Leafiara's player's post about how she wondered if her character would have turned out differently, had she chosen another path got me to thinking... If I could do it all over again, would I have choose another profession for Naamit? Would she make an apt paladin?
Do any of you have the same nagging inklings of what could have been for your character? Tell me, how has the roleplay and shared histories over the years reinforced -- cast doubt on profession you chose for your character?
NAAMIT
INIQUITY
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 07:43 AM CDT
With the existing professions I do not see how Xorus could be anything but a Sorcerer. It is fundamental to the core development of the character. It would be possible to imagine a much wider set of classes with their own spell lists and mechanical constraints, like if there was a "warlock"/"witch" profession where powers derive from bondage in some unholy pact with the demonic, or if there were some "arcane philologist" profession where the focus is on magic of words and signs and the hidden patterns written into things, or for that matter this "blood magic" concept that exists mostly for NPCs which presumably mixes evil alchemy with aspects of sorcery, empathy, and mentalism.
I could come up with rationalizations for playing him as other things, but he would basically be the same using partly different rationales. For the most part I think of "professions" as OOC artifacts, and that the word is misleading. Being an Illistim Loremaster working in Library Aeis is a profession. "Wizard" might connote a general elementalist, but as a profession it only says "unemployed person who wanders around doing things with magic." Fortune hunters, adventurers, rich dilettantes...
- Xorus' player
"(If you really want to understand Marlu, I suggest reading "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.)" - Varevice (2000)
I could come up with rationalizations for playing him as other things, but he would basically be the same using partly different rationales. For the most part I think of "professions" as OOC artifacts, and that the word is misleading. Being an Illistim Loremaster working in Library Aeis is a profession. "Wizard" might connote a general elementalist, but as a profession it only says "unemployed person who wanders around doing things with magic." Fortune hunters, adventurers, rich dilettantes...
- Xorus' player
"(If you really want to understand Marlu, I suggest reading "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.)" - Varevice (2000)
LAVENDER
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 01:26 PM CDT
My first character was a warrior, and a pretty good one until mid-cap. She had the advantage of strategies from Metaboculous, Kree, Brian, Wanton... but honestly, when he husband started to pull away in levels, making it difficult to uphunt together, someone told me that a pure magicker could grow quickly.
That's how the sorceress came to be. I wasn't interested in healing, raising, picking boxes, enchanting items, so that left sorcery. Plain and simple, but she's one of very few brawling sorcerers left in the lands.
"Yet from those flames; No light, but rather darkness visible."
That's how the sorceress came to be. I wasn't interested in healing, raising, picking boxes, enchanting items, so that left sorcery. Plain and simple, but she's one of very few brawling sorcerers left in the lands.
"Yet from those flames; No light, but rather darkness visible."
JARHEAD
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 03:57 PM CDT
There are a lot of things that I wish I had done differently with Radeek. Had he been a warrior (and it was really close) he would have most definitely been a knight and believe me, there have been days when I wish I had gone that route. If I could do it all over again he'd never speak in fractured common (it gives me a headache every time I RP with him), and he'd never have been Tehir, though the more I played Radeek the more I grew to love the Tehir people and enjoy playing one now.
What I really find amusing is that as the years went by the more Radeek became like me. Radeek is fiercely loyal to the few friends he has, he has a mean streak a mile wide, and he doesn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of him. His code is simple but normally misunderstood by all but a few. He is a ranger and, honestly, as much as I consider what he could have been, he is what he is, and I think that's what he was meant to be (besides, spurs don't go well with goatskin sandals anyway).
General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
http://radeekandoran.blogspot.ca/
http://thetehirchronicles.blogspot.ca/
What I really find amusing is that as the years went by the more Radeek became like me. Radeek is fiercely loyal to the few friends he has, he has a mean streak a mile wide, and he doesn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of him. His code is simple but normally misunderstood by all but a few. He is a ranger and, honestly, as much as I consider what he could have been, he is what he is, and I think that's what he was meant to be (besides, spurs don't go well with goatskin sandals anyway).
General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq
Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato
http://radeekandoran.blogspot.ca/
http://thetehirchronicles.blogspot.ca/
MOURNE
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 05:01 PM CDT
I've attempted to reroll my old empath as a ranger twice, and it's never quite clicked, but I think that has more to do with my unwillingness to focus on the character to smooth the transition and re-establish them socially than the profession change not fitting. I've occasionally wished that one had been a ranger from the start, but then their development would have been entirely different, and I can only speculate how very different the personality and motivations and even backstory would have been as well.
Mostly I wish I could multiclass. Several of my character concepts would really benefit from a dash of X profession on top of their existing Y profession, or a split down the middle, or some other way to mash up profession flavors and mechanics access to back up the depth I'm shooting for with their personalities and leanings.
For example, Gav has very strong rogue resonance for me, and having access to the rogue guild spaces (just the locations, not even necessarily the skills) alone would really amplify the sense of him having a working business relationship with the criminal underbelly wherever he goes. But at the same time, his current presentation subverts the bard archetype in a way I find extremely satisfying, completely aside from my mechanical enjoyment of the UAC bard kit. So while I periodically pine for some of the rogue-only bits and bobs, the bard parts are intrinsic and I can't seriously consider shedding the one for the other... and I might have felt the same if I'd decided to go rogue instead of bard to begin with.
I think this kind of musing almost always comes down to wanting more flavor rather than to change flavor, for me. It's not so much that the grass is greener elsewhere, but that I want to use a greater range of color in my painting.
---
Walsor Gryhm says, "Hmm, a most impressive weapon of note. I'll give you 16 silver coins for it."
You think to yourself, "This deal is getting worse all the time."
Mostly I wish I could multiclass. Several of my character concepts would really benefit from a dash of X profession on top of their existing Y profession, or a split down the middle, or some other way to mash up profession flavors and mechanics access to back up the depth I'm shooting for with their personalities and leanings.
For example, Gav has very strong rogue resonance for me, and having access to the rogue guild spaces (just the locations, not even necessarily the skills) alone would really amplify the sense of him having a working business relationship with the criminal underbelly wherever he goes. But at the same time, his current presentation subverts the bard archetype in a way I find extremely satisfying, completely aside from my mechanical enjoyment of the UAC bard kit. So while I periodically pine for some of the rogue-only bits and bobs, the bard parts are intrinsic and I can't seriously consider shedding the one for the other... and I might have felt the same if I'd decided to go rogue instead of bard to begin with.
I think this kind of musing almost always comes down to wanting more flavor rather than to change flavor, for me. It's not so much that the grass is greener elsewhere, but that I want to use a greater range of color in my painting.
---
Walsor Gryhm says, "Hmm, a most impressive weapon of note. I'll give you 16 silver coins for it."
You think to yourself, "This deal is getting worse all the time."
DOUG
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 06:37 PM CDT
>>Mostly I wish I could multiclass. Several of my character concepts . . .
So very much yes, this.
Doug
So very much yes, this.
Doug
LEAFIARA
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/12/2018 11:47 PM CDT
>Mostly I wish I could multiclass. [...] I think this kind of musing almost always comes down to wanting more flavor rather than to change flavor, for me. It's not so much that the grass is greener elsewhere, but that I want to use a greater range of color in my painting.
That's a very well put analogy and I'm right there with you!
That's a very well put analogy and I'm right there with you!
JADZIABLUE
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/13/2018 12:27 AM CDT
>>Mostly I wish I could multiclass.
Raelee really is a wizard-sorcerer-savant at heart.
Signed,
Raelee and her Strings
>Speaking to Zyllah, Alyias says, "See? Raelee knows all."
Raelee really is a wizard-sorcerer-savant at heart.
Signed,
Raelee and her Strings
>Speaking to Zyllah, Alyias says, "See? Raelee knows all."
MENOS
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/13/2018 08:53 AM CDT
If the announced post cap advancement turns out to be multiclassing, I'm going to buy cases of champaign and scotch and drive to simucon to congratulate all the gms. :)
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,
And the stream that falls from the hill to plain.
Better than rain or rippling brook,
Is a mug of beer inside this Took.
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,
And the stream that falls from the hill to plain.
Better than rain or rippling brook,
Is a mug of beer inside this Took.
DOUG
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/13/2018 01:55 PM CDT
>>to congratulate all the gms. :)
And I'll airlift in 'round two'!
Doug
And I'll airlift in 'round two'!
Doug
INIQUITY
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/13/2018 08:04 PM CDT
<<Raelee really is a wizard-sorcerer-savant at heart.>>
This. If there was post-cap multi-classing, I would be using those professions.
It has never sat well with me that sorcery was de-mentalized.
- Xorus' player
"(If you really want to understand Marlu, I suggest reading "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.)" - Varevice (2000)
This. If there was post-cap multi-classing, I would be using those professions.
It has never sat well with me that sorcery was de-mentalized.
- Xorus' player
"(If you really want to understand Marlu, I suggest reading "The Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft.)" - Varevice (2000)
GEHAYI
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/15/2018 01:58 AM CDT
/Do any of you have the same nagging inklings of what could have been for your character??
I'm happy with Nazarr being a rogue. I like being able to open boxes; I enjoy having useful Guild skills. And if I want to create a character who's not a rogue, I can always do that.
I have one regret, though. I wish that Nazarr could master instruments. He loves music and practices every chance he gets. A pity that "rogue-bard" isn't a possibility; it would fit his backstory better.) As Mourne said about Gavrien, being able to multi-class would add more flavor and more color to the character. I would love it if post-cap multi-classing existed.
However, I have far more regrets regarding my Gemstone III character. I wish that she had been stronger. I got her to Level 50--God alone knows how--but I couldn't get her much past that, as she was a slow hunter who suffered greatly from dial-up lag and whose stats didn't support very much progress. If ever anyone needed FIXSKILLS, she did.
/Tell me, how has the roleplay and shared histories over the years reinforced -- cast doubt on profession you chose for your character?/
I don't know what shared histories are, sorry.
I'm happy with Nazarr being a rogue. I like being able to open boxes; I enjoy having useful Guild skills. And if I want to create a character who's not a rogue, I can always do that.
I have one regret, though. I wish that Nazarr could master instruments. He loves music and practices every chance he gets. A pity that "rogue-bard" isn't a possibility; it would fit his backstory better.) As Mourne said about Gavrien, being able to multi-class would add more flavor and more color to the character. I would love it if post-cap multi-classing existed.
However, I have far more regrets regarding my Gemstone III character. I wish that she had been stronger. I got her to Level 50--God alone knows how--but I couldn't get her much past that, as she was a slow hunter who suffered greatly from dial-up lag and whose stats didn't support very much progress. If ever anyone needed FIXSKILLS, she did.
/Tell me, how has the roleplay and shared histories over the years reinforced -- cast doubt on profession you chose for your character?/
I don't know what shared histories are, sorry.
LEAFIARA
Re: Midlife Crisis (averted?)
03/15/2018 03:03 PM CDT
I'm with you about the instrument mastery. Like how items are occasionally released to let people speak different languages, I'd love to see items at DR (or other venues) that let you use more instrument messaging, even if there were limited quantities, restrictions (only works for 20 minutes a day, etc.), high costs, or other factors to make them not too ubiquitous.
