Character Study: Thrill-Seeking Adventurer
Written by e
April 15, 2008
9 Comments
Geek Friends, this new venture is to help those of you who love to roleplay, but find yourself stuck in the same character type in every game. Or, alternatively, your character has one defining characteristic, which you beat into the ground until your party is tired of hearing about your elf’s foot fetish or how the six-fingered man killed your father.
I’ll be stretching my creative side (good/fun for me!) and you’ll be getting some ideas for characters you might want to incorporate in your campaigns.
At the end of each post, there will be polls where you can choose the best race and class for the character. Let’s see if great geek minds think alike!
Now… let’s meet our first character… starting with an easy type… you may know him already….
Thrill-Seeking Adventurer
(TSA)
What he looks like & does:
- stands tall, walks with purpose
- well-dressed and groomed
- strong, low-pitched voice
- serves as the face & voice of the group
- makes and maintains eye contact
- very charismatic and friendly
- is always at the front of the marching order or in the center of the action
- always has control of the conversation
- when “relaxing”, locks his hands together behind his head and leans back, surveying “his group”
Motivation:
The TSA’s primary motivation in life is to feel like a champion. Always living life on the edge, the TSA has boundless energy and does not understand when his* party members need silly things like rest or sleep. TSA becomes a leader because he voices his opinions louder than the rest. He doesn’t need followers, but loves having them. Fiercely competitive, the TSA is the type who will keep tally of his kills and measure the length of his… battle scars.
At his best:
With his friendly and outgoing personality, the TSA is a natural entertainer. He’s the life of any party with all his stories.
Sticks and stones might hurt his bones, but words don’t faze him. (Well, unless those words are about what a great adventurer he is!)
He’s confident in his skills, never doubting himself. The TSA is always assertive in nature, especially when he knows he is in the right.
His self-assuredness is very sexy – the TSA never has a problem wooing members of the opposite sex.
Going it alone is no cause for distress, in fact, when he works alone, he can be sure that he gets ALL the glory for his conquests.
At his worst:
The better he knows you, the worse he treats you. Acquaintances sing his praises, but his party members hate him more the longer they know him because he will bark orders, taunt people for not being as good as him, and push people out of the way. Hostile and disagreeable, he doesn’t keep allies for very long.
The TSA will do anything to get the glory, even if that means doing things that would otherwise be considered immoral, illegal, or just plain evil. “Guilty? Why should I feel guilty for burning down that orphanage? Didn’t we get what we wanted?“
Sometimes in the heat of the moment, the TSA will make poor judgments when his confidence crosses the line into cockiness. If he dies in battle, it will undoubtedly be because he bit off more than he could chew.
Loading ... Loading ...* gender pronouns are randomly assigned. This could easily be a “she” as well.
E. Foley is a geek girl extraordinaire. She writes amazing online dating profiles for geeks and non-geeks, helping clients all over the world find love. Her writing can be found at Dating Sites Reviews, Examiner.com, and elsewhere as a ghostwriter. By day, she is the Copywriter at ThinkGeek. She lives in Maryland with DaveTheGame and her adorable cats, Mr. Peanut and Don Juan. (Email e, or follow @geeksdreamgirl on Twitter.)
Halfling Fighter. Fighters tend to be group leaders because they are meat shields who can deal with Int, Cha, and Wis being dump stats unlike just about every other class. Halfling because whenever I think halfling, I think energetic and feisty. Perhaps as a size compensation? That’s how I usually tend to see them anyway.
Hmmmm… while I can see him being a fighter, he’d have to have at least decent charisma to pull off the fact that people LOVE him when they first meet him.
Paladins
Paladins tend to be charismatic, sure of them selfs and assertive.
The longer you know him the more you dislike him…at list that my expiriance with MOST(though not all) Paladin I have grouped with.
While reading about this, an image of Gaston became firmly entrenched in my mind. Human fighter for sure!
Human. Come on, humans are ALWAYS portrayed as the types who seek to increase their own name. Unlike many other races, a human’s cockiness knows no bounds (except death).
I thought “fighter” at first, but then figured that Paladins are more self-righteous, charismatic, and possessive of leadership qualities than fighters. Paladins always like for their opinions to be heard, whereas fighters usually just chill quietly in the front of the group waiting to kill stuff.
I chose half-elf for the charisma-factor and the brashness. A barbarian seems like a suitable class, glory through adventure and a lack of civilized social skills make for a good TSA.
This sounds like a Gnome Bard I played. He was fairly arrogant and sometimes did stupid things, like trying to fascinate a shop owner into giving him better prices. I based him on Keith Richards. He was charismatic and elegant, in a boozy wasted sort of way.
I’m liking these ideas! I am swaying towards the paladin… or maybe even the bard.
Who voted for Halfling? For some reason, I can’t see a charismatic/self-righteous annoying halfling… hmmm…
Step up and tell us why you picked Halfling! I’m curious
I get Mystrich’s “size compensation” theory… curious about the other person…