I think it's important with defiantly optimistic characters to not play them as stupid. You could always respond by saying something like "look guys! I know we can beat them! We can always try ____! Or what if we try to ____?" Having the optimistic character be an idea generator adds credence to the fact the PC isn't stupid. Anyway, you always know it's serious when the optimistic character isn't optimistic. Gon from Hunter x hunter comes to mind
So true! Alternatively, HAVING them be stupid and eventually faced with a moment of realization that reality doesn't work that way, can also work really well
There are two types of optimism I love in characters: Those whose optimism is rooted in confident ingenuity to actively seek genuinely creative ways to solve problems when the standard approach seems undoable And those whose optimism is not rooted in naivety, rather in using intense positivity as a survival/coping mechanism, gradually learning to accept their negative emotions while still holding onto their positivity to utilize in a healthier, more genuine manner
Another character that comes to mind is Waymond from Everything Everywhere All at Once. He says in the movie that he isn’t kind and optimistic out of naïveté or stupidity. He says it’s “strategic” to be kind, because the world is so messed up and broken, that sometimes optimism is a way of surviving. Choosing to believe that things can be better, that people can better and that we are capable of putting more good than harm in the world can be a way of preserving our spirit and humanity in a world that is determined to break it
I played a character like this in a very difficult setting where death was almost assured anytime you leave the towns. Even in the face of death she was optimistic and upbeat. Eventually turned that into a story beat where she had this as a facade, cause she cant pull herself out of a spiral once she admits to being scared, fearful, etc. She kept the spirits up for the group, and they kept it real and humble in a healthy way.
I’ve got an extremely optimistic peace domain cleric of Lliira in a Curse of Strahd campaign, which is actually working out really well. Her optimistic outlook and focus on finding joy and hope has become a major point of frustration for Strahd and has helped the people of Barovia feel some semblance of happiness. It’s not blind optimism; she doesn’t ignore all the bad. She’s just doing what she can to balance out all the bad with good and find productive ways to deal with all the negativity around her. It HAS led to her being labeled as “the first one I should kill, should the party become a legitimate threat” by Strahd, though, since that optimism and joy have become kind of the heart of the party. She’s all about encouraging the party’s bonds with each other.
One good example in literature would probably be Terry Pratchett‘s Carrot Ironfoundersson. He is comically optimistic , but for a good reason - his pure optimism brings the others in his surrounding to act in this ideal idyllic way, so Carrot rarely experiences the bad side of humans, which very much fits in the theme of the disc world books - and also shows especially in the later books, that he‘s not just 2d.
Playing someone that is overly positive can be tons of fun as long as it's still rooted in some sort of realistic idealism. Not just a character saying "We will beat this foe!" over and over again without changing any aspect of trying to beat said foe. Adding different strategies or plans of attack on top of the optimistic nature of the character makes for a more well rounded character that works well with a party. Also Jay I gotta say... The idea of wanting an underdog character to succeed and win the big fight even though they lose time and time again (with little victories in between) happens ALL THE TIME... In wrestling ;) Keep up the fantastic work Jay
2:58 it was TOTALLY that, at least in my circles. A lot of leagues felt like asspulls just to given ash a reason to "go train from scratch in the next region again." Like the guy with the Darkrei who had literally NEVER been mentioned before or when everyone was ready for the hype of Ash finally winning a league with his Greninja who had this super one-of-a-kind transformation... just to lose to some basic charizard. It just felt more and more like there was some mandate to make Ash lose in the end and even the writers didn't want that so they kept trying to write in cool stuff for Ash to do so people would be disappointed enough to complain until it finally resulted in this season where he got the W. Otherwise, totally agree. Another great video. Keep up the good work 👍
I would say Naruto is also a good example. He never gives up, but he also acknowledges the pain of others, his own pain, and understands that reaching his goals is going to take hard work, and not just blind optimism. If something doesn't work, he tries something else. And when others surpass him, he is proud of their achievements and lets it inspire him. If they did it, so can I.
Emmet from The Lego Movie is a cool example of a naive optimist. While he does have underlying insecurities about his overtly optimistic position, he's lovable enough that everyone wants him to be right.
My longest lived character that actually survived to the end of the campaign and achieved his goals was a naive optimist. It was a straight up fish out of water story as he was from the fey wild and didn't understand what the material plane was or even how it worked. The world was also pretty grim dark so while he wasn't a 'I'm so happy about everything' optimist he did however completely belive that he would one day return home and his ideals where always correct. Berry from the cranberry bog was one of the most fun characters I've ever played, after over a year of adventuring and getting to level 20 and defeating the BBEG he finally returned home with that bag of craneberrys he was supposed to return with for the pie him Ma was making and lived a happy and quite life. He was also only twenty or so years old which for a halfling is basically a teenager so he did all tha while still only being like 12 or fifteen, so he really was a shonen protagonist.
Another example of this sort of character is Sora from Kingdom Hearts. He has this ability to easily make friends wherever he goes and is always positive/looking for the bright side of things. There's definitely times that get him down but the vast majority of the times he's there to help support his friends and make the worlds he visit a better place
Naivety can also be optimism betraying their inexperience. A character can go through a lot, but the optimism needs to stay in some capacity. I mean, who else is going to notice that the party still has the macguffin or realize that they can foil the villain's march by magically sending a message to the king's wizard?
Ash annoys me to no end. I much prefer Moonman Rider. Mooman? I'm not sure if it's him specifically or the general setup in the show. I listened to a TTRPG on another channel, and one of the players was a naive optimist and portrayed it through his actions and role-playing. When some players tried an aggressive approach and made the situation worse through bad rolls, he took the chance to basically act a kid who found a new puppy, to stop the beast.
@Jay Martin - Play Your Role good point. He pretty blatantly says he's not strong enough for B, and admits he's going to get destroyed by the sea king.
The only reason people find Ash annoying is because of the soft reboots that happen sometimes in the series, but he's still an amazing character that deserves more credit than he's given. 1 things I like to believe is that in the early series Jim's Had a Good Samaritan clause that allowed them to give badges to those who've helped the gym leaders during times of Crisis such as whenever the Team Rocket Trio interfered with one of his Gym Battles or what he did with Sabrina which in my honest opinion was it a crisis situation that the league hadn't found out about.
It can be a great question to ask why your character has this mentality. I've played a character who was naive and optimistic because they believe that's how they can do the most good. They know there are dark things out there, but they don't focus on them because they want to remain un-tainted by them so that they can be a positive force in the lives of their friends. Definitely such a character would also likely suppress trauma and bottle it up.
I think it's important with defiantly optimistic characters to not play them as stupid. You could always respond by saying something like "look guys! I know we can beat them! We can always try ____! Or what if we try to ____?" Having the optimistic character be an idea generator adds credence to the fact the PC isn't stupid. Anyway, you always know it's serious when the optimistic character isn't optimistic. Gon from Hunter x hunter comes to mind
I realize after making my comment that you essentially said the exact same thing and I apologize lol
@@coreyjameswood your said it better! 💕
@@emilymares9623 well thank you! I do love how you gave examples of what we were both trying to say :)
So true! Alternatively, HAVING them be stupid and eventually faced with a moment of realization that reality doesn't work that way, can also work really well
There are two types of optimism I love in characters:
Those whose optimism is rooted in confident ingenuity to actively seek genuinely creative ways to solve problems when the standard approach seems undoable
And those whose optimism is not rooted in naivety, rather in using intense positivity as a survival/coping mechanism, gradually learning to accept their negative emotions while still holding onto their positivity to utilize in a healthier, more genuine manner
Another character that comes to mind is Waymond from Everything Everywhere All at Once. He says in the movie that he isn’t kind and optimistic out of naïveté or stupidity. He says it’s “strategic” to be kind, because the world is so messed up and broken, that sometimes optimism is a way of surviving. Choosing to believe that things can be better, that people can better and that we are capable of putting more good than harm in the world can be a way of preserving our spirit and humanity in a world that is determined to break it
the whole theme of that movie is fighting apathy through love and empathy, and honestly if that was a theme of a campaign, that would be a great story
I played a character like this in a very difficult setting where death was almost assured anytime you leave the towns. Even in the face of death she was optimistic and upbeat. Eventually turned that into a story beat where she had this as a facade, cause she cant pull herself out of a spiral once she admits to being scared, fearful, etc. She kept the spirits up for the group, and they kept it real and humble in a healthy way.
I’ve got an extremely optimistic peace domain cleric of Lliira in a Curse of Strahd campaign, which is actually working out really well. Her optimistic outlook and focus on finding joy and hope has become a major point of frustration for Strahd and has helped the people of Barovia feel some semblance of happiness. It’s not blind optimism; she doesn’t ignore all the bad. She’s just doing what she can to balance out all the bad with good and find productive ways to deal with all the negativity around her.
It HAS led to her being labeled as “the first one I should kill, should the party become a legitimate threat” by Strahd, though, since that optimism and joy have become kind of the heart of the party. She’s all about encouraging the party’s bonds with each other.
Lmfao I LOVE the idea of someone who just can't be brought down by Strahd, that's so funny
I really wanted to play a supermodel character in Barovia who constantly berates Strahd about having gross decor and a shitty empire
One good example in literature would probably be Terry Pratchett‘s Carrot Ironfoundersson. He is comically optimistic , but for a good reason - his pure optimism brings the others in his surrounding to act in this ideal idyllic way, so Carrot rarely experiences the bad side of humans, which very much fits in the theme of the disc world books - and also shows especially in the later books, that he‘s not just 2d.
Huh. Not an example I would have thought of, but one that fits very well!
Playing someone that is overly positive can be tons of fun as long as it's still rooted in some sort of realistic idealism. Not just a character saying "We will beat this foe!" over and over again without changing any aspect of trying to beat said foe. Adding different strategies or plans of attack on top of the optimistic nature of the character makes for a more well rounded character that works well with a party. Also Jay I gotta say... The idea of wanting an underdog character to succeed and win the big fight even though they lose time and time again (with little victories in between) happens ALL THE TIME... In wrestling ;) Keep up the fantastic work Jay
Yeah optimism is only something endearing if it's not based outside of reality. 10000% agree with that
2:58 it was TOTALLY that, at least in my circles. A lot of leagues felt like asspulls just to given ash a reason to "go train from scratch in the next region again." Like the guy with the Darkrei who had literally NEVER been mentioned before or when everyone was ready for the hype of Ash finally winning a league with his Greninja who had this super one-of-a-kind transformation... just to lose to some basic charizard. It just felt more and more like there was some mandate to make Ash lose in the end and even the writers didn't want that so they kept trying to write in cool stuff for Ash to do so people would be disappointed enough to complain until it finally resulted in this season where he got the W.
Otherwise, totally agree. Another great video. Keep up the good work 👍
I would say Naruto is also a good example. He never gives up, but he also acknowledges the pain of others, his own pain, and understands that reaching his goals is going to take hard work, and not just blind optimism. If something doesn't work, he tries something else. And when others surpass him, he is proud of their achievements and lets it inspire him. If they did it, so can I.
Emmet from The Lego Movie is a cool example of a naive optimist. While he does have underlying insecurities about his overtly optimistic position, he's lovable enough that everyone wants him to be right.
My longest lived character that actually survived to the end of the campaign and achieved his goals was a naive optimist. It was a straight up fish out of water story as he was from the fey wild and didn't understand what the material plane was or even how it worked. The world was also pretty grim dark so while he wasn't a 'I'm so happy about everything' optimist he did however completely belive that he would one day return home and his ideals where always correct.
Berry from the cranberry bog was one of the most fun characters I've ever played, after over a year of adventuring and getting to level 20 and defeating the BBEG he finally returned home with that bag of craneberrys he was supposed to return with for the pie him Ma was making and lived a happy and quite life. He was also only twenty or so years old which for a halfling is basically a teenager so he did all tha while still only being like 12 or fifteen, so he really was a shonen protagonist.
Another example of this sort of character is Sora from Kingdom Hearts. He has this ability to easily make friends wherever he goes and is always positive/looking for the bright side of things. There's definitely times that get him down but the vast majority of the times he's there to help support his friends and make the worlds he visit a better place
Naivety can also be optimism betraying their inexperience. A character can go through a lot, but the optimism needs to stay in some capacity. I mean, who else is going to notice that the party still has the macguffin or realize that they can foil the villain's march by magically sending a message to the king's wizard?
Relative optimism - you are brilliant! Aiming to be just a bit more optimistic than everyone else in that setting makes so much sense.
Love this! Keep these coming :)
I like these types of videos a lot. I’m trying to up my role play game and these are super helpful.
As someone currently playing a Pokémon TTRPG I can confirm it is NOT TTRPG friendly
Ash annoys me to no end. I much prefer Moonman Rider. Mooman? I'm not sure if it's him specifically or the general setup in the show. I listened to a TTRPG on another channel, and one of the players was a naive optimist and portrayed it through his actions and role-playing. When some players tried an aggressive approach and made the situation worse through bad rolls, he took the chance to basically act a kid who found a new puppy, to stop the beast.
Mumen rider was definitely one of the best examples, BUT he's also not really naive so he didn't fit the bill for me
@Jay Martin - Play Your Role good point. He pretty blatantly says he's not strong enough for B, and admits he's going to get destroyed by the sea king.
The term annoying has been overused in general an overused to be made out as some horrible only ruining everything concept
It's real Subjective I'll give you that
The only reason people find Ash annoying is because of the soft reboots that happen sometimes in the series, but he's still an amazing character that deserves more credit than he's given. 1 things I like to believe is that in the early series Jim's Had a Good Samaritan clause that allowed them to give badges to those who've helped the gym leaders during times of Crisis such as whenever the Team Rocket Trio interfered with one of his Gym Battles or what he did with Sabrina which in my honest opinion was it a crisis situation that the league hadn't found out about.
It can be a great question to ask why your character has this mentality. I've played a character who was naive and optimistic because they believe that's how they can do the most good. They know there are dark things out there, but they don't focus on them because they want to remain un-tainted by them so that they can be a positive force in the lives of their friends. Definitely such a character would also likely suppress trauma and bottle it up.
So, a bard.