Direction - Torgeir

[Panros]

I'm not at all making this thread so I can be flammed, besides, it's against the forum rules. I'm making this because I need some help. I'm taking this seriously though I do appreciate humor.

I'm needing direction with my seven foot giant of a man. I do not feel connected anymore to the server whenever I play as Torgeir. Part of this I am feeling is just that, I've over played the module, though the majority of it is I have run out of ideas to develop him and he doesn't rightly belong to any group (he is not anchored to anything).

He's a barbarain, for those who don't know, in fact I believe him to be the most Uthgardt Tribesman-esque barbarian on this server from what I know and seen. More can be learned about him from his profile. I RP all of his strengths and all of his weaknesses. I RP his ability stats, maybe too well.

One thing I know, almost all of you are going to say is something along the lines of make him more sociable. Right. As I said, I rp his stats. He has a low charisma and instead of taking the obvious choice of making him look unattractive, I decided to keep him handsome but make him socially inapt in some ways (he won't really understand a joke, he takes words for what the are, etc.).

So, I'm in need of direction. Many of you, I'm sure would probably thank the gods if Torgeir left Cormyr for good. For those who want to see the barbarian, or just want to see me stick around please help me out.

Leave comments, insights, and suggestions below. Thanks.

[ShadowCatJen]

I was feeling the same sort of thing a little while back. Not feeling connection with my character. It's not the first time it's happened for me with Mynian. Two things usually help me get back in contact.

One, play another character for a while. Sometimes just taking a break from one of your long time characters can help rejuvenate your connection with them.

Two, think back to when you originally created your character and ask yourself if you've really gone in the direction you originally intended. I found when I asked myself that recently that the answer was "no". So I've been trying to break her back to her roots a little, just in a different way.

Even though I've RPed with Torgeir a time or two I don't know the character well enough to suggest what direction to take him in. I guess I would put forward the following questions to you to ask yourself:

- What would my character like too mostly see happen and how can my character assist with that?

- Are there any previous goals that my character failed to reach and would it be viable for him to try them now?

- Is my character lacking in anything he wants? Is it material? Is it physical? Mental? Spiritual? If so, how can my character aim to get it?

- When I was connected to my character, what made it easy to do so? Can I get my character to that point again?

- When I was having the most fun with my character, what was it exactly and can I do that now or expand upon it?

Hope these help. I know it sucks to just not really have that connection anymore and not feeling like you're having much fun anymore.

[JCrux]

I actually like Torgeir, though I'm often at a lost as to how to interact with him.

I don't think you need to change the concept of who Torgeir is, but instead add some hooks for other PCs to use to relate to him.

Some ideas I have.
1. What are his goals? Does he have a quest he needs to achieve? Talk about them and involve others in trying to achieve them.
2. Does Torgeir have a particular hatred for ogres or any monsters in particular? Talk about that, and perhaps the next time a party is going off to fight them they'll think "We should take Torgeir along."
3. Is Torgeir ever curious about what is going on? Without turning him into a common gossiper you could have him ask a few questions and strike up a conversation that way.
4. Maybe it's time for Torgeir to take on an apprentice.
5. Give Torgeir something to do during his off time, like invite others to gamble with him or drink in a tavern.

These are just a few suggestions. Most of these ideas are things I've been thinking about for my own character (Rastan) to make him more three dimensional.

[barakaguru]

You already do a good job on Torgeir's aloofness and misreading what people mean by taking them too literally... Kyrion does that often himself.

I've had the same problems with Kyrion. (I think he and Torgeir might have some similar ability stats.) I kind of backed myself into a corner by having built Kyrion up as a somewhat aloof support character to a very select few... so when I don't play with those few, Kyrion is a bit lost. I have considered dropping his character as a result, but I can't seem to let go. I've worked so hard to establish his verbiage that it seems natural to me now.

So I can see where you're coming from as far as the social limitations are concerned, so this is what I've started to do:

- Speak more to strangers and off the cuff. Just because Kyrion has a charisma penalty, it doesn't mean he won't speak to people... he just don't always leave the best impression... sometimes even walking away without saying good bye.

- Play aloof with people until it suits his needs. Hey, Kyrion has a charisma penalty. I've started to play with people when they try to interact with Kyrion. He also tends to focus on the person he's talking to, ignoring others around him.

- Stick his nose where it doesn't necessarily belong. Again, Kyrion's charisma penalty. He isn't too keen on social graces, and he doesn't care. If he overhears something that interests him, either positively or negatively, he will tend to engage... for better or worse.

- Get more physical with others, even if it's a bit inappropriate. If Kyrion likes someone, he'll greet them with a good shot in the arm with a mailed fist... even if it's Kelric while on duty. If he's slighted enough, he'll do things like knock people over to "teach them a lesson."

- Do more personal actions that might be deemed "unsavoury" to others. I haven't been doing this lately, but in the past, Kyrion has been unashamed of his voracious love of food. Whether it's stuffing his face with cheese, getting some caught in his beard... or chewing relentlessly on a whole fish head until it's malleable enough to swallow, Kyrion loves his good eats!

Ultimately, low charisma does not mean little or no social interaction, it means that you just might not have many positive feedback and reactions. Play with RP opportunities through emotive actions. Have fun with it.

I think Torgeir has a lot of potential with this kind of stuff.

Come on, he's a frakkin' barbarian.

[mourndarkv]

I am on the fence with Tremain to Panros. Sometimes you need to break from the persona, and sometimes a character just runs it coarse and it's time to hang them up. I try to play a very wide array of personas to try to keep myself from burning out. I'd suggest some time away from him, maybe the urge will return later on.

[moulinous]

this may sound kinda strange but i can think of two characters who i am reminded of in this discussion. One is Riverwind who if you look at his stats he was not really overpowering and the other is Camaron, the other twin as he is sometimes called. I grew to like him as much as Raistlin and if you have not read the twins series in Dragonlance you are missing out. Camaron was not all that smart nor very charismatic but look at all he acomplished...just my two cents.

[Panros]

I definitely get the relations between stats and how to RP them, and I know I can change how I go about RPing them to make things more fun. However, I'm just not sure what to do with my barbarian as in what is his purpose in Cormyr. I first made him so he could become great. Now, that he's made quite a name for himself, though somewhat notorious, and he's sorta faded out of the scene a lot since I've stopped playing as him much, I don't know where to take him. Gah, any random ideas would help.

[SlothfulCat]

Smite Ranan.

[moulinous]

find a woman, a cave, and some other barbarians and take the stonelands over. anyone who settles the stonelands gets a land grant and a barbarian baron tribe would be funny....

[Savage]

Yeah, maybe Torgeir could get a Barbarian thing going kinda like the elves in Hullack or the dwarf clan?

Hoot will help but he ain't living in no damn fur skin tents any more!

[TermaForever]

I'm with the people who say just play other characters. I've had the same problem a bit with Adelius (when I look back and ask if he has gone in the direction I intended I can answer a very definite -no-) So what do I do? Drop him for a bit and pick up my other 3 characters thats what ;D

[Masterbard Alyster Darkharp]

I am not sure anyones character goes exactly the way they wanted. I never intended to write anything but dark and dreary songs with darkharp, but as he expanded as a character, and his audience grew, I decided that it might be best to change it up some in order to please the fans. Most of my stuff is still dark and dreary, but not all. I don't forsee myself switching characters again for a good while though, as I am really just getting started with him. As for some advice..maybe you -should- get into a group of friends, and anchor yourself to some cause in line with your beliefs. Start a tribe of nomadic barbarians..or try to. There are plenty of harsh wilderness areas where you could lead a group out and try to survive with only periodic trips into towns to resupply.

[moulinous]

feanorre said:

I never intended to write anything but dark and dreary songs with darkharp, but as he expanded as a character, and his audience grew, I decided that it might be best to change it up some in order to please the fans.

sell out! next thing you know he is going to join a boys band....

[Masterbard Alyster Darkharp]

Thats right, Darkharp and the Darkhearts Moul!!

[moulinous]

and now, Darkharp and the darkhearts perform their newest song, *Hangin' Tough In Isnhold*

[JCrux]

moulinous said:

and now, Darkharp and the darkhearts perform their newest song, *Hangin' Tough In Isnhold*

ROFL ;D
Just let me know how Rastan can join the band.

[Panros]

*smacks forehead* It's safe to say Torgeir will not be joining a boy band anytime soon.

Well, Torgeir, he is not much of a leader. He may be good at leading (such as organizing the volunteer militia of Isinhold, or running people through the Atonelands as catapults and dragons rained fire on them) though to him it's only about keeping those he travels with alive. In the end, he really has no heart to lead. It's why he left his tribe in the first place and why he left the Isinhold Militia as soon as he could.

It would be awkward for him to start a band of nomadic barbarians, yet alone lead it. I'm not sure, and maybe, Torgeir's needing a conversation of this topic in game.

- What would my character like too mostly see happen and how can my character assist with that?

* My character would want to a certain somebody become the greatest warrior ever (he's pretty much blown that) and he would also want to know what will be the fate of Foecleaver after his death. For the latter, he will need to ask around for more opinions.

- Are there any previous goals that my character failed to reach and would it be viable for him to try them now?

* Torgeir never really set any other goal other than to become great to his people through his deeds in Cormyr. He has returned to his tribe, and has been acknowledged as such. His lack of goal is one of the main reasons he is in a slump. It's why I'm asking for help. *nod nod*

- Is my character lacking in anything he wants? Is it material? Is it physical? Mental? Spiritual? If so, how can my character aim to get it?

* My character lacks the ability to say what is on his heart and mind. He's not used to expressing his feelings and struggles with doing so every so often. He has come a long way socially, since I first made him. He understands and appreciates more jokes and occasionally makes his own poor ones. He could buy two rings of +3 charisma and speak wondefully, to him though, that is being cheap and that is not who he really is.

- When I was connected to my character, what made it easy to do so? Can I get my character to that point again?

* The easiest thing about playing Torgeir is that he is straight forward and direct.

- When I was having the most fun with my character, what was it exactly and can I do that now or expand upon it?

* The best of times was when people understood and appreciated that and wouldn't take his brusqueness so personally and sometimes tried to counsel him at his faults. Those were the days of a 20 man server.

Well, I'm going to fight through this though. You bastards who didn't leave words to help can kiss my rear. I'm still sticking around. ;D

[Panros]

Well, I've been coming to RP Torgeir a hell of a lot more chaotic these days. Just ask Aria or Wynter.

Lately, his purpose is to train a little harder instead of mindlessly killing things like orcs. So, I expect that he will be sparring with other characters soon enough.

He is also a sword for a certain somebody, so, even if I don't know what to do with him, he has someone else to tell him what to do.

I'm still open for direction however. Please let me know any thoughts and comments.

[Kharn597]

Do you mean more of a fighter in the new training with weapons and not fighting with rage like a barbarian but technique?

[Panros]

Yeah, I would say that he's not going to abandon the way he fights, but, he wants to better understand ways of fighting different things under different situations. I'm tossed in whether or not I should make him take fighter levels and what not.

[spacecowboy16739]

Ooooh.... Choosing what your next level will be is always a tough one in RP games. Seriously, powergaming's so much easier -- find what allows you to kill your enemies in the quickest way, and build for it. RP, however, allows you to kill you enemies in the most interesting ways.... *grins, remembering one of arak's chars getting a halfling to poison another of his chars, and the huge DM event that followed*

Back on topic, though: a character practically never "goes in the direction you wanted him/her to originally", for this reason: you can't anticipate everything that your character experiences along his or her path in the game. Hell, I've had a rogue that ended up being a three-quarters crazed wild sorceror (he made cheese fall from the sky to kill his enemies, and then made wine rain for the hell of it). If you go more than about three hours of actual RP with a character, they start to take on their own personality, and you end up "learning" things about them that you didn't originally think of. I mean, when someone asks you if you ever hated broccoli as a child, unless you wrote a ginormous backstory for the character, you're gonna have to make it up on the fly -- and the best way is to tell why you hated broccoli.

I agree with arak and the others, take a little time off from this character. In fact, instead of playing with the alts that you know and love, play a brand new one, something that you haven't tried before (I know, NWN's limited, but there's plenty of RP opportunities). If you're really focused on getting your main back in gear, make a character that's his exact opposite. Contrasting the two personalities is a great way to learn to see things.

[wynter]

play a monk ;D wynter could use a new sla...student yea student

[SlothfulCat]

Actually Torgeir has gotten less chaotic by my standards Panros, I can predict him now... before you never knew what way he'd jump.

[moulinous]

get religion....go paladin by becomeing lawful good and surprise the ell out of everybody. choose a god like chauntea though rather than a war god or go blackguard get swayed by ranan and cut a swath of violence across the server.*shrugs*

[Panros]

Heh, heh. I have other characters, and, I'm finding now that I want to RP Torgeir. It's weird, because, for the longest of times I wasn't sure of sticking with him or not.

As for being predictable. Well, he hasn't really been in situations serious enough where he does something really sporadic. Also, he is hanging in the neutrality zone so he's open to being swayed.

As for following religion, being Uthgardt and following Uthgar and Tempus is sorta a religion in itself. So, he's not going to abandon it. He could become the sword of Tempus and take more Divine Champion levels (took it because back in the day when Isinhold was attacked by Talosian, a giant ass sword of Tempus came down... really long story, lol).

I was planning on giving him a few fighter levels because as of late, I've been RPing him more martial. Like, he want's to learn a few more techniques with the blade instead of just being like, "Rawr!!!!"

I've been getting ideas for him that might surprise a few... though, I'm not too sure of them myself.

Keep em coming.