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9 months ago ::
Sep 18, 2012 - 10:40PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Sep 24, 2011
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I am playing a rogue (3.5e) and I have a rather long background (at least in comparison to the rest of the party) about how I procured my skills. None of which was done doing things that a thief would do--however, I have been told that I am supposed to be a thief.
Not any kind of thief, but the kind that joins the Thieves' Guild and ascends the ranks. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this? I feel my character's personality is just being obliterated by this and I don't see how to resolve it.
If I had been told that this was what was going to happen for playing a rogue, I would've gone with my original choice (of wizard). The group requested I make a rogue, so I did just that (but he was an honorable rogue who only used his skills if it helped pursue justice) and now I'm getting railroaded into being a boring, stereotypical thief. Does anyone have any advice at all?
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9 months ago ::
Sep 18, 2012 - 10:47PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Apr 29, 2006
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Play your character the way you want to play him.
Let your DM and fellow players know that your character is your character. Not theirs. If they want a stereotypical rogue affiliated with a Thieves Guild, et cetera and so forth, then they can roll up their own rogues and do that. Unless playing against stereotype is somehow disrupting the game (which is highly unlikely), then they don't have a leg to stand on.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 8:21AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2009
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I am playing a rogue (3.5e) and I have a rather long background (at least in comparison to the rest of the party) about how I procured my skills. None of which was done doing things that a thief would do--however, I have been told that I am supposed to be a thief.
Not any kind of thief, but the kind that joins the Thieves' Guild and ascends the ranks. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this? I feel my character's personality is just being obliterated by this and I don't see how to resolve it.
The only person who can determine what kind of character you play is you. Neither the DM nor your fellow players can force you to be a thief if you had no intention of playing your rogue in such a way. Just tell them straight up that you disagree with their idea of how you should play your character. At the end of the day, if you cannot force them to play their PCs and the NPCs as you want, then they cannot try to coerce you into molding your rogue into the character they desire.
If I had been told that this was what was going to happen for playing a rogue, I would've gone with my original choice (of wizard). The group requested I make a rogue, so I did just that (but he was an honorable rogue who only used his skills if it helped pursue justice) and now I'm getting railroaded into being a boring, stereotypical thief. Does anyone have any advice at all?
Play your rogue exactly as you had originally planned. If anyone gives you grief, tell them that it's not up to them.
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"I don't like X, they should remove it."
"I like X, they should keep it."
"They should replace X with Y."
"Anybody that likes X is dumb. Y is better."
"Why don't they include both X and Y."
"Yeah, everybody can be happy then!"
"But I don't like X, they should remove it."
"X really needs to be replaced with Y."
"But they can include both X and Y."
"But I don't like X, they need to remove it."
"Remove X, I don't like it."
Repeat.
Obstinance?
Until you've had an in-law tell you your choice of game was stupid, and just Warcraft on paper, and dumbed down for dumber players who can't handle a real RPG, you haven't lived.
You haven't lived.
Lady and gentlemen.... I present to you the Edition War without Contrition, the War of the Web, the Mighty Match-up!
We're using standard edition war rules. No posts of substance. Do not read the other person's posts with comprehension. Make frequent comparison to video games, MMOs, and CCGs. Use the words "fallacy" and "straw man", incorrectly and often. Passive aggressiveness gets you extra points and asking misleading and inflammatory questions is mandatory. If you're getting tired, just declare victory and leave the thread. Wait for the buzzer... and....
One, two, three, four, I declare Edition War
Five, six, seven eight, I use the web to 
Go!
D&D should not return to the days of blindfolding the DM and players. No tips on encounter power? No mention of expected party roles? No true meaning of level due to different level charts or tiered classes? Please, let's not sacrifice clear, helpful rules guidelines in favour of catering to the delicate sensibilities of the few who have problems with the ascetics of anything other than what they are familiar with.
Just a quick note on the MMORPG as an insult comparison...
MMORPGs, raking in money by the dumptruck full. Many options, tons of fans across many audiences, massive resources allocated to development.
TTRPGs, dying product. Squeaking out an existence that relys on low cost. Fans fit primarily into a few small demographics. R&D budgets small, often rushed to market and patched after deployment.
You're not really making much of an argument when you compare something to a MMORPG and assume people think that means bad. Lets face it, they make the money, have the audience and the budget. We here on this board are fans of TTRPGs but lets not try to pretend none of us play MMORPGs.
Adding options at the system level is good.
Adding options at the table level is hard.
Removing options at the system level is bad.
Removing options at the table level is easy.
This is not complicated.
Something like Tactical Shift is more magical than martial healing.
Telling someone to move over a few feet is magical now? :|
I weep for this generation.
Given the laziness and morbid obsesity amongst D&Ders, being able to convince someone to get on their feet, do some heavy exercise, and use their words to make them be healthier must seem magical.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 12:01PM
#4
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Agree with the above. Play your character how you want to play your character. If he tries to force you into playing him in another fashion, simply say 'No'. As a player of many a 'rogue-who-is-not-a-thief', I've been in your shoes.
I may be over-reacting, but I personally think this is a sign of a very, VERY bad DM.
Another day, another three or four entries to my Ignore List.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 12:11PM
#5
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As said above.
Simply do what you wish, and if the DM tries to tell you otherwise, just get up and leave or explain to him that you are not the stereotype. Shove your backstory down his throat if you have to. I was in a similair situation when I was playing a True Good cleric in 3.5. Our thief had been poofing allot, and always coming back with allot of goods. While I didn't suspect the thief of murder, he kept his lips shut tight about where he got the goods, and personally I was a bi conserned. I tried to follow him, then the DM chimes in "You are good, you wouldn't suspect your fellow party of ill." Yeah, bullcrap. I'm good, but not stupid. I loved rubbing it in my DM's face when the thief turned around three days later and said "He may be good, but we aren't lifetime friends. He can always suspect me of whatever he wants, but being good just means he will not do certain things to me without a good reason. Paranoia is a Neutral Action."
Stereotypes kill the game, if your DM doesn't learn that, then it's his loss.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 1:55PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Sep 18, 2012
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Agree with the above. Play your character how you want to play your character. If he tries to force you into playing him in another fashion, simply say 'No'. As a player of many a 'rogue-who-is-not-a-thief', I've been in your shoes.
I may be over-reacting, but I personally think this is a sign of a very, VERY bad DM.
Oh, I'm going to second that opinion: It is bad DMing.
If a player takes the time to actually write a background that explains their skills, rather than fall back on "I'm Generic Rogue #40557", then the worst thing the DMing can do is to tell them to play a generic rogue.
Now, there are times when a DM might be in the right for 'encouraging' certain aspects of a character. For example, if the campaign is heavily focused on the thieves guild, and the DM is hoping the party rogue will act as a plot hook, that's understandable... But the DM should still be capable of adapting. If the DM is set on running a thieves' guild plot, perhaps he could start the campaign with a quest hook that leads into a mystery, the investigation of which leads the party to the thieves' guild, where the rogue might be encouraged to join to spy on the guild.
And if the party doesn't want anything to do with it? ...Then the DM needs to be prepared for that eventually, not force things to go his way. (Given, the above is all hypothetical.)
Gunmage, a homebrew arcane striker. (Heroic Tier playtest ready.) GDocs link. (More up to date.)
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 2:15PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Nov 17, 2011
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Why does the Rogue always have to be the one in the thieves guild?
Doesn't the thieves guild need strongarms to defend themselves/break kneecaps/etc.? I imagine so, it's a pretty common trope in fictional thieves guilds. How about the party fighter?
What about magic? Certainly any form of magic is great for a thieves guild. Illusions, divinations, if you can't come up with a hundred things a wizard can do for a band of thieves, you're not trying.
Cleric? Certainly there are gods dedicated to that sort of thing. Maybe the thieves guild is devout, and actually all do worship a god that your party's cleric just happens to be related to.
Rangers? They can swap nature for streetwise using options, and suddenly they become amazing scouts for thieves.
If your DM employs the "all members of the thieves guild are rogues, and all rogues are thieves," uh... yeah, probably a terrible DM.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 7:27PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Sep 30, 2006
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A rogue being a thief is pretty old school view. Reminiscent of Od&d and Ad&d. D&D has evolved a lot since those days and no doubt a significant reason why the thief was renamed the rogue. People who want to play their rogue simply as a thief are more often than not a pain in the rear end to the rest of the group. Rogues that contribute to the party are a valuable commodity
They certainly are welcome to play their rogues any way they please., as you should be equally welcome to play your rogue as you see fit. It may be that you are not compatible with this particular group.
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 9:37PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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Talk to the DM about the issue. Make sure you're both on the same page.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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9 months ago ::
Sep 19, 2012 - 11:47PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Apr 16, 2009
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Put down the character sheet and the books. Your character has never read them. How would he describe himself?
That's how you present the character. His class is just part of the mechanics you use to realize the vision.
One of my characters is a dancer. With shortswords when appropriate. That's how he introduced himself to the party.
"The world does not work the way you have been taught it does. We are not real as such; we exist within The Story. Unfortunately for you, you have inherited a condition from your mother known as Primary Protagonist Syndrome, which means The Story is interested in you. It will find you, and if you are not ready for the narrative strands it will throw at you..." - from Footloose
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