroes. They'll tell you the characters powerset but not necessarily their characterization. And in the case of superheroes that characterization is important. It's what stops the character from being some OP snowflake monstrosity. 


So yeah anytimes I see someone butchering a canon character just so they can use their powers to beat all the bad guys, or they can morph their personality past recognition to stuff them into some kind of forced romance. It annoys me.

 

[Umbrie]

Superman is literally the Embodiment of the Ideals of the American Boyscout. Honest, Hard Working, Selfless, Self Sacrificing and even the guy who would give the shirt off his back to a Starving Beggar. he has to deal with the struggle between using his powers for good and living the human life he has been raised to desire to live. all he wants. is to truly live a human life, but every time he recieves the chance, the call of duty yanks him again.


Batman is often portrayed as a Brooding and Vengeful Orphan Loner, but if you look at it, he tries to use the skills he learned from Raz'Al'Ghul, the skills of an Elite Murderer, to make the world a better place by using nonlethal application to apprehend criminals, he also donates to the prison rehabilitation system as well as orphanages so that criminals can become functioning members of society and so that Orphans don't need to resort to crime. he donates vast amounts to Education and while he has a mountain of military grade toys. they aren't what define him, what should define him is his sympathy for suffering orphans and the soft spot for them that has encouraged him to have countless Robins of Both Genders.


a lot of people prioritize the powers over the personality. Umbrie was an Assassin/Illusionist Multiclass in 2nd Edition AD&D because i truly wanted to make her a Bard and while she more than met the intelligence and charisma requirements, she was short to qualify by a single point of Wisdom and instead went with the Assassin as her Rogue Subclass because it offered a lot of Bardic Skills but didn't offer the Bardic Spells, so i had to multiclass Assassin with Illusionist, i mean, both subclasses couldn't normally multiclass, But Nyxads could multiclass the 2 like a Dark Elf Could and Access the Dark Elf Multiclass Spellcloak Kit.


i would have Rather the GM let me ignore that 1 point of Wisdom i was missing and make Umbrie a Bard, because her intelligence and charisma were 3 points apiece higher than she needed. and even in later magical assassin incarnations, i usually give her either Acting, Legerdemain or Dancing as one of her proficiencies to represent the fact she wanted to be a bard but was one point not wise enough. i mean, her personality is better suited to a bard, but i had to make due. and play the most gimmicky assassin out there. an assassin who felt forced to become one because it was the only profession she could reliably work whilst feeding her family.


all sorts of interesting characters are born when you have to pick a subclass you didn't want to play but was close to what you sought. i wanted to make her a performer, but nopies, she ended up being an Assassin because she wasn't wise enough to be a friggin performer. look at how many characters with much lower wisdom than Umbrie are in the performance industry. but Umbrie was a case of her class and occupation not matching her personality because she had to make due with the attributes she rolled.

 

[call me rae]

Superman is literally the Embodiment of the Ideals of the American Boyscout. Honest, Hard Working, Selfless, Self Sacrificing and even the guy who would give the shirt off his back to a Starving Beggar. he has to deal with the struggle between using his powers for good and living the human life he has been raised to desire to live. all he wants. is to truly live a human life, but every time he recieves the chance, the call of duty yanks him again.


Batman is often portrayed as a Brooding and Vengeful Orphan Loner, but if you look at it, he tries to use the skills he learned from Raz'Al'Ghul, the skills of an Elite Murderer, to make the world a better place by using nonlethal application to apprehend criminals, he also donates to the prison rehabilitation system as well as orphanages so that criminals can become functioning members of society and so that Orphans don't need to resort to crime. he donates vast amounts to Education and while he has a mountain of military grade toys. they aren't what define him, what should define him is his sympathy for suffering orphans and the soft spot for them that has encouraged him to have countless Robins of Both Genders.


a lot of people prioritize the powers over the personality. Umbrie was an Assassin/Illusionist Multiclass in 2nd Edition AD&D because i truly wanted to make her a Bard and while she more than met the intelligence and charisma requirements, she was short to qualify by a single point of Wisdom and instead went with the Assassin as her Rogue Subclass because it offered a lot of Bardic Skills but didn't offer the Bardic Spells, so i had to multiclass Assassin with Illusionist, i mean, both subclasses couldn't normally multiclass, But Nyxads could multiclass the 2 like a Dark Elf Could and Access the Dark Elf Multiclass Spellcloak Kit.


i would have Rather the GM let me ignore that 1 point of Wisdom i was missing and make Umbrie a Bard, because her intelligence and charisma were 3 points apiece higher than she needed. and even in later magical assassin incarnations, i usually give her either Acting, Legerdemain or Dancing as one of her proficiencies to represent the fact she wanted to be a bard but was one point not wise enough. i mean, her personality is better suited to a bard, but i had to make due. and play the most gimmicky assassin out there. an assassin who felt forced to become one because it was the only profession she could reliably work whilst feeding her family.


all sorts of interesting characters are born when you have to pick a subclass you didn't want to play but was close to what you sought. i wanted to make her a performer, but nopies, she ended up being an Assassin because she wasn't wise enough to be a friggin performer. look at how many characters with much lower wisdom than Umbrie are in the performance industry. but Umbrie was a case of her class and occupation not matching her personality because she had to make due with the attributes she rolled.

lol i wasn't asking for you to prove you know the character of batman or superman. i was just saying other people focus too much on a canon's powerset and not enough on their personality which as a fan of dc comics is incredibly annoying. 


and really it's not limited only to superheroes those are just the most mainstream example. anytime someone butchers any canon from a fandom it pains me. i mean i'm not asking you ( general you ) to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the person i'm just asking to you try to at least get the archetype of their characterization right.


as for people focusing on powers over substance, yeah that's also a real big problem in any kind of powered roleplay. it doesn't bother me quite as much as the canon issue if only because there are people out there that would realistically just focus all their energy on what they are / what they look like / how powerful they are in relation to everyone else. so if you just want to make your character some one dimensional power machine your welcome to do that. 


but then i work primarily from a story building aspect in which i focus more on building characters from either a story type or a real world analoge rather than focusing so much on established stats or classes. so to me - i know people that are that self-absorbed without powers so giving them the ability to shoot fire and having that be the only thing they think is worth defining them as a person makes sense to me. because people are like that.


it just bugs me when you take a character that is multi-dimensional and reduce them just to - guy who shoots lasers or fights bad guys.

 

[Umbrie]

i used to have a Habit of Minmaxing characters whom were ideally suited for a particular skillset and were completely unsuited for an Unrelated Skillset and it is still a habit i do with point buy Systems in Dice RPs. but i remember getting a Randomly Generated Assassin with Mediocre Dexterity for an Assassin and the Worst Constitution and Strength Scores you could get and Still Qualify as far as the rules went. Lousy Hit Points and Lousy Fortitude Saves, Plus Piss Poor Melee Damage on a character whose Primary Role was to Backstab Surprised Foes with a knife for mountains of Damage. it wasn't Umbrie this time, but to make her Damage Viable, i had to Pick up a Shortbow, Slit the Throat of a Sleeping Cavalier and Steal his Horse and Brigandine. meaning she Ran Around Pretending to be a Cavalier because she lacked the Hit Points to Actually survive a Scratch from a Housecat. i mean, i hate the idea of Random Stats, but she was Fun as Heck to Play. because i had to murder a Sleeping NPC Cavalier and Steal his stuff, just so i could do something in combat as a combat oriented character class with poor combat Stats.


Normally, you have the Minmaxed Wizard whom is the Smartest Sage on the Planet, but can't fight thier way out of a paper bag or even Say Hello without being Offensive, or the Fighter who happens to be a dumb bigotedd jock with way too much strength. at least in point buy systems. but with Random Attributes, Especially 3d6 in Order for Traditional D&D, i noticed Characters spend too much time coming up with Convoluted Strategies to Compensate Thier Weaknesses, like the Sickly Assassin Who Took up mounted Archery and ate the penalties for Shooting on Horseback because it was more effective for her than trying to backstab dudes in the kidneys with a knife. the reason being due to poor hit points and being able to be one shot killed by a house cat scratching her. she didn't have the strength to be a Cavalier, but i got a Solo intro where she Slit the throat of a Sleeping Cavalier and Stole his stuff.


i originally had the idea for a ninja type character that sneaks up and gets lethal blows, but had to make due with a wannabe cavalier who shoots things while running on horse back. funny thing i recommend for Dice RPs. i recommend, rolling 3d6 in Order with a D&D 5e character in the vein of emulating AD&D 2e and actually working out how your character works the task of doing a job they are unsuited for. let alone getting a character that violates the innkeeper rule. not that i would wish you a bad character, but i want to see what you do to compensate for bad rolls you can't control. when your stats are random and you can't minmax or optimize placement, i noticed you have to work harder to make your characters effective.

 

[call me rae]

I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. But it sounds interesting if a little too heavy on the Dice specific jargon. Best as I can figure you think people should not focus on what their character does in terms of raw stats but on how they can use those stats to best benefit them in the particular story.


Which is a good point. I personally am a little lenient because I do 1x1s which means I can usually just make a straight man to balance out the over powered idiocy of someone else easily enough. And it tends to force me to get super creative which is always fun.


But I can see how in a group setting the over dependence on raw stats and using them to beat the crap out of people would get super annoying.


It's one of the reasons I have burnt out on power based groups. It's such a headache to get everyone playing at a similar level and deal with the inevitable whining when someone thinks you've nerfed their character.






Which actually if whiny players can be a character trope I would say it's probably one of my least favorite ones. I can't stand people who get so precious about their characters that they can't take any kind of deviation from the person they want to play. Like if your character doesn't fit than they don't fit. I'm not changing the lore/rules just because you want to play your character exactly as you envision them in your head.


[ to clarify when i say you i mean in the general sense. so you = all roleplayers ever. ]

 

[The Swedish Chef]

I absolutely loathe characters who are "random" or "kooky" or whatever you call them. My problem with them is that they are trying way to hard to be funny, but their jokes are rarely more than "this character is doing something that normal people don't do".

 

[Umbrie]

I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. But it sounds interesting if a little too heavy on the Dice specific jargon. Best as I can figure you think people should not focus on what their character does in terms of raw stats but on how they can use those stats to best benefit them in the particular story.


Which is a good point. I personally am a little lenient because I do 1x1s which means I can usually just make a straight man to balance out the over powered idiocy of someone else easily enough. And it tends to force me to get super creative which is always fun.


But I can see how in a group setting the over dependence on raw stats and using them to beat the crap out of people would get super annoying.


It's one of the reasons I have burnt out on power based groups. It's such a headache to get everyone playing at a similar level and deal with the inevitable whining when someone thinks you've nerfed their character.






Which actually if whiny players can be a character trope I would say it's probably one of my least favorite ones. I can't stand people who get so precious about their characters that they can't take any kind of deviation from the person they want to play. Like if your character doesn't fit than they don't fit. I'm not changing the lore/rules just because you want to play your character exactly as you envision them in your head.


[ to clarify when i say you i mean in the general sense. so you = all roleplayers ever. ]

i mean for Dice RPs, Determinine your Character's Attributes, Skills, Class and Background Randomly by Rolling Dice down the line in a predetermined Order.


it might seem Scary at first, but the Randomly determined character with Randomly determined Strengths, Weaknesses and Quirks as part of character creation might be fun. Tis a Good way to separate players from thier Traditional character choices. i find i get a special feeling of accomplishment when i survive an adventure with a heavily flawed character the dice gave me. might not be of a type i would normally play, but not being able to minmax provides a bit of challenge as does hsving no influence on what your character's weaknesses are.

 

[fattiest fat cat]

ANY character that does nothing and forces you to drive the entire plot by yourself  :withlines:

 

[Umbrie]

Artemis Shadowsong was rolled purely randomly for an Old School Style dice RP and ended up with a mountain of weaknesses i couldn't just Veto and actually had to find clever workarounds, the only facets i got to choose were her name, gender and the fact she was a Dark Elf. well,it cost me one of my 3 Vetos to say she was a dark /elf without rolling. but everything Else was completely Random and i ended up with a mediocre horseback archer who could theoretically bleed to death in a single 6 second turn as a result of being scratched once by a house cat due to her poor hit point total. her prior career was that she was a commando who lacked the talent to be a decent commando, sickly dark elf commando with irradiated lungs and asthma from it. she was also type 2 diabetic from a honey addiction and mute, because the dice said so. she actually had enough archery skill to land a hit on an Ogre from Horseback 45% of the time

 

[call me rae]

I absolutely loathe characters who are "random" or "kooky" or whatever you call them. My problem with them is that they are trying way to hard to be funny, but their jokes are rarely more than "this character is doing something that normal people don't do".

So you would say it's more an issue with forced comedic relief and not so much quirks? 


Ex. Say I had a character that went around with a turnip on her head and talking to an imaginary unicorn with a chain smoking habit ( which is pretty random/kooky )


that would be fine 


but if I made a character spent their time giggling like an idiot, falling over everything, and chattering like a magpie


that would be annoying?

 

[The Swedish Chef]

So you would say it's more an issue with forced comedic relief and not so much quirks? 

Yeah, but like 99.99% of the purpose of these "random" characters are to be the comedic relief. 

 

[Melpomene]

Actually character traits that irritate me ( and I can't remember if I put this before or not )


OC Canons. Basically people who try to play a canon character without understanding the canon's characterization. Now I'm not saying only mouth breathing nerds can play canon characters or anything but at least have some idea who the character IS before you try to play them. Too many people just pick a character with powersets they like and then just use those powers to essentially make their character into the center of attention. 


Like there is a difference between knowing what a character does and what powers they have and knowing who that character is as a person.


Superman is a prime example of this. Like most people you ask them who Superman is and they'll say that guy with Super Strength, Laser Vision, Invulnerability, etc. Oh and he's like an alien who is allergic to kryptonite. 


Same thing with Batman. or most superheroes. They'll tell you the characters powerset but not necessarily their characterization. And in the case of superheroes that characterization is important. It's what stops the character from being some OP snowflake monstrosity. 


So yeah anytimes I see someone butchering a canon character just so they can use their powers to beat all the bad guys, or they can morph their personality past recognition to stuff them into some kind of forced romance. It annoys me.

Couldn't agree with you more!


I also hate when they are completely off when it comes to the personality. 


I mean, really, if you won't do the personality then just make an OC rather than an established character. I'm sorry, but if you choose to play an established character with a certain type of personality, then you use that personality instead of completely changing the character. 


I'm pretty lax when it comes to giving or taking away one trait though. Like if you add one trait, or take away one trait, I won't go ape shit on you... unless adding that trait contradicts another trait, or taking away a trait that really defines that character.


But seriously, what's the point of playing that character if you're just going to change the personality?

 

[The Gunrunner]

Less a trait complaint, but I hate it when someone has a know-how or 'thing' that they can do, but the player behind them is horrible at practicing that thing. Like a charismatic that can't hold a conversation, or a doctor that cauterizes a bullet wound in a fucking hospital, or a soldier that can't write their combat actions well.

 

[DrTrollinski]

23 minutes ago, The Gunrunner said:



Less a trait complaint, but I hate it when someone has a know-how or 'thing' that they can do, but the player behind them is horrible at practicing that thing. Like a charismatic that can't hold a conversation, or a doctor that cauterizes a bullet wound in a fucking hospital, or a soldier that can't write their combat actions well.




 

Same here. You see this thing a lot with stuff like hackers.


"yes so johnny was taught how to hack on his computer science degree" - Um. No he wasn't.


"he can hack shit using only his 1984 macintosh" - No he can't.


"he can empty a millionaire's bank account in five seconds if he wanted to"


"he can do this other unrealistic stuff that proves I know absolutely nothing about what I'm talking about"


You get the idea. Then there's the 'talented musicians' where they can't even name a chord, or don't know the correct names for a string on a guitar. I know it's a bit picky, but, I mean, at least do your research, y'know?


The worst one, by far, is characters with mental illnesses, and the person writing them literally uses nothing but stereotypes of that said mental illness to play them. You know the ones - violent schizophrenics, extremely erratic MPD characters, depressed characters sitting in a corner crying and avoiding everyone, and so on. That's more offensive than anything to a lot of people - I think if anyone's going to RP mental illness, they need to at least have the basic knowledge of it before they attempt it. That's just my opinion, though.

 

[The Gunrunner]

@DrTrollinski A bit picky? Ho ho. Ho ho! HO HO HO! Puns.


I don't have any opinion on where it's the most common, but that doctor example was the most recent I could recall. It's funny because he was being out-knowledged by someone playing a cyberpunk street doctor, who did a synth-flesh surgery on me with patches bought from a black market dealer in an alley.

 

[Soul Stealer]

he was being out-knowledged by someone playing a cyberpunk street doctor

Ouch.