Breathing new life into stale character archtypes

[Alex Heartnet]

I have recently figured out the perfect way to add unique twists to stale/overused/cliched character archetypes. It is actually quite simple - take one such archetype, playing it as normal, while at the same time applying real-world logic (usually in a way to show why this archetype is unrealistic).

Take the typical knightly paladin, for example. You know, the ones that are always trying to smite evil and save the damsel. Maybe he's both physically and mentally exhausted from having to constantly save the day, every day. But yet, this paladin feels as if he cannot rest. Every hour spent sleeping at the inn means another maiden getting eaten by orcs or something, because the paladin was not there to save her.

Now unless someone comes along to save the paladin, this will not end well at all...

Certainly sounds a lot more interesting then 'boring invincible paladin', doesn't it? With a little bit of thought and creativity one can apply this type of logic to any often-used character concept.

Who knows? Someone might accept this criticism and figure out how to make the hero paladin work despite his limited stamina...

[elysiumfields]

I go with a different approach.

I don't play classes anymore, I play concepts of character. The class/es are just a template to build upon the idea.

I don't play a fighter rogue. I play a mentally malleable blacksmith.

I don't play a Paladin. I play a man who has seen his family killed before his eyes, been tortured for crimes he did not commit (now eye), who then turned to Hoar for vengeance and was granted certain powers under certain conditions, having to give up his old ways to eventually find the justice he seeks. The virtues of a paladin do not interest me, struggling with the flaws of being a human with such responsibilities and powers do.

I don't play a wizard. I play a neutral good man who is learning the value of law and how it can be used to his own advantage. The power of magic is the corrupting force behind his inevitable descent from neutral good based naivete into a politically charged lawful evil power monger.

The class is merely a vehicle for the emotional concept I want to explore.

[brian333]

I have a somewhat similar approach to the OP's.

I wanted to play a ranger who excelled in stealth and the detection of stealthed creatures. How could a person get so good at these things? He is paranoid! Always alert, always on the lookout for the enemy, and always (unless in trusted company) within a second of a good hiding spot!

I wanted to play a dwarf who excelled in defense. He was trained as a guard in a dwarven community, but had to leave his ancestral home to seek his fortune before he could marry a wealthy merchant's daughter.

Stereotypes with a twist. Ideally just enough twist that other players don't recognize the stereotype underlying the character's persona.

Given the two above examples, character flaws start leaping out at you:

The ranger is naive because he doesn't spend enough time with other people to get to know what motivates them, and because he doesn't know them he doesn't trust them. He is always making assumptions that turn out to be false, but he never learns from social errors.

The dwarf dislikes dealing with merchants because they make him feel uncomfortable and small, as his prospective father-in-law habitually did while trying to drive him away from his daughter, and he is a miser because he needs every penny to show his father-in-law that he can support his bride when the day comes.

You may have seen other possibilities in the few seconds you saw the character concept, and that's the beauty of this system. A regular stereotype can have a little twist, and the personality starts to jump out at you.