RP-Critique/Support/Self Monitoring Club

[walpurgisknight]

I'm interested.

I was having DOS attacks because a "guest" who is no longer a buddy copied down my ISP router key and so right now I dont have an ISP until I make sure my computer is totally secure again. Probably early January since its been since last October. I found a major hack they exploited that came with the ISP installment and since I wont be using that company, I just got rid of it.

Anyway, my username is walpurgisknight. I have three characters, Inika Ice-Bear-Dances - an Uthgardt outcast; Chryslyn Fontaine - a pirate-mage - and one other I cant recall at the moment. They're all low level. I'll update if I make more when I get service at home again.

[walpurgisknight]

I would like to throw my two cents in Berserker Weapon masters.

Most of you dont know but i am Nidan class katana, jo (staff ) and hand to hand combat martial artist. I didnt reveal my belt to gloat or say i am greater then any of you however i would like you to respect the oponion of someone who has studied martial arts for years and has reached a point in his life where he can give a few certainties. I also practice and practiced several martial arts Aikido, Taek-won-do , Jujutso , Karate, Muai-Thai and Kung Fu.

Now let me instruct you fine people in the two diferent types of Ki. Normally people say they are best suited to one martial art of another and that is very true because diferent martial arts will call upon diferent Ki usages. These two Ki are present in all people however depending on the persons character or training one Ki will grow and snuff the other out. What is Ki ? Ki is the energy we have in our bodies that harvested and mastered over several years of training allows practicers to do extreme difficulty maneuvers like breaking rocks , bricks or punch thru slabs of ice im sure you all seen it before so its no bs. Now i spoke of two types of Ki .. yes there are two types commonly associated like Yin and Yang , there is Sei Ki and Dou Ki .

Martial Arts that value harmony and technique over strength and explosive power will over the years strengthen the Sei Ki of a practicioner and allow him to grow in the respective martial art he chose. Sei Ki is calm , serene , enduring it is a meditative sort of Ki that comes from a state of clear mind in wich the practicioner empties his mind of everything emotions thoughts everything and focuses on feeling the energy of his Ki flowing thru his body and gathers it at a certain point to execute a certain waza. Aikido, Kung Fu some Karate forms are examples of this type of Ki use. What does this have to do with weapon mastery simple. Aikido experts always learn to use the two noble weapons of their tradition sword and staff. A practicioner of Sei sword techniques doesnt experience anything behond absolute focus on his weapon to the point of becoming one with it .. in some advanced levels of use it is possible to meditate while doing sword suburi.

The second type of Ki .. the Dou Ki is used in martial arts that value explosive bursts of strength and ability to endure most types of fisical punishment. There are Muai-Thai , Box , some for of karate , Savate etc. While not actually berserking in the DnD meaning of the word users of these martial arts allow strong feelings and emotions to guide their Ki flow. Due to its nature the usage of Dou leaves one feeling depleted after a short while since its not in the nature of it to last more then a few then a moments.

If you want evidence try watching a marathon or a 100 meter sprint race. THe diferences are obvious and dramatic and the same is with any martial art that uses either of the Ki flows. After some tought i went to my own master a nanadan (7thdan) and asked him if its possible to master both Ki flows and he answered me with this " Building a martial artist is like building a car its either for high speed with the design, engine that fit such a use or for family use with high confort confortable seats, less powerfull engine to prevent excessive fuel spending , design and cost .. in other words you cant beat a ferrari with a cherokee on the track .. nor can you take a ferrari to do all terrain alongside a cherokee you build it for a single purpose and you are limited by that single purpose "


I hope this has shed some light in the problem. Dou and Sei cannot be mixed you can not have explosive strength and endurance , calm and fury it is impossible nature itself doesnt allow it much less martial arts that where born from observing nature. So please let the discussion end with this as well as any doubts over char builds. You can build whatever you want... afterall this is a game and its meant to be enjoyed but if you want realism there are unshakable laws that should be observed before attempting such a weird mixture of complete oposites .


Thank you for reading this long post of mine if you have any questions or criticism feel free to ask or do so.. as i said before everyone is entitled to their opinion .

I know this post is really old, its from 2010. I was just reading the post from the start to see if I could find the names of people Ive seen recently while playing.

I'm a person who became determined to learn self defense about 20 years ago because of multiple assault cases. I'm uh, what's termed these days, intersex. Basically I'm a boy whos a bit girl, and I play girls in games often in order to understand a part of my personality I cant normally gain a good rapport with in face-to-face existence. Anyway, the point of bringing that up is that it took me a long time to get to the point where I could defend myself because being partially female, my upper body strength doesn't build as fast as a normal male. And I don't have the same adrenalin system as a normal male, so I started with an intimidation deficit.

Also, the "way" I chose was pure Tao. I'm a very gnostic/intuitive person normally and its rare when I enjoy straight-on instruction or following rules. I will pick up on things though by observation when no-one is looking.

So, anyway over the past seven years my intent to be able to defend myself hit a cynosure of quantum leap, so to speak - and in the process of pushing the envelope, I did develop rage issues - but in the same vein, I am a very Sei Ki person.

The post this person is responding to is regarding a frenzied berserker weapon master. Which I feel I have a unique perspective on, plus I have become very into Buddhist and Taoist "ways" having studied things like the Book of Five Rings, the Art of War, the Book of Balance and Harmony, and the Tao Te Ching in my attempts to understand strife and overcome its disruptive influence on my existence.

In my opinion, yes the combination of rage and focus can exist. Rage produces burst strength but is an element that clouds the mind, and thus one's focus. I'm not a student of Karate, my technique is more of a soft way - captures, trips, and circle blocks and avoiding the fight as much as possible with my toughness, reaction speed, perception, and running speed. I'm not even really into strikes at all - they're inefficient with my pacifistic form. But I know from people I know that study Karate that in Karate you need to focus your ki; and in this case the focus training allows you to keep your perception unclouded while spiking your adrenalin - and this allows one to punch *through* the object.

So, basically a WM/FB would be a person like Jet Li in Unleashed, who uses their discipline to keep their rage strength on a leash and direct it correctly. Their emotions are their strength and their curse, their discipline would be their way of controlling said curse. Alternately, a Sei Ki fighter is like a Wang Shen or Judo fighter who takes their opponent's energy and uses it to throw them. So a weapon master is a person who seems to me to be Dou since its all about criticals and extra damage and not about parrying or defense at all. The thing a FB shouldn't be is a monk. Which, since they're chaotic and monks are lawful - it already is so.

[EnialusMeliamne]

I'd like to sign-up. I'm an on again, off again RP'er, in the online world, as well as table top. That said, I've never really felt that I was particularly good at it, so I'd like to get better, and I put a lot of faith in folks who are experts at their craft, and there are a lot of folk like that here.

I'll start with a query based off of a few points.

I'm running Durim Runeheart as my main (probably my only for a while) and he has a charisma of 6 on his character sheet. That said, I play him as ugly, meaning from a physical appearance, for instance but with some personality traits that may eventually be annoying (hopefully not too much OOCly). I also play him as somewhat socially ackward, which is easy to do considering that most of you have no earthly idea who I am, and I'm not the type of guy to randomly talk to someone I don't know (particularly, in tells). I am trying to be active in the forums to open that up a little though. Further, he is very much a guy who talks in the ayes, nay, ye, ye're kind of way, without let up. He even writes messages/letters like that. He also wears a white cloak (it's a modified backpack) that IC is made of a winter wolf pelt. He doesn't take it off. Ever, except to sleep in it. Ackward...


Anyway, with all of that wall of text said above, he at heart is a likeable dwarf, or at least I'm not playing him like he's a charisma 6 @$$hat who points fingers in people's chest for no good reason every time he meets someone new. He does want to make friends in the Gate after all.. Are his mannerisms in the previous paragraph above enough of a counterweight to being a laughing boisterly, 'friendly to those friendly to him' type of guy who also happens to have a character sheet charisma of 6?

Helpful advice and/or criticism is appreciated and sought out. Thanks in advance.

[Cowbot]

Charisma can be played in a variety of ways because of its social meaning and its D&D context. In D&D, charisma includes physical appearance, and so playing an ugly low-charisma character is appropriate. In this regard, it is rather binary: The character is ugly or not ugly.

The difficulty comes in to the social meaning of the word. Charisma is a person's social authority, or their ability to command attention and respect. It is social power as much as it is social attraction.

So the idea that someone with bad charisma is offensive does not have to hold true. They could be very kind, but shy, and therefore people just ignore them. Or they could be friendly and talkative but say things in a way that makes people dismiss them: They phrase ideas poorly, so even if the ideas are good they are ignored. For whatever reason, nobody takes them seriously. Even acts of intimidation, unless paired with a show of strength, would just be hard for this kind of character. He could yell "I'll kill you!" with a fury and everyone would just laugh, even if he meant it (assuming bad rolls and no intimidate skill points).

In the mid-range of the stat, players have a great deal of leeway of how much emphasis they allot to physical vs. social attraction balance. A CHA 14 character can be hideous but socially fluent, or gorgeous and socially repulsive, or anywhere in between.

Unfortunately, for a 6 CHA character, in my opinion, you are very limited. Such a character should lack social and physical attraction. But, as I said above, there is no reason you can't be friendly and talkative, but still come across as somebody that can be ignored. It's just a bit trickier roleplay-wise to pull off.

Being so hideous nobody wants to be around your character while being so socially repulsive that nobody takes them seriously is just what you get in exchange for the stat points you've used elsewhere.

I hope my words help you find a way for you to express your vision of the character while allowing you to feel comfortable that you are playing his stat block.

[EnialusMeliamne]

That's perfect, as it is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get (Constructive)!!! I don't see him in the light of ever carrying any sort of "social" influence, outside of as a meat shield type of character (Bodyguard role and the like) who puts himself in the line of 'fire', as needed. He generally treats people well, upon first meeting them, but he isn't going to be the guy who leads an army.

Sometimes, you need a grunt soldier who isn't interested in leading men into battle. He'll be that grunt soldier. Thanks!

EDIT: You bring up a good point about the dice rolls, and such. Durim has zero invested in charisma based social skills, so maybe that's in and of itself the answer. Maybe I need to ask for more dice rolls, when and if he's ever in a social setting where influence and/or the ability to lead might be required. I think that may be the best way to go about it, seeing as how it'll be a natural check on any potential OOC moments where I'm not properly playing his character sheet very effectively. Thanks again!

[aaron22]

My main has a cha of 14 but I have not invested any points into the socials so I can play her as attractive to look at, but she can be a huge b/+ch. She is brutally honest. Racist. Competitive. Stand offish. Stubborn . And completely devoid of tact . She never has a witty comeback instead will be insulting. This is how I made the numbers match the way I want to play her. Being the inverse sounds practical. You will still make friends. Put some points in diplomacy and your sheet will match your play.

Have fun. See you in game.

[chad878262]

From D&D wiki:

Charisma measures a character's force of personality, persuasiveness, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and physical attractiveness. This ability represents actual strength of personality, not merely how one is perceived by others in a social setting. Charisma is most important for paladins, sorcerers, and bards.

Force of personality can mean eliciting strong reaction from others (good or bad) so I would say your attractive, but rude/blunt/tactless PC falls right in line with how D&D defines the statistic.

[Rhifox]

The thing to remember is that Charisma is a mental stat, not a physical one. Its affects on your looks, in my opinion, should have very little to do with your natural endowments but instead on how you present yourself. Someone with low charisma can be physically attractive... but they don't take advantage of their natural blessings (or they don't know how to). Even the most naturally attractive person in the world can look terrible if they don't put any care into how they look or present themselves, and this is what I see lower charisma referring to when it talks about physical attractiveness. Bad hygiene and posture, or low confidence and withdrawn demeanor, or a tendency to whine or be annoying, all of these things affect attractiveness by affecting how others perceive you. Attractive people are (generally) confident, attentive, and they take good care of themselves.

Really, attractiveness is something that almost every stat plays a part in, in my opinion. Fitness (Strength/Constitution) is attractive. Grace and poise (Dexterity) is attractive. Intelligence is attractive. Being perceptive and having empathy and understanding for others (Wisdom) is attractive. Having confidence and presence (Charisma) is attractive. These things all come together to affect in how you will be perceived by others, and it takes high values in multiple categories to really sell the deal. Some people will value certain areas higher or lower than others, and in this way different attribute values appeal to different people (including finding lower charisma people to be more attractive because of the weaker ego). And for this same reason people can often find other animals or even objects "attractive", even if it's in an unconventional sense, because if a creature or thing has high qualities in the above, it radiates an innate appeal.

In your case, Enialus, things like wearing the same outfit every day and never washing it are, in my opinion, a good representation of a lower charisma--because it reflects that the character either does not know or does not think about how these things are being perceived by others. But keep the character's level of self-assuredness in mind. Confidence is demonstrative of high charisma, and I find it is often a problem that "asshat" low charisma characters frequently are roleplayed as being very self-assured in their (person)/ugliness. You can have a high charisma person who doesn't put any effort into their appearance and is ergo ugly, but they are characters who take pride in their ugliness, because it is a mark of their individuality. But a low charisma character is more likely to, if called out on their appearance, feel threatened and respond with shame or anger. This is because a low charisma character frequently has a weaker sense of their own place in the world and criticism by others attacks that sense of self. Low Charisma characters follow the crowd, or a strong authority figure, or they are likely to have a sense of unease if they are in a position where they can't/won't. They are, indeed, the grunts. High charisma characters meanwhile eagerly sail uncharted waters, and while they will often attract followers in their wake, they are much less likely to feel any need for validation.

You're describing Durim as someone who is more socially awkward, who follows others, is nice and seeks friends. These are all fine for a low charisma character. Low charisma characters can and do want and make friends. I'd say low charisma characters are the ones most eager to find friends, actually, because their weaker egos mean they frequently seek validation by others on which to build up their self-esteem. A low charisma character can laugh and be loud, what defines them as low charisma is that their laughs and their conversations have a little less certainty and confidence, a little less presence. They are the ones more likely to be thinking in the back of their heads, "Was my joke funny? Am I talking clearly enough? Do they like/notice me?". If they have high Wisdom, they might be able to answer these questions for themselves, and attempt to adjust their behavior to fit what they think people would like. By putting ranks into Diplomacy, for example. Or Intimidate or Bluff, if what they're trying to achieve is a sense of menace or deception instead of likeability. But even with that, people (especially ones with higher Wisdom or ranks in Sense Motive) will still tend to notice when someone is acting in a way that they think others like instead of with confidence. People can often tell when someone is "fake". So it still has an impact.

Just keep in mind that someone with a score of 6 is significantly socially impaired. It's a bit more than just smelling/looking bad and being a little socially awkward. It's a negative modifier, it is something that impacts quality of life. It can be partially overcome with effort (as said, with things like pumping the social skills), but it should always be a big issue for that character. For my own character, who also has a low Cha score, it plays into nearly everything she does and every interaction she has with people. In essence, low Cha is the inability to impose your self onto others, and so is generally a big detriment in seeing your character's wishes realized (up to replacing your wishes with the wishes of others).

[EnialusMeliamne]

Thank you for the fantastic insight, Rhifox! I'm going to read that post a couple of times, so it sinks in really well.

I think I have some Description entries that I can make to him, that will go a long way to enhancing some of what you outlined above.

The skills entry piece is a great point, and is reinforced by the fact that I entered some in Survival, after he started fishing as a hobby. I used those as the mechanism signifying that he was getting better at fishing, through repetition. Maybe by practicing tact, or in character role-play of social activities, he gets better about how he talks and relates to people. He'll never be a general, leading men and women on the battlefield, but he might know how to get his point across without being completely overlooked as surly, smelly and...dwarven.

You folks have given me a lot to reflect on, and implement. It's appreciated, and I hope that my implementation of some of the take-aways make me a better role-player.

[Hrafnar]

I would like to throw my two cents in Berserker Weapon masters.

Most of you dont know but i am Nidan class katana, jo (staff ) and hand to hand combat martial artist. I didnt reveal my belt to gloat or say i am greater then any of you however i would like you to respect the oponion of someone who has studied martial arts for years and has reached a point in his life where he can give a few certainties. I also practice and practiced several martial arts Aikido, Taek-won-do , Jujutso , Karate, Muai-Thai and Kung Fu.

Now let me instruct you fine people in the two diferent types of Ki. Normally people say they are best suited to one martial art of another and that is very true because diferent martial arts will call upon diferent Ki usages. These two Ki are present in all people however depending on the persons character or training one Ki will grow and snuff the other out. What is Ki ? Ki is the energy we have in our bodies that harvested and mastered over several years of training allows practicers to do extreme difficulty maneuvers like breaking rocks , bricks or punch thru slabs of ice im sure you all seen it before so its no bs. Now i spoke of two types of Ki .. yes there are two types commonly associated like Yin and Yang , there is Sei Ki and Dou Ki .

Martial Arts that value harmony and technique over strength and explosive power will over the years strengthen the Sei Ki of a practicioner and allow him to grow in the respective martial art he chose. Sei Ki is calm , serene , enduring it is a meditative sort of Ki that comes from a state of clear mind in wich the practicioner empties his mind of everything emotions thoughts everything and focuses on feeling the energy of his Ki flowing thru his body and gathers it at a certain point to execute a certain waza. Aikido, Kung Fu some Karate forms are examples of this type of Ki use. What does this have to do with weapon mastery simple. Aikido experts always learn to use the two noble weapons of their tradition sword and staff. A practicioner of Sei sword techniques doesnt experience anything behond absolute focus on his weapon to the point of becoming one with it .. in some advanced levels of use it is possible to meditate while doing sword suburi.

The second type of Ki .. the Dou Ki is used in martial arts that value explosive bursts of strength and ability to endure most types of fisical punishment. There are Muai-Thai , Box , some for of karate , Savate etc. While not actually berserking in the DnD meaning of the word users of these martial arts allow strong feelings and emotions to guide their Ki flow. Due to its nature the usage of Dou leaves one feeling depleted after a short while since its not in the nature of it to last more then a few then a moments.

If you want evidence try watching a marathon or a 100 meter sprint race. THe diferences are obvious and dramatic and the same is with any martial art that uses either of the Ki flows. After some tought i went to my own master a nanadan (7thdan) and asked him if its possible to master both Ki flows and he answered me with this " Building a martial artist is like building a car its either for high speed with the design, engine that fit such a use or for family use with high confort confortable seats, less powerfull engine to prevent excessive fuel spending , design and cost .. in other words you cant beat a ferrari with a cherokee on the track .. nor can you take a ferrari to do all terrain alongside a cherokee you build it for a single purpose and you are limited by that single purpose "


I hope this has shed some light in the problem. Dou and Sei cannot be mixed you can not have explosive strength and endurance , calm and fury it is impossible nature itself doesnt allow it much less martial arts that where born from observing nature. So please let the discussion end with this as well as any doubts over char builds. You can build whatever you want... afterall this is a game and its meant to be enjoyed but if you want realism there are unshakable laws that should be observed before attempting such a weird mixture of complete oposites .


Thank you for reading this long post of mine if you have any questions or criticism feel free to ask or do so.. as i said before everyone is entitled to their opinion .

I know this post is really old, its from 2010. I was just reading the post from the start to see if I could find the names of people Ive seen recently while playing.

I'm a person who became determined to learn self defense about 20 years ago because of multiple assault cases. I'm uh, what's termed these days, intersex. Basically I'm a boy whos a bit girl, and I play girls in games often in order to understand a part of my personality I cant normally gain a good rapport with in face-to-face existence. Anyway, the point of bringing that up is that it took me a long time to get to the point where I could defend myself because being partially female, my upper body strength doesn't build as fast as a normal male. And I don't have the same adrenalin system as a normal male, so I started with an intimidation deficit.

Also, the "way" I chose was pure Tao. I'm a very gnostic/intuitive person normally and its rare when I enjoy straight-on instruction or following rules. I will pick up on things though by observation when no-one is looking.

So, anyway over the past seven years my intent to be able to defend myself hit a cynosure of quantum leap, so to speak - and in the process of pushing the envelope, I did develop rage issues - but in the same vein, I am a very Sei Ki person.

The post this person is responding to is regarding a frenzied berserker weapon master. Which I feel I have a unique perspective on, plus I have become very into Buddhist and Taoist "ways" having studied things like the Book of Five Rings, the Art of War, the Book of Balance and Harmony, and the Tao Te Ching in my attempts to understand strife and overcome its disruptive influence on my existence.

In my opinion, yes the combination of rage and focus can exist. Rage produces burst strength but is an element that clouds the mind, and thus one's focus. I'm not a student of Karate, my technique is more of a soft way - captures, trips, and circle blocks and avoiding the fight as much as possible with my toughness, reaction speed, perception, and running speed. I'm not even really into strikes at all - they're inefficient with my pacifistic form. But I know from people I know that study Karate that in Karate you need to focus your ki; and in this case the focus training allows you to keep your perception unclouded while spiking your adrenalin - and this allows one to punch *through* the object.

So, basically a WM/FB would be a person like Jet Li in Unleashed, who uses their discipline to keep their rage strength on a leash and direct it correctly. Their emotions are their strength and their curse, their discipline would be their way of controlling said curse. Alternately, a Sei Ki fighter is like a Wang Shen or Judo fighter who takes their opponent's energy and uses it to throw them. So a weapon master is a person who seems to me to be Dou since its all about criticals and extra damage and not about parrying or defense at all. The thing a FB shouldn't be is a monk. Which, since they're chaotic and monks are lawful - it already is so.

Old post! But yes, coming at it from the 'other' side (6 years combined training and competing in kickboxing and muay thai) I agree with your response that these two types of energy are not exclusive of one another. I also find it kind of patronising to group these different arts into this or that category. If you want a MT example, see how Saenchai fights vs how Yodsanklai fights. Opposite ends on the spectrum.

A weapon master in DnD terms just trains extensively with one weapon, really, and there's no reason they couldn't be doing that in between frenzy fits. The class fits well with the philosophical, martial artist ideal, but there's no restrictions that say it has to be that.

[Gwiston]

Bring back Comeliness
ok showing my age now

[K'yon Oblodra]

Hi I want to rejoin this club,

I am already listed as Ivellios but my game name is Igaryu85 and I haven't been around for years.

My only current character is K'yon Dobluth'oblodra but I'll add another relatively soon.

Please feel free to contact me for RP or for anything related to my stories of you see problems or have critique for me.

Best regards,

K'yon

[Kagger911]

Am I doing it wrong? - Shekels

[Kiran]

Am I doing it wrong? - Shekels

Yes - Cheaper prices!

[Monnock777]

Well Critiques are always welcomed. So far been mostly playing Samuel Quinn. He is Chaotic Evil. How well am I playing the role of CE character. I feel most of the time I am play Neutral or even Chaotic Neutral. There has been moment where my character has done clearly evil things. But what are the thoughts to those who have RPed with him so far.