Forum Links 

Click to return to main page
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile  Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages    Log inLog in 
 Current Top Rated Killers 
 Next Event   Voting Links 


The event "The Assault on Taekir" is beginning in 18 hours, 59 mins.

Combos with the greatest RP potential

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Abandoned Realms Forum Index -> Roleplaying
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
The Zealot



Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 124
Location: London

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:51 pm    Post subject: Combos with the greatest RP potential

I'm trying to write a hellish essay, and am bored, so I thought I'd start a discussion based on a quote I saw in another thread:

_Clifton_ wrote:
The coolest part about avian thief is that it's a retardedly huge amount of rp just waiting to happen.


So, are there certain combos that just have more RP potential overall, or is it that certain alignment/ethos combinations provide more fecundity for RP?

For example, there's an awesome log on Invokation of a cloaked Imm making fun of the clichéd Knight Paladin RP. http://www.invokation.net/logs/view.php?id=2888

Naturally, a good RP'er can generate an interesting character with what ever he or she chooses to play, but there do seem to be some with more inbuilt leeway for action. Which combos do people think are easiest to create a good, unique and memorable persona?

My personal thoughts on those with most potential:
* Duergar Thief
* Avian Necromancer
* Drow DK
* Any sort of Illusionist
* Dwarf Zerker.

Most limited (with some specific exceptions):
* Paladin (Thou killst mine parents! Prepareth thou to die!)
* Giant zerker (Ug Smash!)
* Half-Elf bard (Generally variations on the same smirking, giggling theme)
* Elf Healer (Just...gay)

Of course, there have been great examples of RP from some of those combos, so it all depends on the individual player.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Esura



Joined: 29 Jun 2006
Posts: 129

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:55 pm    Post subject:

Human ninja Knight was soooo easy.
"Hi, my name is Akika and I lurk around in the shadows and slit people's throats."
"Wow, you're really evil."
"Actually, I'm a Knight."
That kind of thing turned some heads. I was pretty pleased. I didn't even have to talk most of the time, playing the silent brooding character instead. And when I did talk, I was never nice to anybody.

Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of Batman. Except for the 'getting owned by hobble all the time' part.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Vanisse
Immortal


Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Posts: 2793
Location: inside a tree

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:09 pm    Post subject:

HEY I don't smirk or giggle. Sad

I tend to consider any race/class fair game for good RP. Sure, all giants are supposed to be stupid, but there are different kinds of stupid. I've found illusionists and bards to be great RP vectors due to their songs and spells, but more important than the race or class is the player's imagination. Sure, you can drive RP based on your race/class, but choosing a particular combo for the RP value limits the scope of what you can do with it. Take Txivnejwo, for example - human shaman, bland generic sort of character, but look what a crazy person he turned out to be. Or Zasa, human ninja. Or any of Louis' characters. (Nutters, all of them.)

On the other hand, if you take a character and just stick to the same RP regardless of whether or not it's the newest twist on the combo (Calram, Waof, Blogu, etc. etc.) you'll find it's lots of fun, and, if you manage to pull it off, well appreciated.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
The Zealot



Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 124
Location: London

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:52 pm    Post subject:

Vanisse wrote:
HEY I don't smirk or giggle. Sad


I haven't interacted with you since you became an Imm really, but I remember you used to abuse the chortle social as a mort. Wink

I agree, that individual creativity can make up for a lot of apparent race/class limitations in RP. I was just wondering if there were any particular combos people thought most interesting. Or ones which a succession of good characters have played.

And yes, Louis' characters were mental. And very, very scary.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Mahkan



Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 264
Location: The Interwebs

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:23 pm    Post subject:

Extremely strange characters, like those naturally bad for pk, can make great rp characters.

For instance, making a no magic character, great rp, but logistically retarded.
Or perhaps a harcore good lawful elf healer (or really any lawful good). Stupid idea, but funny natural rp .
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Mummy



Joined: 11 Sep 2006
Posts: 698
Location: Under Resatimm's Ass

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:59 am    Post subject:

Illithids. Those have tonsa potential. They ARE the most intelligent in Thera.... so many options. Advanced worms, fear of blades, obsession with clubs and trying to get everyone to use em, rampant fascination with worms, or disgust of worms (unevolved outcasts?), emo illithid would even be funny, lol. just tons
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Vanisse
Immortal


Joined: 06 Jan 2006
Posts: 2793
Location: inside a tree

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:50 am    Post subject:

Zealot - you should just say hi! I don't bite. Unless you're a gnome. Then there's no hope for you.

I'd advise people to veer away from gimping themselves for the sake of RP. I did that and it sucked, especially since I'm not good at PK to begin with Laughing It was funny while my sense of humor lasted though. Then I had to take a break so my funny points could regen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
arkane



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:29 am    Post subject:

The_ Zealot wrote:


Quote:
Elf Healer (Just...gay)


I happen to think that an Elf Healer is a great combination.....I agree though that it all depends on the individual player.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Vertas



Joined: 17 Jan 2004
Posts: 1168
Location: Ewa Beach, HI

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:06 am    Post subject:

I had an rp for a firegiant zerker who was actually retarded, and had seriously a five second attention span. Only had about five hours on that char, created him after cinco de mayo party got busted last year, came home nice and drunk and thought why not have some fun and just screwed around. Definately not a good rp though, loads of fun but little to no potential of actual interaction with characters because you'll probably piss them off to the point of not talking to you.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 
0 0 0
Davairus
Implementor


Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 10344
Location: 0x0000

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:21 am    Post subject:

Vanisse wrote:
Zealot - you should just say hi! I don't bite. Unless you're a gnome. Then there's no hope for you.

I'd advise people to veer away from gimping themselves for the sake of RP. I did that and it sucked, especially since I'm not good at PK to begin with Laughing It was funny while my sense of humor lasted though. Then I had to take a break so my funny points could regen.


Although on the other hand it gets you props if you are willing to gimp yourself for rp, especially if you are playing at a pk disadvantage despite of it. Like the whole 'waof' thing, creating a cabal communication barrier, that was gimp and he got himself killed over it.. but yes, not a way to go if you care too much about your dyings.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
 
0 0 0
Mendek



Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 472

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 6:32 pm    Post subject:

Vertas wrote:
I had an rp for a firegiant zerker who was actually retarded, and had seriously a five second attention span. Only had about five hours on that char, created him after cinco de mayo party got busted last year, came home nice and drunk and thought why not have some fun and just screwed around. Definately not a good rp though, loads of fun but little to no potential of actual interaction with characters because you'll probably piss them off to the point of not talking to you.


As far as I know, any elf is gimpy and not worth playing anymore, even for RP sake.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
 
0 0 0
Vertas



Joined: 17 Jan 2004
Posts: 1168
Location: Ewa Beach, HI

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:45 pm    Post subject:

how is being mentally retarded not a pk gimp?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 
0 0 0
Davairus
Implementor


Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 10344
Location: 0x0000

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:09 pm    Post subject:

Mendek wrote:
As far as I know, any elf is gimpy and not worth playing anymore, even for RP sake.


QFT.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
 
0 0 0
arkane



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:49 pm    Post subject:

Mendek wrote:


Quote:
As far as I know, any elf is gimpy and not worth playing anymore, even for RP sake.



how are elves gimpy? and why are they not worth playing anymore?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Mendek



Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 472

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:41 pm    Post subject:

Poor HP, Poor Defenses = Dead Elf

Parry is Strength Based - Everyone has it, but it's your worst defense

Dodge is Dex Based - If you have dodge, it's your best bet, but totally negated by hobble (which hits easier because of strength)

Shield is Wis and Str - If you have shield block, you have the wisdom but your con is crap, so goodbye shield block.

Elf Warriors - They've really never been viable, even while Drow were.

Elf Healer - Lots of mana as a support character, but poor for PK since you run out of HP before you can heal up. With proper mana management you could do well enough though. Turtle, turtle, turtle.

Elf Thief - Gimpy regardless of class with hide sucking, and your defenses suck. As a bonus you don't have to spam sneak for hours.

Elf Invoker - Again, mana regen might help but Invokers are burst fighters. You need HP to spam hellstream enough times. I'd take Human invokers over Elves. Sneak is nice for PK.

Elf Illusionist - Staff has always been the defensive bonus for Illusionists, but your parry sucks so good luck. Again, lots of mana and not so much HP. Sneak ability is negated by illusions while attacking or mid-combat.

Elf Paladin - Really a combination of the above. Some abilities scale well for elves, but that doesn't change the fact that a paladin wants heavy armor... and you won't be able to carry much of that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
 
0 0 0
Davairus
Implementor


Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 10344
Location: 0x0000

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:47 pm    Post subject:

Mendek wrote:
Poor HP, Poor Defenses = Dead Elf


Considering they deliberately learn all their skills in 1 practice, what makes you think they are so poor on hp? Actually the only time I've ever felt an elf character has comparatively poor hp, was on a warrior I wasted far too many early trains into stats with (which are provided in copious amounts by rares anyway), which consequently gained its 700 hp almost completely from its levels. That's not true for pretty much any other class. Especially a mage or healer, where so many 1-pracced abilities translates into a massive refund in trains. If you decide to train stats instead of going gear-dependent for them, and end up gear-dependent for hp with a class that ultimately relies on tons of hitroll/damroll items that also provide stats, well, thats a stupid choice to make 99% of the time.

Mendek wrote:
Parry is Strength Based - Everyone has it, but it's your worst defense


Strength greatly helps overcome parrying like hitroll does (some hitroll is provided by dex), but wisdom helps defend, so no, wrong. A str+wis total is what counts if you are looking at parry purely as a "defence". Elves have "average" parry and a slightly better hitroll. This makes gnomes expert at parrying and it makes elves decent at either defend or attack (almost balanced, but slightly bias toward attack) and it makes giants deceptively bad at defence with a strong offence despite low hitroll, and it makes people on the forum look foolish when they didn't read the updated helpfiles.

Mendek wrote:
Dodge is Dex Based - If you have dodge, it's your best bet, but totally negated by hobble (which hits easier because of strength)


Dex-Int, not dex. Elves have the best dodge in the game, leaving even halfling in the dust. Hobble just isn't that easy to do, welcome to weapon wield lags.

Mendek wrote:
Shield is Wis and Str - If you have shield block, you have the wisdom but your con is crap, so goodbye shield block.


A giant has the con but his wisdom is crap, so your point? One good stat + one lame stat = nearly average. Goodbye Reason.

Mendek wrote:

Elf Warriors - They've really never been viable, even while Drow were.

Elf Healer - Lots of mana as a support character, but poor for PK since you run out of HP before you can heal up. With proper mana management you could do well enough though. Turtle, turtle, turtle.

Elf Thief - Gimpy regardless of class with hide sucking, and your defenses suck. As a bonus you don't have to spam sneak for hours.

Elf Invoker - Again, mana regen might help but Invokers are burst fighters. You need HP to spam hellstream enough times. I'd take Human invokers over Elves. Sneak is nice for PK.

Elf Illusionist - Staff has always been the defensive bonus for Illusionists, but your parry sucks so good luck. Again, lots of mana and not so much HP. Sneak ability is negated by illusions while attacking or mid-combat.

Elf Paladin - Really a combination of the above. Some abilities scale well for elves, but that doesn't change the fact that a paladin wants heavy armor... and you won't be able to carry much of that.


ignored the extra safety against dirt kick which is enormous <--- you would not be making a horrible mistake in playing an elf instead of a human anything for SOLELY this reason
ignored the fact that an illusionist with 3 hasted illusions doesnt need any sneaking since he doesnt flee-murder anyway
ignored the warrior racial legacies
ignored the hp refund from pracs
ignored weapon ward lengths
ignored faster training from 25 int
also ignored the only real weakness of low strength (difficult to loot)

also, ignored the topic, playing characters for rp sake - NOT worrying about their stats/vulns/damage/exp/training rate, probably the stupidest thing out of all of it
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
 
0 0 0
Slade
Emissary


Joined: 17 Mar 2004
Posts: 666

PostPosted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:30 am    Post subject:

Glad you got to that before I did. /puke. Elves are not bad, just underrated. Have some imagination and think harder about every skill and tactic and how everything does and can work together and all kinds of possibilities open up - for every combo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
 
0 0 0
Xazappith
Immortal


Joined: 03 Aug 2005
Posts: 169

PostPosted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:02 pm    Post subject:

Elf thief would be an interesting rp class to play since elves are generally snotty and noble and thieves are generally well...not. A creative mind could come up with a great back story (and extrapolate a character) for an elf thief.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 
0 0 0
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Abandoned Realms Forum Index -> Roleplaying All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group