A very very very long meme.

[pyat]

Roleplaying Nerdgasm

The Role-Playing Character Quiz
Whipped up by j_cat


Characters mentioned within:
I have generated hundreds of characters since 1987, and played several dozen. Of course, for the most part that was in school. Since the end of university I've played perhaps a dozen characters. In any case, there are far too many to list. I'm using some memorable examples below.

-Introductory Questions-
How long have you been roleplaying?:
22 years. 27, if you count Steve Jackson's “Fighting Fantasy” solo roleplaying books.

What medium do you use? (ex: Dungeons and Dragons, MUDs, Live Action, hand puppets, etc.):
Mainly tabletop RPGs. I've cycled through a large number of systems over the years, more than 20 different games at least. Most recently I've been playing WEG's Star Wars, 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons, 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and Werewolf: The Forsaken. I have LARPed at conventions. I have roleplayed on MUCKS, Internet chat sites, and via email instant messenger.

Who are your favorite characters?
I don't usually play, but I did quite like my Tellarite Engineer in nottheterritory's Star Trek game.

And my Peter O'Tooleish Old Republic officer, Ostler dar Kuat, in a D20 Star Wars game.

Also, Jebwicket Skipshod (The Midling), Gnome Bard, from mar2nee's D&D 3.5 game. He plays the Glass Armonium!

I also liked Jim Hammer, the high school dropout I played in thebitterguy's short Buffy the Vampire Slayer campaign.

Oh, and I had fun with Gaius Caractacus Otho, a Lawful Evil Cleric I ran in mister_weasel's Imperial Rome-themed D&D 3.0 game.

Going back a bit, my online handle comes from the name of a Hollow One mage I was running in a Mage: The Ascension game, around 1995 to 1997. He was a 19-year-old, drug addicted, bi-sexual Russian who claimed to have been an arms dealer and a colonel in the Chechnyan army. By incredible coincidence, I happened to be reading Moorcock's Byzantium Endures around that time, and the unreliable narrator was named Colonel Pyat.

Not entirely a coincidence, no.

Pyat was sort of fun, though honestly, I did not run him particularly well. He used a pair of silver-handled flintlock pistols, wore a WWII Soviet greatcoat, and wrote a great deal of bad poetry while battling demons. He carried a silver snuff box full of cocaine, but I don't think I ever roleplayed its use.

Going back still further (like, 1989), we have Colonel Allan Genesis, a Robotech pilot who was a full of ideas of death and glory, and was a terrible martinet to boot. The phrase "I am imposing a system of demerits" was first coined in our games by this character, and it showed up now and again for years afterward as shorthand for a military jerk. Colonel Genesis was killed by the other players on Post-Invid invasion Earth, after trying to order them to march across a desert.

Do you play characters that are not of the gender you identify with?
When GMing, often. As a table-top player, just twice. Sojana Shieldbearer (another Moorcock reference – sigh) in a short-lived Fifth Cycle campaign, and tough-as-nails media shill Starla Rittenhaus in SLA Industries. I've run female characters from time to time in online roleplays, usually “as needed” to suit a given situation.

Who was your first character?
Lord Arkalayarkalooarkalundar, Time Lord. AKA “Arky.” I made him for the FASA Doctor Who RPG I received in April of 1987.

Who is your latest character?
I made a Rakash Warden for kores_rabbit's 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons game, but I've only played him once thus far.

Most Popular Character?
I really do not know. Anyone? I know iamradar always liked my portrayals of her original character, Jonathan Pyre, in an online Babylon 5 roleplay. And my highschool gaming group would talk a lot about the zany misadventures of Admiral Robert Caligula Smith, my Star Trek character, who managed to lose ships in Stardock.

Which character is most like you?
I made myself for the Doctor Who RRG, once. And Call of Cthulhu.

Who would you like to be more like?
I don't know. I tended to play scoundrels, or losers, or somewhat misguided characters. I don't know that any of them are an example to me.

Who’s the character you love but have never played?
So, I had this Hackmaster character (pauses as 2/3 of readers walk out)... so, yeah, I had this Hackmaster character. He was a blind Dwarf Gladiator with various talents that meant he could actually fight, if he was pointed in the right direction. He wore a pot helm without eyeholes and carried an axe. He had a backstory about his life in the arena, and why he'd turned to adventuring. The idea was that he'd be used as a sort of shock troop in dungeon craws.

I also once made a Gully Dwarf Necromancer named Forgo the Large. He was not as stupid a character as he seemed, and the backstory was all about being the sort of errand boy for a Necromancer, a kind of Igor. He was on a quest to become smart and powerful.

Which character would be most likely to-

Murder someone?
In cold blood? Probably that Dwarf I just mentioned.

Have a mental breakdown?
Admiral Robert Caligula Smith did, indeed, lose his mind, while trapped in a series of caves for several months. When he returned to duty he became progressively more warlike and eccentric, until eventually I was channelling General Melchett.

Roleplay?
Do mean, which one was I most likely to get “into character” while playing, or which one was most likely to roleplay, in the game? My very first Robotech character (a 6'6” 17-year-old from Mars whose name is lost to record) survived the Invid invasion by hiding in a bunker with another pilot, watching Dr. Who videos and playing D&D. Yes, we roleplayed portions of that.

Do something stupidly dangerous for fun?
All of them! RPGs are most interesting when someone is doing something stupidly dangerous. Ostler dar Kuat, in particular, often did dangerous things out of a sense of heroism and daring. And lo, the dice were kind to him.

Lay down his or her life for a stranger?
Hmm. I ran a priest of a Monotheistic faith in a game called Soulkeeper. He actually tried to do that, and was rescued against his will. Other characters I've run have been “slaves of duty,” ala Reepicheep, and would have sacrificied themselves if they thought it was The Thing To Do.

Refuse to ask for directions?
Admiral Robert Caligula Smith was never lost. It's the universe that's lost.

Play in a band?
My Cyberpunk character played keyboards. His name was Mickey Molotov.

Perform Shakespeare?
If Shakespeare existed in Blue Rose, my never-played character would have quoted The Bard a great deal, and with a great deal of orotund affectation.

Star in a horror movie?
Dimitri Pyat fought demons from time to time.

Star in an action movie?
Macintosh “Mac” Dredger, my Spirit of the Century character for _viktor_haag's game. He spied on the Bolsheviks!

Star in a sitcom?
Oh, geeze. I don't know. A lot of my characters in High School had puns for names. Maybe some of them.

Star in a Porn?
Dimitri Pyat would probably direct some arty x-rated crap.

Star in a Videogame?
Drawing a blank, here.

Get married?
My first D&D character got married. So, him. I can't remember his name, but he was the Duke of a tiny Duchy called Tuppenschliemer. Oh, and my first Gamma World character married a cat person and bought a farm.

Fall in love?
Jebwicket Skipshod had the soul of a poet, and he'd most likely fall passionately in love with someone totally unattainable.

Make the world a better place?
Ostler dar Kuat, though your mileage may vary...

Regret his or her life?
The Gnome Ranger I sent into The Tomb of Horrors. Man, he regretted that.

-Word Association-
Relate each word to one of your characters.

Love: Jebwicket is a romantic soul.

Hate: Klaus Helcimer, a Nosferatu character I ran online. He was a German general, embraced at the age of 66 in Stalingrad, during WWII.

Money: Johnny Dollar, a short-lived DC Heroes character.

Masks: The Heckler wore a lot of disguises.

Flowers: My first Top Secret character, James Stone, wore a carnation all the time.

Lies: Dimitri Pyat, definitely.

Music: Jebwicket! “A wandr'ing minstrel I, a thing of rags and tatters...”

Home: “Home? The jungle is my home!” I'm not getting anything.

Tragedy: Dr. Plith, the character I ran in various online games. His life tended to be full fo dire events.

Sex: Dimitri Pyat, who, again, was the only tabletop character I've run who had a sex life.

Violence: Starla Rittenhaus, the SLA Industries character, who liked to nuke things from orbit, or whatever the local equivalent was.

Black: Not a clue.

White: I ran a Paladin, ages ago... he dressed in white.

Fire: My Inquistor from a Fading Suns game.

Ice: Not getting anything.

Hope: Hmm. Sojanna Shieldbearer wanted to save her brother.

-The Best and the Most-
Who of your characters is the most realistic?
Ha! I run picareque cardboard characters. Their lives are affectation! Sound and fury! None of them have emotions more realistic than anything you'd get in a Dickens novel, or a Flashman story. Maybe Macintosh Dredger, though, since he had a real childhood and a realistic (if exciting) career, and was more of a “nice guy” than my other characters.

Who is the most fun to play?
Ostler dar Kuat and Jim Hammer were both a lot of fun.

Who do you respect most?
Mac Dredger. He's “real”, in a sense, and reliable and sensible.

If you had a popularity contest within your group of characters who would win?
Everyone likes Ostler dar Kuat! He's like Ace Rimmer!

Who kisses the best?
Dimitri Pyat was the only character I've ever run who actually had an intimate life that impacted on play to any extent. Plus, he once tried to French kiss a female vampire who was trying to play the part of a sexual predator. She beat him up.

Who would react best to realizing he or she is going to die?
Ostler Dar Kuat. “Try not to die like a dog.”

Write out a high school transcript for your characters. (Grades in English, Math, Science, History, Foreign Languages, Gym, and teacher’s notes):
What, ALL of them? How about Jim Hammer, from thebitterguy's Buffy game, since he actually went to high school?

English: 52%, Math (Remedial): 40%, Science: 40%, History: 35%, Foreign Languages: (Never showed up), Gym: 50%

Comment: “If Jim does not improve his marks at summer school, he will be unable to graduate with his peers.”

Who would be most interesting drunk? Describe them.
Gaius Caractacus Otho, my Roman Cleric from mr_weasel's Roman Empire themed D&D game. He would lecture everyone on the glories of Rome, try and seduce the host(ess), and then get carried out by a pair of animated skeletons with a sedan chair.

Which one of your characters would make the best roommate?
The Vulcan science officer would be really tidy, and never get annoyed at my own foibles.

Dance partner?
Micky Molotov, provided you like dances from the 80s.

Husband/Wife?
Durham Veers, maybe? A Bureaucrat I ran in a short-lived Universe game. He's respectable and tidy, anyway.

Super villain?
Okay, I've played Champions, DC Heroes, Heroes Unlimited, and Mutants and Masterminds. Any character I ran in any of those games could have been a supervillain. I think the only actual villains I ran as characters were “The Heckler” for DC Heros (pre-dating the canon character by a couple of years) and a guy called “The Mule.”

Teacher?
Jebwicket is pretty pedantic.

Business partner?
Probably one of the superheroes. Some of them were billionaires.

-Random Inquiries-

Who would resent knowing they’re a character?
Gaius Caractacus Otho thought he was in touch with the Ultimate Reality. So... he'd be pretty annoyed.

Who wouldn’t mind?
Dimitri Pyat would think it terribly ironic, you know?

Which of your characters do you like as a person?
I like Jebwicket. He's a Gothy music nerd.

Who would you most like to actually meet?
One of my more sensible Star Trek characters. The science officer Vulcan, perhaps, though he'd be the least likely to let me play with a replicator and holodeck.

Who would you not like to actually meet?
Dimitri Pyat had magical abilities, horrible motivations and a penchant for telling outrageous lies, so I guess he tops the list.

Your alien and bestial characters, what would they look like if they were human?
My Tellarite engineer would look like Clint Howard.

Who would be happy in a boring, safe little job in a cubicle?
Durham Veers very, very, very, very much wanted that sort of life. Instead, he ended up fighting aliens with a single-shot stun pistol.

Who dreams of flying?
The Canadian Goose, my DC Heroes character who pecked out the eyes of oppression and crime wherever he found it!

Pick a character and outline his or her soulmate.
My RPG characters tend to be very cardboard constructions, or total scoundrels, and I have trouble imagining true loves for them. I have had a few better developed characters, though, whom I could see finding someone.

Jebwicket would love to find a nice Gothy Gnome girl who likes creepy music and ghost stories.

Ostler dar Kuat longs to meet a plucky lass (or lad, as he was based on Peter O'Toole...) who knows how to host a party and fire a blaster.

Dimitri Pyat, Hollow One and empty intellectual, would most like a small cabal of bright young things who are a little less intelligent and jaded than he is, who will give him cigarettes and sexual favours.

Who would like you?
I really don't know. They'd probably regard me as easy XP.

Who is happy?
Admiral Robert Caligula Smith died with his boots on, in command of a Federation battleship.

What animal most suits the personality of each of your characters?
There are too many to catalogue. Using the ones mentioned above:
Lord Arky: An owl.
Ostler dar Kuat: A terrier.
Admiral Robert Caligula Smith: A very ill-tempered badger.
Jebwicket Skipshod: A bat?
Colonel Alan Genesis: A lone wolf. Laaame. :) (Robotech character who was shot by his own men... the other players...)
Dimitri Pyat: A vulture. A very lazy and stylish vulture.

What color most suits them?
Uh... Jebwicket wears a lot of purple and black, I guess. Gothy, you know.

Comments

[hossblacksilver.livejournal.com]

Makes me think of some of my characters over the years, 95% of them where either, high heroic, high concept or a mix of the two.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Interestink.

[elvishefer.livejournal.com]

That sir, is a very, very, very long meme.

Made me think of characters long gone.

[j-cat.livejournal.com]

Thanks for tackling the quiz Pyat! I'd hoped you'd take a stab at it.

Random follow up question I've been asking everyone:

"What are some of your character's favorite foods?"

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Uh.... I guess Dimitri would eat vast amounts of cheap caviar, tongue sandwiches, and whiskey and water.

A couple of people on my friends list have reposted their answers!

http://bard-bloom.livejournal.com/152716.html
http://rowyn.livejournal.com/339276.html

[rowyn]

Wow, that is the mammoth meme indeed. I am now tempted to do it. But ... so long. x.x Maybe I'll do a fraction of it instead.

Neat the way most of your PCs are rather troubled and troublesome. Dimitri sounds a hoot. :D

[katepufftail.livejournal.com]

Of course you realize that now I'll have to do this too.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I look forward to your post, ma'am!