Characters: The developements that make them great.

[Draconalis]

This thread is pretty much inspired by the "Great Character Deaths" Thread. This thread will be different though, in that it will be far more niche.

Some people RP on the internet, some people RP through table top games.

What are some of your most interesting character moments, not limited to deaths, but I'll start with Lennarro's death.

My level 12 Dwarf Fighter from AD&D 2nd edition

Spoiler

An arbolist bolt impaled him onto a sinking ship.

Talk about overkill.

Another particularly great moment was the close call with the Dinosaurs.

Spoiler

Lenarro was about... level 4 with really good constitution. He had 64 HP, and we traveled to an island inhabited with Saurians who blindly sent messengers seeking aid. One of those messengers found the Kingdom of Perth, were Lennarro and his long time fighting partner/friend Zhou Yu ruled as dual kings.

Since Perth was seeking potential allies themselves, they went to these dinosaur people's aid.

The island was full of Plain old vanilla dinosaurs as well. And that's when we encountered the T-Rex. It was a hard fought battle, but we managed to kill the thing. Lennarro, by means of shear luck, didn't suffer a single point of damage (in a game were no matter the level, or the max HP, we always ended the fight in the single digits... usually so low that if you rounded appropriately... you'd die) It was a first for me... no Damage taken... and the battle was done! And then it's bigger mate came storming through the trees. Queue round two.

The creature was almost dead... and I STILL had not taken any damage. The DM rolled the creatures attacks... and we all knew someone was about to die. I figured... hell, I've got 64 Hp, no one had that even at full health, and I had all of my health to boot. I can't remember who the initial target was... but that's when my Dwarf let out a battle cry, waved his axe around generally being as attention grabbing as he could (WoW would later teach that that I essentially used "Taunt"). After absorbing the damage... I had 4 HP left... and the Rex ate me... They managed to put the creature down before in the next two turns, and I suffered 2 points of digestion damage.

The only reason I wasn't left in their to rot... was that Zhou Yu insisted on cutting me out for a proper burial... BUT I YET BREATHED!

Good times...

In other news

http://www.google.com/recaptcha/api/image?c=03AHJ_VuuHxt82gmn3nb413aq06GmqaByiZY28FlYtrg3RZws16W808kqrJMkZnzptpq5h4UjgwSREws70Vwn32iGADxFDo-dx450cd1iUVq8t0PmyIGQ_EtWO2q-oSjt0c35OhLT2OnwMSMd691cMHKhE3xwMqNbzaQ

THE URNSEUR ruling! Outlawing UrngEurs for the next 20 years!

 

[_Depression]

Characters aren't made in fighting and in death, characters are made in all of their actions and inactions throughout their lives. Getting eaten by a dinosaur is as much character development as starting high school - or dropping out of it. For example, the character development that made Harry Potter great wasn't in fighting Voldermort, it was in discovering the truth about his parents and learning that magic was real. In that moment he changed from his character before that - a brooding child who would probably have ended up with a desk job in a paper factory if he'd never gotten a letter mailed to him from Hogwarts.

 

[Esotera]

Anything that puts them in a lose-lose dilemma. If a character has been an avid defender of personal freedom, and says he'd give up his life for other people, let's say he's given a choice between a slow painful death for him, or 10 unrelated people. Watching him come to terms with the opposite decision really gives him depth.

 

[Draconalis]

Characters aren't made in fighting and in death, characters are made in all of their actions and inactions throughout their lives. Getting eaten by a dinosaur is as much character development as starting high school - or dropping out of it. For example, the character development that made Harry Potter great wasn't in fighting Voldermort, it was in discovering the truth about his parents and learning that magic was real. In that moment he changed from his character before that - a brooding child who would probably have ended up with a desk job in a paper factory if he'd never gotten a letter mailed to him from Hogwarts.

Development happens where ever you find it. The potter series is a different beast for one reason. The story was planned out. The author knew exactly what the ending was going to be and worked up to it. In D&D, or at least in our group, the story develops on the go. In that fight, he suffered the loss of his body guards whom had been with him from the beginning, and he was willing to draw the heat off of his group to save them. He'd never done it before, as he'd never had such a need to before.

Don't disregard development just because it's in a fight. Desperation brings to light what the character is willing to do.