Opening thoughts
After finally graduating with my doctorate in May (2016), I wanted to dedicate some time to this idea I had but that got lost with all my responsibilities. Then I had to worry about moving and then I got back into Pokémon, so this idea took a backseat for a few months.
The idea is simple. Being an avid fan of RPGs, I have played and finished many. Historically I’ve played as a front-line melee fighter because (1) I like that archetype and (2) it’s usually more practical to play as a melee fighter class as opposed to a more situational class like a mage, though more recent games have addressed this imbalance in various ways. And it’s fun to role-play a big muscle fighter guy whose first and only solution to all problems is to introduce said problem’s face to the sword, but it’s pretty far from how someone like me actually operates.
Part of why I enjoy role-playing games is placing myself into the game, experiencing things I wouldn’t experience in reality, and exploring how I’d react to those things. So, I thought of approaching classic RPGs, ones that I wanted to shrine, by playing through them as faithfully to myself as possible rather than making characters that were either optimized or representative of what I liked to be.
The character
Most character creation systems outline attributes, skills, class, and personal traits. Skills vary very widely from game to game, so I won’t define them here. Personal traits generally include things like race, appearance, and personality. The only thing I’ll define for now is personality, followed by attributes and class.
Personality (or alignment)
Alignment is mostly a Dungeons & Dragons term, but for any role-playing game it’s worth defining what the character believes and how he sees the world. From a D&D standpoint, I consider myself Neutral Good.
That means I try to do the right thing, regardless of what the authority in the situation says. I’m like Batman cleaning up the streets of Gotham even though vigilantism is illegal, because the alternative is to let the corrupt police take care of things. I’m like Robin Hood opposing King John even though King John is the king, because King John is also a dick. I’m like Hatake Kakashi, who believes that sticking with his friends and comrades is far more important than is obedience to the rules.
That covers the “neutral” part. As for “good,” the obvious argument is that everyone’s definition of righteousness is different. I’ll defer exploration of this until the individual games, where my actual response to specific situations may shed some light on what I think is right.
I’ll say this right now, though: there’s a TV Trope called “Good is not Soft.” I’m a fan. >=)
Attributes
Arguably the main part of character creation, this is where things are slightly complicated. Every game has a different categorization of attributes. To accommodate this, I’m going to take this approach:
I think I’m the only one in the world who turns gaming into a system like this…anyway…
For hybrid attributes involving Wisdom, based on these personal rules that I still can’t believe I spent so much time devising, the upper bound is theoretically infinity (S-rank has no upper bound), which means an intermediate range isn’t well defined. I’ll go ahead and simply make the range go from the non-Wisdom stat to infinity (e.g. a stat involving Charisma and Wisdom would go from C/A-rank to infinity).
Class and class philosophy
I like to take a multifaceted approach to solve problems. In my job, I try to apply different fields synergistically to tackle osteochondral injuries and diseases. So, if I were in some fictional universe and tasked with fighting the forces of evil, I would probably take on a hybrid class. Given my lack of physical prowess, my primary class would be a mage. I’d then practice some basic melee abilities that I can then augment with magic.
In this way, I can approach the destruction of my enemies with flexibility. Giant bugs are attacking? I’m staying the hell away from all of them and summoning a fiery meteor storm to turn the entire continent into plate glass, just to be safe. The asshole behind the giant bugs has some deus-ex-machina-anti-magic shield? A swift kick to the balls followed by various sword-related events will clear that right up.
Here are some specifics bouncing off that philosophy:
The shrines
I’ll structure each shrine in pretty much the same way, with these sections:
Oh, and before we launch into this, major spoilers will be running free in all these shrines.
Status of shrines
After finally graduating with my doctorate in May (2016), I wanted to dedicate some time to this idea I had but that got lost with all my responsibilities. Then I had to worry about moving and then I got back into Pokémon, so this idea took a backseat for a few months.
The idea is simple. Being an avid fan of RPGs, I have played and finished many. Historically I’ve played as a front-line melee fighter because (1) I like that archetype and (2) it’s usually more practical to play as a melee fighter class as opposed to a more situational class like a mage, though more recent games have addressed this imbalance in various ways. And it’s fun to role-play a big muscle fighter guy whose first and only solution to all problems is to introduce said problem’s face to the sword, but it’s pretty far from how someone like me actually operates.
Part of why I enjoy role-playing games is placing myself into the game, experiencing things I wouldn’t experience in reality, and exploring how I’d react to those things. So, I thought of approaching classic RPGs, ones that I wanted to shrine, by playing through them as faithfully to myself as possible rather than making characters that were either optimized or representative of what I liked to be.
The character
Most character creation systems outline attributes, skills, class, and personal traits. Skills vary very widely from game to game, so I won’t define them here. Personal traits generally include things like race, appearance, and personality. The only thing I’ll define for now is personality, followed by attributes and class.
Personality (or alignment)
Alignment is mostly a Dungeons & Dragons term, but for any role-playing game it’s worth defining what the character believes and how he sees the world. From a D&D standpoint, I consider myself Neutral Good.
That means I try to do the right thing, regardless of what the authority in the situation says. I’m like Batman cleaning up the streets of Gotham even though vigilantism is illegal, because the alternative is to let the corrupt police take care of things. I’m like Robin Hood opposing King John even though King John is the king, because King John is also a dick. I’m like Hatake Kakashi, who believes that sticking with his friends and comrades is far more important than is obedience to the rules.
That covers the “neutral” part. As for “good,” the obvious argument is that everyone’s definition of righteousness is different. I’ll defer exploration of this until the individual games, where my actual response to specific situations may shed some light on what I think is right.
I’ll say this right now, though: there’s a TV Trope called “Good is not Soft.” I’m a fan. >=)
Attributes
Arguably the main part of character creation, this is where things are slightly complicated. Every game has a different categorization of attributes. To accommodate this, I’m going to take this approach:
- I’ll start by assigning a letter rank on a scale of F to S, with S being the highest, to each of the classic D&D attributes of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. A C-rank is average and each letter goes from there.
- For any given game, each letter rank will correspond to a range of scores. For example, C-rank would be 9-12 in a D&D attribute.
- Any categorization in a game will be written as a combination of these D&D attributes. For example, an attribute of Cunning is a mixture of Intelligence and Charisma. In this case, that attribute gets assigned an intermediate score range between my Intelligence and my Charisma.
- For instances in which an attribute cannot be written as a combination of these D&D attributes, like the Luck attribute, I’ll figure something out. I’ll probably use an RNG or something.
- Over the course of a game, any attribute can increase a maximum of one letter rank. This does not include bonuses from equipment, spells, events, etc.
I think I’m the only one in the world who turns gaming into a system like this…anyway…
- Strength measures how much physical force I can apply. I’m not strong by any means and am probably on the tail end of average, so I give myself a C-rank.
- Dexterity measures fine motor control, balance, and hand-eye coordination. It contributes to reflex saves. My dexterity is probably on par with my physical strength, if not a small bit above, so I give myself a C-rank.
- Constitution measures physical health and ability to retain good health. It contributes to fortitude saves. My constitution is terrible. I’m frail, tired, and easily injured. Strong winds can actually move me around. I give myself a D-rank.
- Intelligence measures both knowledge amassed and ability to gain more knowledge. While I’ve learned many things over the TWENTY-THREE YEARS I’ve been in school, I’m a slow learner and you won’t find me outsmarting many people. Have you seen me play chess? It’s embarrassing. I give myself a B-rank.
- Wisdom measures common sense and how experience has shaped outlook on the world. It contributes to will saves. In my opinion, this is my strongest trait. Who else can perceive the high social value of trolling others to keep them on their toes? I give myself an A-rank.
- Charisma measures ability to impress and befriend others. I get along with most people, but it’s nothing special. I’m probably at the high end of average, so I give myself a C-rank.
For hybrid attributes involving Wisdom, based on these personal rules that I still can’t believe I spent so much time devising, the upper bound is theoretically infinity (S-rank has no upper bound), which means an intermediate range isn’t well defined. I’ll go ahead and simply make the range go from the non-Wisdom stat to infinity (e.g. a stat involving Charisma and Wisdom would go from C/A-rank to infinity).
Class and class philosophy
I like to take a multifaceted approach to solve problems. In my job, I try to apply different fields synergistically to tackle osteochondral injuries and diseases. So, if I were in some fictional universe and tasked with fighting the forces of evil, I would probably take on a hybrid class. Given my lack of physical prowess, my primary class would be a mage. I’d then practice some basic melee abilities that I can then augment with magic.
In this way, I can approach the destruction of my enemies with flexibility. Giant bugs are attacking? I’m staying the hell away from all of them and summoning a fiery meteor storm to turn the entire continent into plate glass, just to be safe. The asshole behind the giant bugs has some deus-ex-machina-anti-magic shield? A swift kick to the balls followed by various sword-related events will clear that right up.
Here are some specifics bouncing off that philosophy:
- I like swords, and in real life I’m trained in the basic use of a katana. So in-game I tend to gravitate toward sword-wielding classes. Holding a sword with both hands would be my preference, but in some games that doesn’t work and so I’d wear a shield. Generally, I avoid dual-wielding.
- If we’re going to be very general, magic can be categorized into attack, buff, de-buff, heal, and utility. Ideally I’d use a variety of those, given the philosophy above, but the implementation varies from game to game, so I’ll probably end up doing something different with each game.
- “Magic” doesn’t have to be magic, either. I once made an RPG in RPG Maker where most-to-all of the special powers came from technology. That’s sort of rare in these types of games, though, but I’d be all for that.
- I also like bows/arrows and I do archery in real life. I could also explore making a mage/archer hybrid, so that’s another option down the line.
The shrines
I’ll structure each shrine in pretty much the same way, with these sections:
- Opening comments and short review of the game. Usually, I’ll have nice things to say. These are shrines, after all.
- Application of the character outline above to the particular game. I’ll be assigning attribute ranges to ranks, commenting on classes and playstyle, and showing off character screenshots. I might talk about equipment, but I’d rather focus on the character and not on what I’m wearing.
- Major decisions in the game. Here I’ll talk about what decisions I made and why. It’ll flesh out that “neutral good personality” bit from up there.
- Miscellaneous accomplishments and whatnot, for games that have interesting side-quests.
Oh, and before we launch into this, major spoilers will be running free in all these shrines.
Status of shrines