Awesome vid and extremely solid advice! In my current 5e game, my players all exemplify some negative traits, one is a bit of a kleptomaniac, another is pompous and always talking down to others, another has a fanatical drive to serve their warlock patron, and another is vain and foolhardy. I think the reason why they specifically work together as a team though is because of our session zero and my requirements for how the party became a party. Despite all these flaws that their characters gained through their lives up until they started adventuring with each other, they all grew up in the same town and were all childhood friends. Their first adventure together was avenging the death of an NPC who was the glue of their original childhood friendship. Despite all these negative traits that might make them annoying or frustrating characters in other parties, this connecting thread they have between each other lets them reel them back in. If the pompous know-it-all starts talking himself into a hole, one of the others can shut him down as a friend would with no hard feelings, the kleptomaniac would never steal from her few real friends, the fanatic would never consider them as enemies or obstacles to his pact, and the foolhardy one listens to their warnings more than he would any other NPC. I've run a few campaigns before this but this one in particular has lead to the most memorable moments so far just because I think this dynamic group of weirdos has come alive in and outside of the game more than any of our previous PCs thanks to these flaws making them all so much less one note.
I love that so much! It sounds like you guys are doing a great job of making sure this type of play is fun for everyone at the table. You definitely hit on the point that it can be really liberating to play like this and create such great roleplay moments! 😊
As a DM, my first rule for players is: arrive ready to play the same game as everyone else. This is aided by a conversation before the campaign starts to get all the players (including the DM) to come together and decide as a group what that game is. Once everyone is on the same page, we're ready to roll!
Literally this is some sort of a problem for me... Like... I always end up having to be neutral or concede because I am a boyscout (my archetype being Marvel Thor)
Great video and great advice! particularly the note on broadcasting. l played Monster of the Week for the first time this weekend and I was playing a former criminal among a group of FBI agents - a character filled with flaws and potential for problematic play, but in most of the situations I was broadcasting what this criminal would have *liked* to have done if they were still in their old life, and then performing actions that ran counter do that. Things like making a point of highlighting the effort they were taking NOT to be rude to the NPC we were talking to, or describing that instinct to turn and run away when danger kicks off being overcome when they see the other members of the group run towards the threat. Then often after each scene the character would make some comment to the other PCs about how they would have LIKED to have handled the situation, which got a laugh from everyone, and we were able to just keep on going without any actual disruption.
Thanks Anto! 😊 I loooove Monster of the Week, can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it! It sounds like you guys had a blast - I’m glad to hear that you use that method too!
Great advice. Make an emotional declaration about what a character is thinking and then take action to push the parties agenda along. Foreshadows things you might do later so it doesn’t seem so out of left field and can create a dramatic moment where they fall to their flaws or eventually have a moment where they overcome their flaw. It’s a tricky line to walk but if your flaw is never a negative, causes trouble for the character in some way, then they can never overcome it. That’s how you create a character arc. So love that first bit of advice about emotional declaration. Then you just need to figure out how to have the flaw actually affect things negatively once or twice. That’s how you create up and down beats for your character arc. Then you get some improvisational long form storytelling. Break immersion is also a great tip. Just talk to the other players about what you’re looking to get out of a scene, a story arc, how you are looking to relate to other characters and what other players are looking to get out of their characters stories. If you look to help and play into their flaws and negative moments then they’re going to be willing to do the same for you. It’s a cooperative game after all. Just ask questions and give information. Great video.
Thanks for the kind words! 😊 And it definitely takes some finesse- you’re absolutely right that you don’t want to remove conflict from the PC and their story, you just don’t want it to ruin every interaction the party as a whole has 😂
Great Video - one thing I can add. My favourite games are in the horror genre, world of darkness, chronicles of darkness, KULT divinity lost etc. where everyone plays a flawed character. And there are a few aspects you can steal from those games if you want to play a band of Heroes that have flaws: 1. reward engaging with your flaw - if you complicate the group's life by engaging in your vice, going to the local gambling den and getting indebted to the local mob - you get inspiration, the reason why I like this is twofold. You offset the complication a bit by giving luck/inspiration whatever and you might incentivise others also to play their vices to get inspiration/luck. 2. have everyone have one or two flaws, but they are triggered by the GM - say one of the PCs is a horny bard, can you give me a dc 15 int saving throw to NOT start hitting on this town official, the reason why I like this is that the players still can play heroic characters - but you decide when it would spice up the game - and ask for those complications. I would always make sure everyone in the group is okay with everyone else's flaws - and you can workshop them. KULT has a very interesting system where the GM accumulates Holds (a currency to make PC life more difficult) on failed checks for disadvantage - which get more difficult based on an in-game stress mechanic, though be warned KULT is a horror game for mature players. Here are some disadvantages that make the story more interesting: having a stalker/fan that follows the group. Phobias and manias, addiction. bad reputation being wanted by the authorities or the criminal underworld, greed, being cursed by bad luck for the people around them, having nightmares, being haunted, having guilt about something in their past. One thing to be aware you can drive entire stories based on those flaws - so they might take over part of the main story, in my games that is okay - that's part of why we play, to explore these flawed characters. I usually plan campaigns with just 50% content being supplied by flaws in mind. Since you mentioned Seth - he has a series about KULT, have a look at the mechanics even if the content warning turns you off from playing the game. (see ua-cam.com/video/CRCSFsT24Po/v-deo.html)
I have a cowardly Halfing Bard who thinks he's a leprechaun. He typically tries to convince the party that dangerous things are a bad idea and they typically offer to let him stay back... alone. His fear of being without the party usually overcomes his cowardliness and he begrudgingly goes with them.
Good video. Before I start a campaign, I ask my players if they want to allow evil characters in their party though, because that can decrease the fun for others a lot, which is particularly annoying, when conflicts start after months and destroy the campaign, and all my work as a dm is for nothing. I had a player who picked anxiety of fire as her main flaw, not communicating that in advance, which became no fun at all with my fire specialist wizard, who had no other offensive spell. She even attacked my character in the middle of combat. So, if you must pick flaws, pick wisely.
Absolutely! I have people in certain groups I run for that will never ever want to play in a game with this type of party tension - and that’s a-okay! I know some people skip them, but I always have a session 0 so that everyone is on the same page about what type of game we’re looking to explore!
I bake flaws into the characters mechanics or the world at the start often I made a race where you assign a trauma that triggers a roll an if enough bad rolls happen the player must roleplay younger mental state this helped me brainstorm so much when working on plothooks
Switching in and out of character to maintain some space between the player and the character makes so much sense when you say it out loud! I remember a friend playing a pretty annoying character for four or five sessions in a row, and he would periodically make his own jokes and comments about how annoying his character was. I think that meant a long way toward maintaining goodwill around the table
Its always fun to figure out character flaws , i have a hard time making them at the start its more that they evolve gradually as I play and can put words on it later. For example my elven wizard is very independent due to a suffocating family with way to high expectations, but due to this he is highly distrustful of older elves (which is one of our most powerful allies) and intends to do and fix a lot of things himself and not letting others in to ask for help. The players know ofc but we know its a gradual journey for him to to get in so deep he has no choice but finally ask for help. (getting secretly blackmailed into being engaged to the BBEG is one thing for example) And sometimes its more that a certain type of rolls or way I play affect how the character has a flaw. My ranger in our arena campaign is what I called in a previous short of yours "an antaognistic blabbermouth" running his mouth which causes conflicts but propels the game forward. And this comes because I as a player is so comfy in this group I dont think before I speak and well things turn out as they do in game and gets adopted by the character into a trait and flaw, also to reflect his 8 charisma (which is still the highest in the party..the rest has 6...) Since we roll with it and communicate about it it becomes endearing rather than annoying.
I absolutely love letting the dice take control! And 100% - just like you said pretty much any flaw can be done well because it’s all about how you do it! 😊 Also a party with an 8 as the highest CHA _cracks_ me up!
@@StephaniePlaysGames we realised it just last session, e have played for one year and a half and just realised how low we actually were our DMs jaw dropped when we came on that topic. -wait, who of you has the highest?? -I dont know I thought i atleast shared charisma with Barbarian -no I have a 6 -and the rest of you?? -6,6..8 -you got to be kidding me... no charisma party in a campaign all about appealing to an audience as gladiators in a spectator sport..we atleast have a theme xD
Well said. Negative player character traits can be fine. It's when the Player human fails to read the room and stick to it too hard and be inflexible to the detriment of the team of humans sitting around the table rolling dice. IMHO. YMMV. 😉
For sure! There’s a bit more groundwork to setting up games for people wanting to play these characters, but if everyone at the table has the emotional intelligence to understand how to pull it off it can be so much fun!
I try to make negative traits have triggers. So your kleptomaniac example I would have the character only steal stuff when they are triggered by envy. That way the DM and other characters have forewarning and can attempt to prevent disaster. Or the DM can lean into the trigger to push forward a plot. Another example would be someone who is foolhardy but only when someone challenges his bravery. This allows other players to and NPCs to try to trigger or stop him from acting foolhardy.
I have seen a game where XP is awarded for 3 things. What you want your character to do in a session. What does the player want to do. And a character arc nominated but the player. I've been thinking about using this in other systems.
Thanks for another great topic. I'm really appreciating your nerdery! This one is especially appropriate to share with my heist hellions (the player group).
There's a couple simple rules that make role-playing flaws not as toxic as the horror stories that circle reddit. 1. No PvP. No killing, robbing, seducing, or whatever the other PCs. 2. When the DM or any PC points out that a specific NPC is part of one PC's on-going side quest chain or backstory, that NPC is off limits. The rogue isn't allowed to rob the paladin's squire, and the paladin isn't allowed to arrest or execute the lieutenants of the thieves guild the rogue is running. 3. If you ever think you're approaching the lines made by the rules above, talk to the other player and the DM and see if the two of you can combine your flaws for a story moment. The alcoholic fighter is about to fall off the wagon, but the klepto rogue stole all their booze and sold it. The easily seduced bard is about to wander off with a conquest when the murder frenzy barbarian cleaves said conquest in half with their great axe. Revealing the conquest to be a succubus, doppelganger, or salt vampire. 4. Don't be racist. In game and out. Just don't do it. If you absolutely must be racist in the game, never target it at a PC. At the absolute most say, "You're one of the good ones." one single time, and then never bring it up again.
Very fun and useful. As A DM in the Game I'm playing im running a Half Sun Elf Ancient Paladin and The Rogue type and I had that Dynamic 😮 So we had to have that Classic Argument.. But it happens. Alot
To avoid broadcasting but still get the internal struggle across, is why I prefer to play in third person. Instead of telling the players what my character would like to do or what they think, I show them their hesitancy or describe their quick glance to the exist before they collect themselves and stand their ground. This way I give the other players around a table the clues that they can rad my character and their feelings without having to outright say it out loud.
I definitely do a lot of that too 😊 Some people and groups just do better with explicit statements instead of clues, especially if someone is playing a more contentious character trope.
The most important factor here is designing flaws around character development. A character flaw isn't like a wart or a scar, something you stick onto an otherwise flawless character to add dimensionality. Character flaws are integral to character design, because without them there's nowhere to go and the character is pointless. A good character flaw is a way in which the positive and neutral aspects of their character also cause them limitations, because their development is going to be learning how to live with or overcome those limitations. If you aren't thinking about this, you aren't making a flawed character, you're either making a flawless character or an edgelord. And incidentally, there absolutely are people who go around doing evil stuff for absolutely no reason. That's what psychopathy is - a mixture of inhibited empathy and inhibited concern for consequences. They only feel unrealistic because the real world instances of them tend to end up in prison, because contrary to popular opinion, most psychopaths are also stupid.
In my current game, I play a happy psychopath, one of my party members is a surly lone wolf. Stereotypes but fun to play. Before we started the game, we gave these two a background together. They're deeply loyal to each other, and are deeply loyal to the party. There's conflict, but it's like siblings. I also temper my psychopath's murder hobo nature with a respect for what the party wants, and a love of the underdog. He will free the slave, rescue the child, and adopt the dog. All while racking up a decent body count.
Yes! I think there’s something to be said for making sure that your character isn’t hurting those who are already at a disadvantage- there’s so many OTHER stronger people to kill instead 😂 That sounds like a blast!
I loved games that had point-buy systems (e.g., any edition of GURPS) where I could play an alcoholic, myopic, gluttonous mage. The disadvantages would pay for the advantages. I don't know how this would work out in 5e, though, but I'd love to see that.
Olde Swords Reign, a 5e based OSR game has something like this. It has Hindrances, which are basically the opposites of Feats. If you roll for a random Hindrance you may take an extra Feat.
I have a player playing a druid that is slowly becoming a pyro. Right now he's burning down a cultist fort where the only way the party will know where next to go is a couple of letters. So first I need to figure out a way not to have the letters burn with everything else, and have the NPC cleric yell at him for doing this.
When dealing with someone who wants to play that Edgy Lone Wolf: make sure they want to stick with the party and protect it, by asking your Lone Wolf to create at least two positive connections with other PCs. Maybe one PC is his/her beloved son. Maybe he/she owes a life debt to a PC, like a cleric who saved their life. Maybe he/she has been hired to guard another PC and there is serious GP at stake. Maybe...
"Bigger, Better [Boat]" is such a strong instant-win (when inspiration allows) that it makes it hard to think of other tips. And, giving your group permission to break immersion frees them up to play however they are comfortable. I think this would open up that inspiration to find another goal. This doesn't have to /replace/ their problematic trait, play that up! Just strive for something else that may result in an internal conflict. My tip to add would be to "Collaborate." This might just be expanding on 14:07, but feel free to ask for ideas from the other players, take inspiration from them. Find ways to connect your character's issues with the other characters' issues and the game world (the gm's issues).
I generally appreciate the flaw when the human player knows they are being flawed. We might all have a laugh at them intentionally handicapping us. But truth be told, in all my years of playing...I just realized I have NEVER encountered a table of players who just wanted their characters to be good people. It's either chaotic or evil or they try but easily become murder hobos. I don't play or DM anymore but if I ever did, I'd be deadset on running a heroic and good campaign.
Oh man! I have the total opposite problem - a lot of players of mine creat semi-edgelord PCs that turn out to be good people 😂 I think the thing I really like to do is try to make moral decisions really mean something and affect the story in tangible ways - that usually helps give some weight to their actions!
Oof, this is so tricky, I've been trying to write this video for three months... TBH every character in baldur's gate is such a problem character, and they ARE the characters I want at my table but... I want them to be played soooo sensitively.
I feel it counts as a character flaw only if the character is the one primarily suffering from it. If a character is successfully stealing from their party members then they don't have a flaw. They have an antagonistic power. If, however, it's brought up as something like "You wake up from sleep and immediately notice my hand on your coin purse and a deep look of shame on my face". You don't benefit from a flaw. It's not a quirky trait that lets you justify bad behaviour or trigger problems for your party for the lols. It's your sh*t. Your character is the one drowning in it or struggling to swim. And if you have presented it well then the other characters have motivation to dive in to help you save yourself.
I thnk you are incorrectly using the term "flawed". Being a murder hobo isnt a character flaw, its a feature. It may not be a feature you want, but its not a "flaw". Its at most a play style. Same with most/all of those. Cowards maybe a a flaw cause in a game of fighting monster fainting or running away from danger at first sight probably stops you playing the game with that character. I think most people see flaws as something hurts or stops you playing or being effective....usually mechanically in the game. So I just think you are talking about potentially difficult play styles for a table.
I don’t think that’s necessarily true - I actually know quite a few people who really want to play either an evil character or in an evil campaign 🤷♀️ I think it’s about exploring different types of stories.
Awesome vid and extremely solid advice! In my current 5e game, my players all exemplify some negative traits, one is a bit of a kleptomaniac, another is pompous and always talking down to others, another has a fanatical drive to serve their warlock patron, and another is vain and foolhardy. I think the reason why they specifically work together as a team though is because of our session zero and my requirements for how the party became a party. Despite all these flaws that their characters gained through their lives up until they started adventuring with each other, they all grew up in the same town and were all childhood friends. Their first adventure together was avenging the death of an NPC who was the glue of their original childhood friendship.
Despite all these negative traits that might make them annoying or frustrating characters in other parties, this connecting thread they have between each other lets them reel them back in. If the pompous know-it-all starts talking himself into a hole, one of the others can shut him down as a friend would with no hard feelings, the kleptomaniac would never steal from her few real friends, the fanatic would never consider them as enemies or obstacles to his pact, and the foolhardy one listens to their warnings more than he would any other NPC.
I've run a few campaigns before this but this one in particular has lead to the most memorable moments so far just because I think this dynamic group of weirdos has come alive in and outside of the game more than any of our previous PCs thanks to these flaws making them all so much less one note.
I love that so much! It sounds like you guys are doing a great job of making sure this type of play is fun for everyone at the table. You definitely hit on the point that it can be really liberating to play like this and create such great roleplay moments! 😊
As a DM, my first rule for players is: arrive ready to play the same game as everyone else. This is aided by a conversation before the campaign starts to get all the players (including the DM) to come together and decide as a group what that game is. Once everyone is on the same page, we're ready to roll!
Absolutely! Everyone being on the same page about the type of game you’re all playing takes care of soooo many issues automatically! 😊
Literally this is some sort of a problem for me... Like... I always end up having to be neutral or concede because I am a boyscout (my archetype being Marvel Thor)
Great video and great advice! particularly the note on broadcasting.
l played Monster of the Week for the first time this weekend and I was playing a former criminal among a group of FBI agents - a character filled with flaws and potential for problematic play, but in most of the situations I was broadcasting what this criminal would have *liked* to have done if they were still in their old life, and then performing actions that ran counter do that. Things like making a point of highlighting the effort they were taking NOT to be rude to the NPC we were talking to, or describing that instinct to turn and run away when danger kicks off being overcome when they see the other members of the group run towards the threat.
Then often after each scene the character would make some comment to the other PCs about how they would have LIKED to have handled the situation, which got a laugh from everyone, and we were able to just keep on going without any actual disruption.
Thanks Anto! 😊 I loooove Monster of the Week, can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it! It sounds like you guys had a blast - I’m glad to hear that you use that method too!
Great advice. Make an emotional declaration about what a character is thinking and then take action to push the parties agenda along.
Foreshadows things you might do later so it doesn’t seem so out of left field and can create a dramatic moment where they fall to their flaws or eventually have a moment where they overcome their flaw.
It’s a tricky line to walk but if your flaw is never a negative, causes trouble for the character in some way, then they can never overcome it.
That’s how you create a character arc. So love that first bit of advice about emotional declaration. Then you just need to figure out how to have the flaw actually affect things negatively once or twice. That’s how you create up and down beats for your character arc.
Then you get some improvisational long form storytelling.
Break immersion is also a great tip. Just talk to the other players about what you’re looking to get out of a scene, a story arc, how you are looking to relate to other characters and what other players are looking to get out of their characters stories. If you look to help and play into their flaws and negative moments then they’re going to be willing to do the same for you. It’s a cooperative game after all. Just ask questions and give information.
Great video.
Thanks for the kind words! 😊 And it definitely takes some finesse- you’re absolutely right that you don’t want to remove conflict from the PC and their story, you just don’t want it to ruin every interaction the party as a whole has 😂
Flaws are Great in 5e I personally would have tied Feats and stuff to Backgrounds but I Loooove Flaws when I Play 😅
Great Video - one thing I can add. My favourite games are in the horror genre, world of darkness, chronicles of darkness, KULT divinity lost etc. where everyone plays a flawed character. And there are a few aspects you can steal from those games if you want to play a band of Heroes that have flaws:
1. reward engaging with your flaw - if you complicate the group's life by engaging in your vice, going to the local gambling den and getting indebted to the local mob - you get inspiration, the reason why I like this is twofold. You offset the complication a bit by giving luck/inspiration whatever and you might incentivise others also to play their vices to get inspiration/luck.
2. have everyone have one or two flaws, but they are triggered by the GM - say one of the PCs is a horny bard, can you give me a dc 15 int saving throw to NOT start hitting on this town official, the reason why I like this is that the players still can play heroic characters - but you decide when it would spice up the game - and ask for those complications. I would always make sure everyone in the group is okay with everyone else's flaws - and you can workshop them.
KULT has a very interesting system where the GM accumulates Holds (a currency to make PC life more difficult) on failed checks for disadvantage - which get more difficult based on an in-game stress mechanic, though be warned KULT is a horror game for mature players.
Here are some disadvantages that make the story more interesting: having a stalker/fan that follows the group. Phobias and manias, addiction. bad reputation being wanted by the authorities or the criminal underworld, greed, being cursed by bad luck for the people around them, having nightmares, being haunted, having guilt about something in their past. One thing to be aware you can drive entire stories based on those flaws - so they might take over part of the main story, in my games that is okay - that's part of why we play, to explore these flawed characters. I usually plan campaigns with just 50% content being supplied by flaws in mind.
Since you mentioned Seth - he has a series about KULT, have a look at the mechanics even if the content warning turns you off from playing the game. (see ua-cam.com/video/CRCSFsT24Po/v-deo.html)
Yeah I love KULT! It’s definitely a great system for playing up flaws!
I have a cowardly Halfing Bard who thinks he's a leprechaun. He typically tries to convince the party that dangerous things are a bad idea and they typically offer to let him stay back... alone. His fear of being without the party usually overcomes his cowardliness and he begrudgingly goes with them.
I love this! And I love how you use the same trait that makes him want to stay away from danger force him into staying with the party instead 😂
Good video. Before I start a campaign, I ask my players if they want to allow evil characters in their party though, because that can decrease the fun for others a lot, which is particularly annoying, when conflicts start after months and destroy the campaign, and all my work as a dm is for nothing.
I had a player who picked anxiety of fire as her main flaw, not communicating that in advance, which became no fun at all with my fire specialist wizard, who had no other offensive spell. She even attacked my character in the middle of combat. So, if you must pick flaws, pick wisely.
Absolutely! I have people in certain groups I run for that will never ever want to play in a game with this type of party tension - and that’s a-okay! I know some people skip them, but I always have a session 0 so that everyone is on the same page about what type of game we’re looking to explore!
I bake flaws into the characters mechanics or the world at the start often
I made a race where you assign a trauma that triggers a roll an if enough bad rolls happen the player must roleplay younger mental state
this helped me brainstorm so much when working on plothooks
Switching in and out of character to maintain some space between the player and the character makes so much sense when you say it out loud!
I remember a friend playing a pretty annoying character for four or five sessions in a row, and he would periodically make his own jokes and comments about how annoying his character was. I think that meant a long way toward maintaining goodwill around the table
Yayyy I’m glad it makes sense! I almost didn’t include it because it sounds really weird - but I’m glad you’ve seen its magic in action! 😂
Its always fun to figure out character flaws , i have a hard time making them at the start its more that they evolve gradually as I play and can put words on it later.
For example my elven wizard is very independent due to a suffocating family with way to high expectations, but due to this he is highly distrustful of older elves (which is one of our most powerful allies) and intends to do and fix a lot of things himself and not letting others in to ask for help. The players know ofc but we know its a gradual journey for him to to get in so deep he has no choice but finally ask for help. (getting secretly blackmailed into being engaged to the BBEG is one thing for example)
And sometimes its more that a certain type of rolls or way I play affect how the character has a flaw. My ranger in our arena campaign is what I called in a previous short of yours "an antaognistic blabbermouth" running his mouth which causes conflicts but propels the game forward. And this comes because I as a player is so comfy in this group I dont think before I speak and well things turn out as they do in game and gets adopted by the character into a trait and flaw, also to reflect his 8 charisma (which is still the highest in the party..the rest has 6...)
Since we roll with it and communicate about it it becomes endearing rather than annoying.
I absolutely love letting the dice take control! And 100% - just like you said pretty much any flaw can be done well because it’s all about how you do it! 😊 Also a party with an 8 as the highest CHA _cracks_ me up!
@@StephaniePlaysGames we realised it just last session, e have played for one year and a half and just realised how low we actually were our DMs jaw dropped when we came on that topic.
-wait, who of you has the highest??
-I dont know I thought i atleast shared charisma with Barbarian
-no I have a 6
-and the rest of you??
-6,6..8
-you got to be kidding me...
no charisma party in a campaign all about appealing to an audience as gladiators in a spectator sport..we atleast have a theme xD
Well said. Negative player character traits can be fine. It's when the Player human fails to read the room and stick to it too hard and be inflexible to the detriment of the team of humans sitting around the table rolling dice. IMHO. YMMV. 😉
For sure! There’s a bit more groundwork to setting up games for people wanting to play these characters, but if everyone at the table has the emotional intelligence to understand how to pull it off it can be so much fun!
Flaws are the absolute best! How characters work to get around and compensate for their flaws is some of the best parts of TTRPGs for me
I totally agree, it’s one of my favorite parts too!
@@StephaniePlaysGames My ABSOLUTE favourite TTRPG moments is when at least 2 players cry their eyes out, specially when I am one of them.
I try to make negative traits have triggers. So your kleptomaniac example I would have the character only steal stuff when they are triggered by envy. That way the DM and other characters have forewarning and can attempt to prevent disaster. Or the DM can lean into the trigger to push forward a plot. Another example would be someone who is foolhardy but only when someone challenges his bravery. This allows other players to and NPCs to try to trigger or stop him from acting foolhardy.
Steady posting that 🔥 content! 🙌
💕😂 I’m trying my best!
I have seen a game where XP is awarded for 3 things. What you want your character to do in a session. What does the player want to do. And a character arc nominated but the player. I've been thinking about using this in other systems.
Yes! Vampire the Masquerade does XP through roleplay and I know of a few others but it’s a fun in-between for people who don’t quite trust milestones!
Thanks for another great topic. I'm really appreciating your nerdery! This one is especially appropriate to share with my heist hellions (the player group).
I love that they have a name, that’s so cute 🥺 I definitely give my groups little nicknames based on their antics 😂
Really great analysis and recos, Stephanie; thanks for putting this together!
Thanks for the kind words! ☺
There's a couple simple rules that make role-playing flaws not as toxic as the horror stories that circle reddit.
1. No PvP. No killing, robbing, seducing, or whatever the other PCs.
2. When the DM or any PC points out that a specific NPC is part of one PC's on-going side quest chain or backstory, that NPC is off limits.
The rogue isn't allowed to rob the paladin's squire, and the paladin isn't allowed to arrest or execute the lieutenants of the thieves guild the rogue is running.
3. If you ever think you're approaching the lines made by the rules above, talk to the other player and the DM and see if the two of you can combine your flaws for a story moment.
The alcoholic fighter is about to fall off the wagon, but the klepto rogue stole all their booze and sold it.
The easily seduced bard is about to wander off with a conquest when the murder frenzy barbarian cleaves said conquest in half with their great axe. Revealing the conquest to be a succubus, doppelganger, or salt vampire.
4. Don't be racist. In game and out. Just don't do it. If you absolutely must be racist in the game, never target it at a PC. At the absolute most say, "You're one of the good ones." one single time, and then never bring it up again.
These are all really good tips! 😊
Very fun and useful. As A DM in the Game I'm playing im running a Half Sun Elf Ancient Paladin and The Rogue type and I had that Dynamic 😮
So we had to have that Classic Argument.. But it happens. Alot
To avoid broadcasting but still get the internal struggle across, is why I prefer to play in third person. Instead of telling the players what my character would like to do or what they think, I show them their hesitancy or describe their quick glance to the exist before they collect themselves and stand their ground. This way I give the other players around a table the clues that they can rad my character and their feelings without having to outright say it out loud.
I definitely do a lot of that too 😊 Some people and groups just do better with explicit statements instead of clues, especially if someone is playing a more contentious character trope.
The most important factor here is designing flaws around character development. A character flaw isn't like a wart or a scar, something you stick onto an otherwise flawless character to add dimensionality. Character flaws are integral to character design, because without them there's nowhere to go and the character is pointless. A good character flaw is a way in which the positive and neutral aspects of their character also cause them limitations, because their development is going to be learning how to live with or overcome those limitations. If you aren't thinking about this, you aren't making a flawed character, you're either making a flawless character or an edgelord.
And incidentally, there absolutely are people who go around doing evil stuff for absolutely no reason. That's what psychopathy is - a mixture of inhibited empathy and inhibited concern for consequences. They only feel unrealistic because the real world instances of them tend to end up in prison, because contrary to popular opinion, most psychopaths are also stupid.
In my current game, I play a happy psychopath, one of my party members is a surly lone wolf. Stereotypes but fun to play. Before we started the game, we gave these two a background together. They're deeply loyal to each other, and are deeply loyal to the party. There's conflict, but it's like siblings. I also temper my psychopath's murder hobo nature with a respect for what the party wants, and a love of the underdog. He will free the slave, rescue the child, and adopt the dog. All while racking up a decent body count.
Yes! I think there’s something to be said for making sure that your character isn’t hurting those who are already at a disadvantage- there’s so many OTHER stronger people to kill instead 😂 That sounds like a blast!
I loved games that had point-buy systems (e.g., any edition of GURPS) where I could play an alcoholic, myopic, gluttonous mage. The disadvantages would pay for the advantages. I don't know how this would work out in 5e, though, but I'd love to see that.
I also really like that part of GURPS! I might be able to think up something! 🧪
Olde Swords Reign, a 5e based OSR game has something like this. It has Hindrances, which are basically the opposites of Feats. If you roll for a random Hindrance you may take an extra Feat.
I have a player playing a druid that is slowly becoming a pyro. Right now he's burning down a cultist fort where the only way the party will know where next to go is a couple of letters. So first I need to figure out a way not to have the letters burn with everything else, and have the NPC cleric yell at him for doing this.
Ooooh the fort needs the fantasy version of a fire box 😂
@@StephaniePlaysGames that's what I'm thinking, some sort of iron box or a protection from fire spell
What are your tips for playing a character that might other be *ahem* ~problematic~?
When dealing with someone who wants to play that Edgy Lone Wolf: make sure they want to stick with the party and protect it, by asking your Lone Wolf to create at least two positive connections with other PCs. Maybe one PC is his/her beloved son. Maybe he/she owes a life debt to a PC, like a cleric who saved their life. Maybe he/she has been hired to guard another PC and there is serious GP at stake. Maybe...
"Bigger, Better [Boat]" is such a strong instant-win (when inspiration allows) that it makes it hard to think of other tips. And, giving your group permission to break immersion frees them up to play however they are comfortable. I think this would open up that inspiration to find another goal. This doesn't have to /replace/ their problematic trait, play that up! Just strive for something else that may result in an internal conflict.
My tip to add would be to "Collaborate." This might just be expanding on 14:07, but feel free to ask for ideas from the other players, take inspiration from them. Find ways to connect your character's issues with the other characters' issues and the game world (the gm's issues).
I generally appreciate the flaw when the human player knows they are being flawed. We might all have a laugh at them intentionally handicapping us.
But truth be told, in all my years of playing...I just realized I have NEVER encountered a table of players who just wanted their characters to be good people. It's either chaotic or evil or they try but easily become murder hobos. I don't play or DM anymore but if I ever did, I'd be deadset on running a heroic and good campaign.
Oh man! I have the total opposite problem - a lot of players of mine creat semi-edgelord PCs that turn out to be good people 😂 I think the thing I really like to do is try to make moral decisions really mean something and affect the story in tangible ways - that usually helps give some weight to their actions!
Oof, this is so tricky, I've been trying to write this video for three months... TBH every character in baldur's gate is such a problem character, and they ARE the characters I want at my table but... I want them to be played soooo sensitively.
Bahahaha FOR SURE they are 😂 It can definitely be hard since so much of this depends on what the group as a whole is into!
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I feel it counts as a character flaw only if the character is the one primarily suffering from it. If a character is successfully stealing from their party members then they don't have a flaw. They have an antagonistic power. If, however, it's brought up as something like "You wake up from sleep and immediately notice my hand on your coin purse and a deep look of shame on my face". You don't benefit from a flaw. It's not a quirky trait that lets you justify bad behaviour or trigger problems for your party for the lols. It's your sh*t. Your character is the one drowning in it or struggling to swim. And if you have presented it well then the other characters have motivation to dive in to help you save yourself.
I thnk you are incorrectly using the term "flawed". Being a murder hobo isnt a character flaw, its a feature. It may not be a feature you want, but its not a "flaw". Its at most a play style. Same with most/all of those. Cowards maybe a a flaw cause in a game of fighting monster fainting or running away from danger at first sight probably stops you playing the game with that character.
I think most people see flaws as something hurts or stops you playing or being effective....usually mechanically in the game. So I just think you are talking about potentially difficult play styles for a table.
If you want to play an evil character, you want to GM.
For players: levels 1-3 are your backstory.
I don’t think that’s necessarily true - I actually know quite a few people who really want to play either an evil character or in an evil campaign 🤷♀️ I think it’s about exploring different types of stories.
@@StephaniePlaysGames Valid