What inspired your past/current characters?

[Cornuto]

Tell me, for I am curious.

[OnyxTigress]

HMM. Well, to be fully honest I generally come up with the ideas for my chars on my own.

Ruby though is heavily inspired by Vampire the Masquerade, she would definitely be Brujah if we had that put into place here on Sundren.

Since people are getting more in depth, I shall too! Ruby to me has always been that super fanatical warrior for her religion. It pretty much blinds her to everything else. She is determined to fight for her God, no matter if it hurts those closest to her.

And Olivia is more or less based on one of my old pen and paper paladins.
I also draw inspiration with Olivia with wanting to play a paladin that does not brood, contrary to how the other paladins are.

I wanted Olivia to be the young somewhat naive paladin that still maintains doing her duty but also tries to stay positive while doing it. Her biggest, and primary goal, is to keep her friends safe and stay on the right path while doing so. And her whole reasoning for starting to do this was not really with the best intentions, more so of "let's go on an adventure!" while staying true to her God but then finding that she truly wishes to stay devoted and on the path of good. So kind of Disney-esque, like Tangled, but she has no Prince Charming.

[Vladadier]

I got the idea for anosh from a combination of 2 VTM chars i had... sort of a combined of my gangrel, ane my assamite...

Lazklesh i basically thought, ice fury... water gen... hell yea. then decided fighter/cleric instead of most ice furyies i imagine went the druid route.

Jabak was simple... typical half orc barbarian. strong and dumb. however, his past is bit deeper than that. i will be posting that eventually...

I do have an idea for a char losely based on a char from full metal alchemist, and another that iw just oiginal... i have to chose between the two

[Seheren]

Generally I base my characters off a mixture of TV , move, and book characters that I am watching/reading at that time. usually a mixture of more then one with my own spin on it. Such as my new barbarian being based loosely on a few different barbaric characters including wulfgar from the legend of Drizzt series.

[TheFarsight]

In the beginning when I first played Keagan... like 5-6 years ago there was not much inspiration behind him besides a friend (who was a DM at the time) wanting some more Triad players, more specifically he wanted a traditional priest. But Kegan soon became more.

He became a reflection of me in a way, but more so, he became inspired by my own take on religion (Christianity and The Catholic Church, is what I pull on) and also my own experiences as a youth pastor. Which when he fell-- was interesting to RP out since I wanted it to look like he still viewed himself as good, moral and just, even though now he is evil. And well, IRL I am not an wicked/evil/mean person =P, so I looked to history and to film.

He became inspired by those who crusaded and slaughtered thousands in the name of God, by the Spanish inquisitors, and by a few fictional representations of lawful-evil characters from various films. Judge Dredd, Emperor Palpatine, the Bishop in Robin-Hood (pretty much any corrupt bishop), Anthony Hopkins in the Rite, and Tim Curry as Cardinal Richelieu from 1993's Three Musketeers... There is a few more but these are the main ones that I drew ideas/inspiration from.

And there you have it.

[Incognito]

My DM avatar was inspired by people telling me I shouldn't tell people who I am...does that count?

[Cornuto]

My DM avatar was inspired by people telling me I shouldn't tell people who I am...does that count?

People who use the client extension can see it anyway (unless you use an alternate log-in). We're only fooling ourselves.

[Gamling]

Well when I initially created Adeodatus I wasn't sure what I had in mind except for being a "classy" bad guy. Though as I continued to play him as a priest he developed into a quasi holy warrior based off of crusaders. Specifically knights Templar and knights/paladins of St. John.

It's kind of a satirical way of looking at religion which isn't too original, though it makes sense. Medieval aged warriors, and more specifically those who went on crusades hoped that through service to god (service usually being the slaying of infidels and heretics) the hell that is their lives would be rewarded with a pleasant afterlife.

This is a "grey" outlook on the alignment scale, however. He worships an evil deity but his behavior isn't much different than the generals and commanders who fought for a not-so-nice god a thousand years ago.

[Nyssis]

An old character I played consistently in 2007, a priest of Dispater and monk of the Long Death named Marona, was inspired physically by my love for the Sacred Fist prestige class which wasn't in yet at the time. I wanted to make a truly unholy character that was both parts monk and priest, without sacrificing political intrigue with their devotion being split several ways.

She was the trustworthy friend, the stalwart companion, the shoulder to cry on; and the manipulator who could convince you to spill your darkest secrets. Her veneer of trustworthiness was inspired by an old friend of mine when I was a kid, as was the "eternal double-crosser" aspect. A little grimdark for me to take inspiration from real life, but that's what makes it more believable!

As for Lasvi, although originally being a dirgesinger she was as a whole inspired by the Deathdelver PrC in Heroes of Horror: most specifically the artwork. I've tried to keep to that solemn depiction as much as possible, but I have let other PCs freely affect her. I pretty much made an OOC promise to myself to let others influence her as much as possible without becoming something else.

Lasvi's initial personality was inspired by my personal feelings when my eldest brother passed away in 1999, but it too has evolved into something a little different across rp. When I made her, I really wanted to rp a (very traditional Faerûnian) sun elf for some reason at the time. I just molded those things together and BAM!

[Incognito]

People who use the client extension can see it anyway (unless you use an alternate log-in). We're only fooling ourselves.

Yes but I fool myself with style

[Sparkie]

While most of my characters are just things that pop into my head while I'm supposed to be doing Math, but some of the speech patterns of my characters are based upon some dialects you can find around P.E.I. Such as the accent that Alston has, and Elmer's way of speeking is based both on how some of the police officers on Cops speek and on some current islander dialects. Allan- er, I mean Terry- has a speech pattern similar to that of Altiar in the original Assassin's Creed game, and Thom's speeks a bit like your stereotypical Native Canadian/American mixed with a bit of an aristocratic tone.

But for characters of mine who were actually based on something entirely, the only two that I can bring to the table that I know of is Aramil, who was based a bit on Magnus from Sanctuary, and Thom Burningride, who was sort of based on Luthien Bedwyr from R.A. Salvatore's The Crimson Shadow series, if anyone picked that up before. Now then, I do have an idea for a character that will be slightly based on a character from a series of books called The Guardians of Ga'Hoole, which is about sentient owls, and to be more specific about which character from this a future character of mine shall be based on is named Twilight (the guy from the book, not the character that I'll be
making). I've also had an idea for a character from a joke that I made with QA, a character from a small, little know tribe known as the Cloud Squirrels.

[Dragor]

Sebastian was based off something I tried to do unsuccessfully in IWD2 mechanically (combine sorc and druid) I eventually went with wizard by reading the class over and over and not finding anything that made sorc better. Then because I had no idea how to RP at the time I just went with whatever random thing I could think of at the time. (I dont really like playing him anymore because he makes no sense)

Toranos I built with the idea, what would a man do when he is in such a desperate state for vengeance and consumed by grief and rage and willing to give up his soul to the first power who answers, and what would that man become if that said first being was Talos. The rebirth moment in his history was watching his family be killed while crucified to a tree and wanting nothing more than to destroy those responsible. Now he has to live with the aftermath of that grief and the physical damage brought on by Talos claiming his soul. I think I really should hav einvested more into RPing him instead of grinding out lvls.

The concept I am most pround of though is a char I've build around 8 times now. He was actually inspired by Mystra's attitute toward those who practice magic, with Midnight not being an evil person and some who practice being some of the most evil beings in existance. I also base it on the idea of trying to find purpose as you age past your current one. In this case a Paladin of Mystra who has come to a point where age does not allow him to be an effective holy warrior and suddenly there awakens the spark of a sorcerer (I know I know cheese build). What would he do in this case? I fealt he would seek out others with the spark and try to help them learn control, just as he has to learn it, and warn them against the evil and chaos that magic can bring. Also I fealt that such a man would be hesitent to use magic offensivly and as such I choose only defensive and utility spells. So far the little time I've played him, I actually ran into a sorc and got to do some totally awesome RP.

[SeekerofKnowledge]

Quick reference main influences from childhood: Ogre Battle 64, Warhammer 40k, Starcraft, and Warcraft. Also there was Miscellaneous television and reading, in massive quantities.

My favorite type of character is that loyal companion the hero picks up along the way. The guy who isn't destined to succeed and isn't promised a happy ending, but feels strongly about the quest and is willing to help out as best he can. I long for the day one of my characters can say: "You go on ahead, you're needed. I'll take care of this lot."

I tend to use a sandwich method when making my characters, loads of dressings but one solid component. Loads of ways to make a ham sandwich, but it's always got ham. I sometimes pick off certain traits and sometimes put them back on, for variety. The bread is always always humor, as it's my favorite kind.

Dodrian is a Loyalty Sandwich, peppered with good intentions and dressed with naivete, daddy issues, and a lack of self-worth. The good intentions don't mix well with naivete, so it remains to be seen if the sandwich will sit well.

Marrent (Morrie as he calls himself) was based around the idea that nature can't be toppled, at all. He is a Perspective Sandwich, slathered in Generosity sauce, hold the Moral Judgement.

Zan is one of those trashy deep-fried candy-bar sandwiches, Arrogance coated with Self-aware Fatalism. You either love them or hate them. Cheap, yet overpriced. So yummy, but ultimately bad for you.

And I'll always be hungry for more.

[Chocolate Radio]

Samak started out as a quick joke persona to a game theory option I wanted to try out, but through involved roleplay developed a more rounded personality based on direction and environment, with more interesting and unique qualities emerging to evolve him to a fully fleshed-out three-dimensional character.

Ripentare started out as a quick joke persona to a game theory option I wanted to try out, but through involved roleplay developed a more rounded personality based on direction and environment, with more interesting and unique qualities emerging to evolve him to a fully fleshed-out three-dimensional character.

Wylks started out as a quick joke persona to a game theory option I wanted to try out, but through involved roleplay developed a more rounded personality based on direction and environment, with more interesting and unique qualities emerging to evolve him to a fully fleshed-out three-dimensional character.

O'essie started out as a quick joke persona to a game theory option I wanted to try out... and stayed there. >

[JotunWarrior]

Xaayne Zek is a toxic character stew that fermented in my head during hours of rigorous fieldwork. Next time you see Xaayne Zek spouting nonsense about sharktopus and bearfish, you can thank farming.

Merudoc Murdock was simply an exercise in unabashed, maddeningly gnomish joy. In truth, the entirety of his being comes from the song The Laughing Gnome. Freakin' Gnomes.