Has your character ever surprised you?

[Olaf the Stout]

Have you ever been playing a character when a situation has come up and you've done something that's made sense in-character, but yet completely surprised you as a player?

I'll give you an example of how my current PC has done this a couple of times in the last few sessions.

My character is Dinky Boomerstone. He's a Gnome Wizard. Generally he's a pretty shy and apologetic character. He's generally quite cautious, timid, happy to sit in the background and will often apologise for things that either aren't his fault or don't even require an apology (as no one was wronged or offended).

The party is currently playing through Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Dinky is doing mainly because he thinks that his long thought dead brother may actually still be alive and being held prisoner in the temple.

The party had an encounter where the Frenzied Bezerker Barbarian PC accidentally killed the Rogue PC in a Frenzy (they attack friends if there are no enemies left). After being revived the Rogue then (somewhat understandably) attacked the Barbarian back. Dinky was forced to use a couple of high-level spells to stop the fighting, all while dealing with a Troll that happened across the situation.

This is where Dinky surprised me. This whole incident caused Dinky to snap. He gave both the Rogue and the Barbarian a big mouthful (having not spoken a word in anger the entire campaign) and then led the party onward into the temple at great speed, not stopping to get the Rogue to check for traps or to check if he was leaving enemies at the party's backs.

It wasn't something I ever expected from Dinky, yet it felt like it was definitely the right thing for him to do. It was as though the PC had a mind of his own. From a meta-game perspective, it was a horrible choice knowing that I was potentially leading the party into the eye of the storm by having Dinky act that way, yet it just felt right. Eventually he calmed down and regained his composure, but it showed a very different side to the character.

Dinky surprised me again last session, but I'll leave that for a later post.

So has your own character surprised you before? In what way?

 

[Desh-Rae-Halra]

Short answer: Yes
I wrote my dissertation on a similar aspect, essentially what the experience was of consciously embodied persona was (though I mainly studied LARPers).
You are playing at the level where the PC "takes on a life of their own".
If I was going to throw a little theory your way, I would say that you are immersed sufficiently to where other inner potentials you have are able to emerge via the character. Often this level of embodiment is actually therapeutic in the longer run, though it does carry some risks.
Thanks for bringing up the question!

~Desh

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

No...but my PCs have surprised other PCs (and players).

Many years ago, my (pre-Drizz't!) Rgr/Druid/MU threatened the party's Archmage with attack because he was going to launch a delayed-blast fireball at approaching evil dudes...in the woods.

 

[Wicht]

Back in the day, I had a rogue character who dropped an iron door (from a robe of useful items) from a height onto another PC because said PC had acted rather stupidly and had blasted a fireball in my direction without caring who he hit. That sort of surprised me when it happened.

 

[Herobizkit]

For the first time ever (in 18 levels and nearly 3 years of play), my shady TN Hexblade finally took the greater good over the easy, selfish route when given the option to use a power group to either further his own ends or to further the needs of a city in crisis.

It seemed like an easy choice, but the 'Good' characters on the team expected the worst (correctly, in all other cases) and I believe he's decided to finally walk a Heroes' Path as he climbs ever closer to Epic tier.

 

[Wicht]

my shady TN Hexblade

TN?
True Nuetral?

 

[Herobizkit]

TN?
True Neutral?

Yep, True Neutral; as a Wellblade, he's chosen Sehanine as his patron deity. Generally speaking, he's the consummate shady lawyer, always trying to twist things to suit his own ends (which is generally more evil) while ostensibly providing for humanoids who can't provide for themselves (which is generally more good). In my story's case, I took the benefit of the greater good with no concern for my own gains.

 

[Razjah]

Short answer: Yes
I wrote my dissertation on a similar aspect, essentially what the experience was of consciously embodied persona was (though I mainly studied LARPers).
You are playing at the level where the PC "takes on a life of their own".
If I was going to throw a little theory your way, I would say that you are immersed sufficiently to where other inner potentials you have are able to emerge via the character. Often this level of embodiment is actually therapeutic in the longer run, though it does carry some risks.
Thanks for bringing up the question!

~Desh

Do you have a link to that dissertation? That sounds really awesome to read.

 

[Razjah]

I was running a demonologist in a Dresden Files game (he studied and fought demons, not using their powers) and acquired soul fire. That alone was interesting, but he was often a coward (dealing with demons is costly and paranoia and extreme caution help keep you alive) but when he got angry and went on a tirade to the group about how we were stalling and leaving a friend (his love interest) alone in a foreign country to fend for herself. He was furious that she was not around for both comfort and to depend on her combat skills and that he could not protect her from magic. Even my group that that scene of role playing was awesome.. though I don't do it justice here.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

Yes... My favorite character of the 3.5 era was a drow who started as a psychic warrior and through roleplaying became a Cleric and later a Paladin for a God of Mercy.