My Dissecting Worlds co-conspirator posted up a blog about his favorite Role-Playing Characters recently, and appealed for others to do the same. Table-Top RPGs aren't the geek "thing" they were when I was at university, but its the sort of thing a lot more people have tried than ever seem to be prepared to admit it in polite company. But we're all freinds here, right? So I'm happy to share...
This may turn out to be my geekiest post yet. Which is saying something, really.
In no particular order:
1) Kirkby Sigston. Named after a mis-spelled road sign for a small village near my parents, Kirkby featured in the long-running Leeds Uni game "Star Lords" (a mix'n'match Space Opera plagarism-a-thon) and is best described as Han Solo without the good fortune, sidekicks and reliable Spaceship. One of the games "straight men" he was perpetually reluctiant and put-upon, in search of peace, quiet and not getting his beloved Dancing Dodo shot out of the sky by villians on a too-regular basis. I like to think he finally got to retire from adventuring and settle down with the Princess he totally never had an affair with and the two kids that definately weren't his.
2) Howard Phillip Lovecraft. Yes, Really. I persuaded our Keeper for Horror on the Orient Express to allow me to play the man himself on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the great cities of Europe. I can't claim much in the way of historical fidelity, particuarly after being shot by Nazi goons in Paris and going ever so slightly nuts from reading too many tomes whilst ratting across the European countryside. But he survived (mostly) intact and makes the list mostly as it was the most fun of the many and varied Call of Cthulhu games I've played over the years.
3) Uthlir. I can't deny I have an odd fascination for Angry Space Lizards, but only one GM has been daft enough to let me play one. Uthlir was an angry, disruptive Space Lizard from a race of angry, distruptive Space Lizards and more than anything else was a way for me to act out my worst show-boating, game-derailing habits. He started at least one War and ate several of the parties enemies, and was enormous fun to play. I'm usually pretty well behaved, too.
4) Joseph Macklin. Macklin was a career detective in the LAPD until he shot on duty, and his family secret was revealed - he was a werewolf. In a world of superpowers this wasn't a problem, except that he was transferred to the LAPDs "Special Powers and Talents" division to babysit a bunch of amateurs who'd been recruited because of their superpowers rather than any gift for policework. Essentially a game of cops-with-a-twist we got to do all the usual Hill Street Blues, etc, sort of stuff as well as mix with supervillians which by and large were about as useful and well adjusted as we were.
5) Harada Finehair. Most of my roleplaying games have been in short bursts, so it's rare that I've played any character for any length of time, so long-running characters with huge amounts of history are pretty rare in my gaming CV. Harada is the big exception, from a Runequest game that ran for many years and ended up a proper world-breaking power levels. An initiate of the Orlanthi death-god Humakt, Harada (who was a girl) ended up married (to my now-wife's male character, which is a little wierd) with several children, running her own death-themed subcult and large base of anti-lunar resistance fighters. I think I stabbed a minor god in the face once, and changed reality a couple of times too. But thats what Epic Fantasy is all about, right?
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