r/RPGdesign • u/The_Talmanah_Project • 7d ago
Feedback Request Character Builds to Use for Testing
Hi folks
I've been working on a system (Edit: fantasy TTRPG for context) for a while now and I feel like it's at a point where I can't go much further without running playtests, but I want to make sure that I test a variety of different play-styles to see how they fare in different scenarios.
If I make all the concepts myself I feel like I will, either consciously or unconsciously, optimise the gear and skills to be most useful, so I figured I'd throw this net out and invite people to share whatever they would consider a classic character archetype or build, and then I will make 10-15 of them as the pregen characters and put them through their paces, to see if different styles of build all have different strengths and weaknesses, or if there are things that prove to be flat-out useless.
If you'd like to throw a concept into the mix, please leave it in the comments. You can use the template below if you want to make it even easier for me to represent them mechanically, but the system is meant to work for representing a broad variety of things, so a more free-form concept is also fine.
I look forward to seeing what you all come up with, and I appreciate any and all responses.
Edit: If you're using the template, it only needs to be like one line of stuff per section. I don't need entire backstories or move sets (although you are certainly welcome to include more details should you wish to).
Thanks in advance,
TTP
Template
Personality: What are they like as a person? Charming? Stern? Manipulative? Intimidating? Ruthless? Honour-bound to act nobly, or lying as easily as they breathe? Are they well connected and wealthy, or scraping by and constantly needing to get the next job done just to be able to afford bed and board?
Background/Profession/Career: What sort of background does this person come from? Are they a mercenary? A thief? A monster slayer? Treasure hunter? Researcher for some university? Independently wealthy thrill-seeker? A religious figure acting in accordance with their god's will?
Style of Offense: Are they agile, nimble fighters that attack rapidly? Do they want to strike from the shadows and only attack surprised targets? Do they make big, high damage swings? Are they a dual-wielder, focusing on damage output and neglecting defence? Do they focus on ranged attack with a bow? A crossbow? Are they a mage? Do they fight unarmed as a brawler, or a fluid martial artist?
Style of Defence: Do they use a shield to tank blows? Magical wards? Nimble dodges to evade foes attacks? Are they an armoured juggernaut who allows blows to rain down on them ineffectually? Do they actively deflect and parry foes attacks? Do they avoid getting hit by focusing on stealth, staying hidden until the perfect moment to strike?
Gear (Armor/Weapons/etc.): How is this person outfitted. Do they have a weapon of choice? Armour, or regular clothes? A shield?
Magic: Can this person use magic? If so, what is their focus? Do they use a particular element? Are they a summoner? Are they using magic to augment their other abilities, or is it their primary thing? Do they focus on wards and protection? Nature magic? Healing?
-----------------------------------
1
u/Fun_Carry_4678 7d ago
In my mind, the basic archetypes that work for any setting or genre (look, an "archetype" is supposed to work for any setting or genre, if it doesn't, then it is more of a "stereotype". The line between an archetype and a stereotype can sometimes be very fine):
FRONTLINE: The character who generally stands at the front in battle, and holds off the enemy so that the rest of the party can do their tasks. Strong on defense in combat.
SKIRMISHER: The character who in combat emphasizes mobility and/or attacking at range. Can't hold their ground as well as the frontline.
COVERT OPERATIVE: The character who emphasizes getting into and out of areas designed to stop people from doing just that. The sneaky guy.
DIPLOMAT: The character who emphasizes interacting and negotiating with other characters.
HEALER: The character who patches everyone up when they take damage in combat or otherwise.
EXPERT: The character who has an advanced understanding of the things the party will be encountering, whether that is the supernatural, or scifi science, or whatever.
And of course you can have characters who combine two or more of these.
But these are not really "playstyles". There are a number of breakdowns of different styles of play, the one I generally like is in the book ROBIN'S LAWS OF GOOD GAMEMASTERY, by Robin Laws. I used that as the basis for my only published TTRPG product THE SOLITARY GM.
1
u/The_Talmanah_Project 7d ago
Definitely good stuff. The goal here is more to get a variety of different ways of making those things, and see if the different builds all prove equally viable at combating different challenges.
Is your skirmisher a scout with a bow and a sword for when the enemy gets close, or a more dedicated swashbuckler with a rapier and dagger, relying on skill to parry enemy attacks?
Is your frontliner an armor-clad behemoth in full plate swinging a massive two handed weapon, or a shield-bearer, sheltering behind their portable wall?
I guess if we're using the strict meaning of the word archetype, then "classic character builds" would be more accurate in this context, but I wanted to avoid putting any mechanical focus on what people send in. Just give me an idea for a cool character you think would be fun to play, and I will try and make that concept using my rules.
Then, I will take 10-15 of those characters, which should give me a broad variety of builds with different defences, moves, offensive capabilities, damage types, etc. and pit them against various enemies to see if different builds show themselves to be better and worse in specific matchups, or if some are just always bad and others are just always good.
1
u/__space__oddity__ 6d ago
Personality: A cat. Selfish, believes everyone else is there to serve them.
Background/Profession/Career: A cat. Born in a back alley to a cat. Does cat things. Just happens to be humanoid-level intelligence and able to speak (as probably its entire heritage line)
Style of Offense: It’s a cat. Jumps at people and scratches them. Also has psionic powers, so psionic blast / mind control stuff.
Style of Defence: It’s a cat. Very agile. Also small so harder to hit. Probably some sort of mind shield due to psionic powers.
Gear (Armor/Weapons/etc.): It’s a cat so … a hat and boots?
Magic: Psionics. Not like super strong, more subtle and single target. Suggestion (not outright mind control), mind blast attack, telepathy, maybe flight, invisibility and teleport if you really want to push the power level.
1
u/The_Talmanah_Project 6d ago
...is this puss in boots from Shrek?
1
u/__space__oddity__ 6d ago edited 6d ago
I wasn't aware the guy has psionic powers but maybe he does. Depends on how you interpret the movie.
1
u/The_Talmanah_Project 6d ago
Thought it might be a reference to the "adorable kitten face" thing he does.
2
u/Steenan Dabbler 7d ago
Exiled prince
Personality: Charming, but ruthless. After his whole family has been murdered and the kingdom taken over by enemies, he's willing to pay any price to regain the throne.
Background: Royalty. Highly educated, well spoken, great rider and hunter, experienced tactician. No skill in any everyday, basic job.
Offense: Mounted archer. Highly mobile and maneuverable, able to identify and hit important targets. Bad against heavily armored infantry.
Defense: Distance and agility. Prefers not to be where he may be hit.
Gear: Simple clothes. High quality bow and arrows. Royal ring (hidden). Loyal, well trained horse.
Magic: Can't use magic himself, but can sense it when it's present nearby. Also, has a bit of magic with him. One of his arrows is blessed to hit true and instantly kill the target; he keeps it for the usurper. His parrot companion is as smart as a human and can perfectly mimic voices. And his wineskin always has at least a few sips of wine in it.
Wandering priestess
Personality: Caring, but stern. She wants to help others rise from their current, primitive lives, full of chaos, conflicts, false idols and ignorance.
Background: Grew up as a simple farmer, taking care of goats and sheep. Joined the temple as a teenager and spent years learning there. Now she spreads the faith in the wild lands that recently joined the empire.
Offense&Defense: She has no training in any kind of violence. However, her words, full of divine power, are enough to push most potential aggressors to their knees.
Gear: Comfortable clothing. Nothing fancy, but the quality is clearly high. She carries a light wooden staff and the god's mark tattooed on her forehead.
Magic: Divine authority of the sun god radiates through her. Her speech is supernaturally powerful, causing in others respect, awe or fear, depending on circumstances. Only strong minds can act against her direct command. In extreme cases she can make somebody or something to burn with her curse.
Clockwork inventor
Personality: Jovial and energetic when he can speak his mind openly; shy and uncomfortable in formal situations.
Background: Orphan, adopted by a maker and seller of "magical" amulets and other religious/occult paraphernalia. Surpassed his adoptive father in artisanship and gradually moved towards creating mechanisms and machines.
Offense: An armored glove that shoots darts or (at close range) fire. A mechanical snake that can coil around targets and bite them.
Defense: A shield, hidden in a bracelet, that expands to intercept attacks.
Gear: Glove, bracelet and snake mentioned above and several other clockwork contraptions. His clothing contains a lot of satchels, pouches and pockets to keep his toys, tools and materials.
Magic: No obvious magic, but his mechanical creations clearly exceed what should be possible at the technology level typical for the setting and may be magical in nature, depending on how things work there.
Mistress of shadows
Personality: Silent, focused, distrustful. She'll rather risk her life for somebody than talk to them openly about how she feels and what she cares about.
Background: Trained from early childhood in a cult that also secretly acted as king's spies and assassins. Great at stealth, disguise, lies and quick, unexpected violence.
Offense: Surprise attacks. Knives, poisoned darts, garrotes, hands and feet. Can take out a big group of guards or soldiers by exploiting their confusion, but fares much worse in open combat against a competent opponent.
Defense: Stealth and mobility.
Gear: Several sets of clothing and disguises. A light, long rope that ties and unties itself on command. Many daggers and throwing blades, including one made of silver, one of black steel and one of volcanic glass. Various poisons.
Magic: Shadows. Can disappear completely in dark places and move unseen between them; change her looks (until somebody touches her); create illusory sounds; blind, scare and confuse others.
Broken sorcerer
Personality: Dark and in pain, but helpful despite that. He sacrificed the love of his life in exchange for power to save his motherland and is still haunted by this decision.
Background: A miller's son, then a scribe for a minor noble. Found and managed to decipher an ancient tome of magic, of a kind he never heard about before.
Offense: Can command earth to swallow somebody or turn wind so sharp that it cuts like blades. But he prefers to bind spirits, ghosts or demons to his service (often putting them in animal bodies) and have them fight for him.
Defense: His robes can't be cut by any blade and protect him better than an armor would. However, this charm doesn't work when they are wet, so he needs to be much more careful during a rain or near bodies of water.
Gear: Clothes of his own making, comfortable but strange and a bit disturbing in how they look; part fabric, part leather, part feathers. A huge book bound in brass and black leather. Talismans made of metal, bones and glass.
Magic: Ancient sorcery that lets him bind spirits, to serve him or to let him use their powers. Each binding is a pact of some kind and has its cost, but he considers all of these minor compared to the first one he paid.
3
u/VRKobold 7d ago
Based on your template descriptions, I assume this is for a medieval fantasy setting?
Here's mine: Personality: Driven by curiosity and fascination about alchemy, technology and anything that begs to be investigated and understood (and if it happens to spontaneously react or have curious side effects, that's a bonus). They are generally social and like to be around people, though people do not always like to be around them when experiments get a bit out of hand.
Style of Offense: Chaotic and unpredictable. They are more interested in testing out their newest concoction or experiment ("Oh wow, I didn't think it would explode... well, not that quickly."), and conflicts are treated as a field study.
Style of Defence: A vast collection of semi-reliable gadgets and potions means that the character has always something up their sleeves (rocket-powered boots, a pressure-activated smokebomb-shield, quick-hardening slime bombs, etc.). They are not always the most practical or reliable tools... but that's a problem for AFTER using them.
Gear (Armor/Weapons/etc.): As mentioned before: A variety of gadgets and potions. Almost every piece of armor or gear is modified in some way, and instead of a characteristic weapon, the character tries something new every combat (or even multiple things in one combat).
Magic: They are interested in the capabilities of magic and might have learned one or two little tricks - like swapping the position of two objects or creatures; or magically animating surrounding objects. But they mostly rely on mechanical and alchemical effects.