Awesomest Character Evar!

[Dave ST]

We all have one, right?

So let's hear it. Think of the coolest character you've played (or are still playing). Share the story with us, what makes the PC so cool, what was your inspiration?

To date, my awesomest character goes by the name of 'Dread Delgath'. 'Dread' isn't his real name, it's actually Whittleby, but he will never admit to it. He's had several incarnations across all kinds of systems from Pathfinder, D&D 3.5, d20 Modern and Star Wars and even Shadowrun. I just like playing the guy.

Dread is total cheese. He's made up of so much machismo that anyone meeting him tells themselves within moments that there is no way someone could possibly think (or believe) that they are as cool as this guy thinks he is. He's arrogant, rude, cocky and so freakin' full of himself it's entertaining. Every incarnation has been some sort of criminal or ex-criminal who's just too damn awesome for his own good.

Although usually a Warrior type his focus usually isn't strength, it's stamina and force of will. Despite all his annoying quirks the guy is the best friend anyone could ask for. He never quits, isn't afraid to die for his beliefs and if he gives his word, it's as good as done, which has made for some great threats ("After I survive this, and I will survive this, I'm going to find you and kill you.)

The original 'Dread' was a D&D 3.5 PC inspired by Val Kilmer's character Mad Martigan from the movie Willow, right down to claiming to be 'the greatest swordsman who ever lived'. I never really expected the character to 'take off', especially with him being an almost direct rip-off from a movie. Direct rip-offs, although I can play them, usually bore me very quickly. There was something about him though that kept us (the gaming group) wanting to see him in action. I think it was just his cocky arrogance and uncanny ability to live through every reckless stunt I put him through (I think people wanted to see if his luck would ever run out, it never did).

For later incarnations (for the d20 Modern and Star Wars games) I had to blend in less Mad Martigan, and went with a more 'evil-lite' convict vibe to him which then saw the introduction of a combined personality of Jack Burton, Snake Pliskin, and Riddick (I know, it hurts to think about). Dread is now a combination of characters... Jack Burton, and Snake Pliskin best describe his attitude and B-Movie bad boy vibe. He delivers one liners like Jack Burton and sounds about as cool as Riddick doing it.

[The Story Guide]

Hmn. I have several characters I've really enjoyed playing for one reason or another. I think my overall favorite to date is Madelaine Mackentosh(currently Madelaine Von Gruskov, an NPC in the BoP vamp game). She was created for the Camarilla LARP game in Columbia, Mo and is probably the most inhuman character I've ever created. She was a blast to play and went from mortal to ghoul to vampire in the course of her story. She played her parts well and ended up the center of a good number of player-driven plots and in generally really messed with people's heads.

Madelaine as a human was fairly middle of the road morally, but after her Embrace was so horrified of becoming like some of the other Kindred in the city (York for those playing in BoP, and several less-than-wholesome Crone) that she dedicated herself to the highest standards of human behavior and reasoning. She's an absolute trip to play for me because while she appears incredibly human, her mindset and outlook on existance as a Kindred is alien enough to creep out anyone that really took the time to understand her (watching a couple of players break during conversations with her icly was the highlight of a few cons for me).

All in all, a great character to play and one I was happy to be asked to continue on as an NPC for a game here.

[Mr Fox]

Gaming wise my favorite character to play was a rogue in AD&D. Name was Deagol, and he and his partner in crime were 'good guys', but delighted more in the havoc they caused the bad guys than actually defeating them. Going up against the most dangerous villians on the planet they stole their most prized possession right out from under their noses and escaped with it. The character has gone through a lot of evolutions throughout the years.

Most fun character to play over all was Mordred. Not gaming related, but damn was that a fun character. Was part of the performance cast at Excalibur ren faire outside Austin, Texas for several years, sadly Mordred was only part of the story one year. It was incredibly fun to play the character, he was 'gleeful-evil'. Flat out had a blast being the bad guy and tossing a monkey-wrench into the works.

I had minions!!! Seriously, I can't overstate how much I enjoyed having minions!

Also, the woman playing Morgan le Fay (Mordreds mother) was an ex-girlfriend of mine and we had a blast flirting which just made everyone who witnessed it cringe.

I'll upload a pic of me with a couple of my fae minions later.

[Dawn OOC]

My favorite character is someone I've never played here; he was a 3rd Ed D&D Paladin named Golioth St. Cloud. He was had incredible stats from the luckiest rolls I've ever managed to get (luck that held throughout his run, seriously, the character was blessed by the dice). He was big and strong, with black hair and blue eyes, was the perfect 'gentle giant', was the epitome of 'hero'... and was so deep in the closet he couldn't find the door. Part of what made the character so awesome was the other PCs had no clue why Golioth acted so oddly sometimes, or why his wife had tossed him out of the house (which is why he was adventuring).

When they finally found out in the midst of Golioth's religious crisis over his sexuality, the party all had incredibly awesome responses (the guy playing the cleric had to go out of character so he could laugh for five minutes straight).

The other thing that made him awesome was the ST; he had a gift for balancing combats so that the party just barely won but were generally out of potions, spells and other consumables. They were actually nerve-wracking combats, and one got me so worked up I actually punched the table on a bad roll. Thinking about that character always brings a huge grin to my face.

I know Dave said one character but the most intriguing one I ever played was Zimrata Zarbatu. 'He' was a Swords & Sorcery Champions character. I built 'him' to be an assassin, but the part that made 'him' interesting was that 'his' people shifted gender over the course of the moon phase. I had to construct a chart to keep track of how male or female 'he' was. It really messed with the players' heads.

[Charlotte]

Everyone, these are the Banewardens (NSFW):

Banewardens, this is everyone.

This is a game I've been in with a couple of players on this board for the last three and a half years. We're getting to the very end of the campaign. As a honorarium I commissioned this picture of our characters. The third from the right is Lieutenant Sylvia Morganshire.

Sylvia hasn't had an easy time of life in Eberron. The first thing that went wrong for her was when she got turned to stone and used as art for a century and a half. The group first met her when they were travelling on board an airship and she was the masthead. She first met them when a magical storm cause her to return to flesh - and also, caused the airship to crash.

She endured. Then she found out that not only was everyone she loved and nearly everyone she hated long dead, but her entire country had been destroyed in a war so long and horrific they called it the Last War. (Eberron is evocative of post-World War 1 Europe.) To make matters worse, the thing that had destroyed her country was the manifestation of an impossibly ancient living spell that sought nothing less than the destruction of mortalkind, by pushing mortalkind to destroy itself. It was, in a real enough sense, everything that was wrong with the world.

She endured. Then she found out that the spell that had turned her into a statue was still partially active on her, causing her flesh to turn grey and hard. It hasn't immobilized her - not yet. Instead it's turned her into an incredibly strong and tough golem, who never eats, never sleeps, and almost never falters. She may never die. Instead, she endures.

Enduring is what Sylvia does. She doesn't do it alone, of course. Her friends (pictured) and her lover (the man with the skull motiff, Eli, who worships the ancient elven pantheon of ancestors known as the Undying Court) have helped her immeasurably. She'd die for any of them, if she was still sure she COULD die. She's come to mostly accept her strange condition and the loss of her home, because the work they are doing will ensure that there is never another tragedy like Cyre.

She has an epic quest that is meaningful - actually seeking to kill sin itself. She has companions every bit as interesting as her. She has tangled with everything from giant spiders to dragons to demons to an ever-escalating series of golems as tough as her. If we succeed in our fight it will go down in history as the best game I've been in. I don't regret a penny I spent on this picture because it's something to remember the game, and Sylvia, by.

It'll endure.