How do you start your WRPGS?

Hotlead Junkie

As in Western RPGS, eg, your Fallouts, Mass Effects, Alpha Protocols, Dragon Ages, KOTORS, Neverwinter Nights, etc, you know, the ones where you have a pretty huge scope for how you build your characters, what quests you take, etc.

I always like asking how freinds tackle the game for the first time, and I always hear the 'Safe/good guy' builds, like a Paragon Shepard Soldier, a Small guns, speech good guy/neutral wanderer of the Wastes and so on. Totally understandable since the next run you will want to try the evil route with the female avatar who uses cool but impractical powers (hands up if your second ME character is a Renegade Femshep biotics user) to make sure you don't 'miss' any of the game content.

I like tackling these games with a sense of 'this may be the last time I get to play this', so I tend to choose the more fun looking builds, ramp up skills like intimidate and breakdancing and go for the 'what the hell why not?' moral choices. If I actually do well with this character I'll have fun and carry on, if not (in the case of Dragon Age I finally had to settle with a Dwarf Berserker after 2 failed character builds, that game is hard), I have a better idea of how to build my next character since I have a better grip of the game mechanics.

Also, I'll try to base my character's personality on a character I like to make things easier in terms of moral choices and facial features. For example, I've had to think to myself on three seperate occasions, what would Batman (Oblivion), Ash Williams/Bruce Campbell (Fallout: NV) or Obi Wan Kenobi (KOTOR) do?

I'd like to hear the thought processes you guys go through when starting your WRPGS.

Cantido

I'm always Paragon, but I don't buy WRPGs for the Action. I don't buy Fallout 3 for the Gunplay or Mass Effect for the gunslinging.

That means I need magic and lots of it.

MrVyngaard

Unarmed skills.

Fasttalk/persuade.

Stealth or sneaking.


To talk to what will be civil, to take by surprise that which will be not, and to avoid that which cannot be dealt with by surprise or just fists/fistweapons/groinkicks/etc.

EDIT: Oh, yeah... and rob the hell out of any factions that I can do so with. Rob them goddamn blind of anything of use, provided it doesn't kill them off - and doubly if it does and they're my enemy.

2nd EDIT: And morally good, outside of the kleptomania. Think Robin Hood by way of Fist of the North Star, er, with a larger room for "liberating" from the rich.

SageinaRage

Yeah, my big thing is always maxing out whatever talking skills there are, because I'd rather talk to every npc than kill every goon/monster. Though figuring out the level of combat skill you HAVE to have can vary widely, which messed me up a little in V:TM:Bloodlines, and fucked me a LOT in Arcanum.

I also tend not to sneak at all, since the mechanics for that are usually fairly annoying and/or tedious to me.

mere_immortal

Lockpicking/hacking/computer/science skills and on the first runthrough I tend to play the saint and save everyone/don't be a dick.

If I have to choose a combat style though it tends to be a front line sword and boarder. The one exception to this is Deus Ex where I max rifle skills first and I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't use the Dragon's Tooth.

EdS25

Hotlead Junkie wrote: »

(hands up if your second ME character is a Renegade Femshep biotics user)

*raises hand*

Hotlead Junkie wrote: »

I like tackling these games with a sense of 'this may be the last time I get to play this', so I tend to choose the more fun looking builds, ramp up skills like intimidate and breakdancing and go for the 'what the hell why not?' moral choices. If I actually do well with this character I'll have fun and carry on, if not (in the case of Dragon Age I finally had to settle with a Dwarf Berserker after 2 failed character builds, that game is hard), I have a better idea of how to build my next character since I have a better grip of the game mechanics.

This is actually some solid advice. The problem I have with most of these games is that I do my space/wasteland saint run first, and then . . never play the game again. And yet I still have never been able to go "space douche" as my first run on anything, no matter how I chuckle at the "oh no you DINT" dialogue choices.

Yougottawanna

I pretty much always build a thief. They're the most fun to play in my experience. If there's a stealth skill I take that, followed by things like lockpicking. I can't stand doors I can't open.

Joolander

First time I try to stick as close as possible to what I would do in that situation if I were in my characters shoes. If there is a very funny dialog option, I will choose that one

When it comes to skills: stealth/long-range, with speech/persuade as a backup

Second time: Try as hard as possible to screw over anyone that I ended up disliking from the previous game

usually with melee/close range replacing stealth/long range

Tanolen

The good guy, just seems I'm less likely to piss someone off and cut me off from a quest or reward somewhere in the future.

Sir Platypus

I focus on basic weapon skills because I'm boring. I'm getting better about choosing more interesting stuff though.

Also Good Vs Evil is basically Plot Vs Fun for me. It's always fun to be a dick, but the story suffers. I usually wind up being a kleptomaniac good guy who will occasionally kill a motherfucker because his quest sucked.

Dyvion

Yougottawanna wrote: »

I pretty much always build a thief. They're the most fun to play in my experience. If there's a stealth skill I take that, followed by things like lockpicking. I can't stand doors I can't open.

This goes the same for me with one minor modification... I can't stand -chests- I can't open.

Fallout is evil in that some of the chests can only be opened by hacking, or by key, or by taking just the exact right branch in the quest/story.

But I have four different archetypes when I role-play, and each different one gets a different name. If my character is named Dyvion I'm usually the front line sword and board classic chivalry type (lawful good?). Ceylor is my female thief who tends towards chaotic neutral. Malverin is my dark magic (or evil in general) character. And Kaidrin is my healer/buffer neutral/good type.

I usually play through as Ceylor first.

Teyar

Theres something funny about these designs, and I'm curious to see if its a personal thing or endemic in the system.

In games like Fallout, is it just about always (On average between games) better to be a Rogue archetype than a brute or whatever else the option is?

Discuss.

Delphinidaes

I usually start them by installing the game or inserting the disc into my console. :winky:

But seriously, I almost always go with the hero out to save the world and do good for everyone. Although I find I tend to have mean streaks throughout the game which results in me running a more neutral approach leaning towards good.

Basic Character design varies widely. I tend to gravitate to magic users where applicable or characters that focus on pistols if they exist. A lot of it depends entirely on my particular mood when I start the game.

Tanolen

Kotor always made me want to play evil though, maybe because of sith powers.

Drez

I felt that playing KOTOR as a good guy was actually more evil than playing it as a bad guy.

I mean most of the NPCs in KOTOR are assholes, right? So helping them out and letting them live (i.e. "being good") is really kind of shitty on your part. A truly moral person would rid the galaxy of all those terrible people.

So I play such games the most evil way possible: By being good.

Peff

Hotlead Junkie wrote: »

(hands up if your second ME character is a Renegade Femshep biotics user)

Guilty.

I usually go first character as the male, good, standard assault rifle/sword and board soldier/leader type.

Then the female, evil, biggest fucking weapon you can find destroyer type

Finally male, totally neutral, all speech/charisma, melee (because guns are for uncivilized swine) tech/stealther.

Henroid

I always look into the customization options. It's all about the details. And then I often try them out in varying ways for an hour or two each before starting over. Reading about things and applying them (getting context) are two totally different beasts. In the long-run, over my one play-through or multiple play-throughs (depends what the game allows, customizing-wise), I try to figure out the game's overall mechanics and systems and beat the game at itself. Sometimes the results are fun, sometimes the results are necessary for success, and sometimes the results are boring and unrewarding. And sure I could look this stuff up online but damn it, where is the fun in that?!

As for when I start playing the game, I keep myself from being overwhelmed by staying very local to the starting area. Baby-steps.

Having a choice in being good or evil depends on the context of the game. For the most part, over the last few years, I play the role of good guy. My "bad guys are cool!" phase lasted pretty much until I hit the legal drinking age. Bad guys can still be cool, but I'm more demanding on what makes them cool.

Mortal Sky

In Bethsoft games I always roll stealth, small weapons (or blade and archery), light armor, acrobatics, and lockpicking. Maybe medic/alchemy as well.

Klatu

Tank or healer first time through the game, whichever one I didn't play first, second time through and theify type 3rd time.

LutExIV

I'm always the skillful/stealthy good guy first time through. I will also dual-weild on my first run if possible. Second run is always the brutal mage/AoE type so I can wreak major havok. I almost always min/max this second char as much as possible.


Unfortunatly unless the game is REALLY good, I wont actually complete the second run...

Page-

Min/max the shit out of it.

Rent

Page- wrote: »

Min/max the shit out of it.

this

This is basically how I try to play all my RPGs, just trying to be maximal at everything the quickest

Usually I burn out from checking GameFAQs/whatever strat guide I get/etc trying to be the best at everything and shelve the game

So now my first playthrough is a fuck around, see the plot, and if I do a second playthrough or there's NG+ or whatev's I'll minmax the shit out of it

nealcm

i try to min max everything, and normally start as a good guy with magic/psychic whatever type of those abilities i can get.

second run is usually an evil stealthy type

The Dude With Herpes

I start my WRPG's by making my character that seems like it would be good, playing for a few hours, freezing in fear of not making my guy "right" or doing quests "right" and not playing the game again for months, and then when I pick it back up again I play the living shit out of it.

Hamju

As a first playthrough I usually either pick big brute who hits people with trees, or a balanced build because I like being able to hit people and light them on fire. However during second or third playthroughs it's always as a more refined build. I never do stealth because I like tearing people apart. On my last Dragon Age play I did rogue and was so powerful by the end I took on the final boss of Awakening basically one on one.

Brym

Odd, I guess I'm in the minority here. I always go straight evil on my first playthrough, and tend to favor stealth or magic characters. I have to be the good soldier dude in every other game I play, so why not take the more interesting options in the games that present them?

anoffday

Tanolen wrote: »

The good guy, just seems I'm less likely to piss someone off and cut me off from a quest or reward somewhere in the future.

I'm always the good guy. Fable, Fallout, whatever. I can't be a bad guy in games. I like really feel bad about it in real life if I do.

Jebral

Damn near always make a stealth character. I've always been a MGS fan, and it just seems wrong for me to not be sneaking around.

Though in New Vegas I'm doing having great fun playing as Ocelot: Trenchcoats, speech and revolvers

I mean, I know trenchcoats aren't a skill, but you know how it is.

goggles

Fuck making deep, moral choices. I make the choice that seems the most fun at the time.

I suppose this kind of sucks. I wish I could get pulled into a game world enough that I felt I had to make the "right" choice.

Let me restate this a bit: when gameplay is at stake, I try to make the choice that seems like it will be most fun. If the choices are simply story or filler, as in no gameplay directly at stake, then I tend to make decisions based on my moral compass, which is generally quite good.

Transdimensional Whale

It depends on the type of game. If we're talking Elder Scrolls style, then I go with stealth related shenanigans and spend the good first week stealing everything that isn't bolted to the floor. Something like Dragon Age I tend to go mage and get the fireball spell as fast as humanly possible. Then I set the world on fire and commit rat genocide. But I always roll good aligned for the first run.

EmperorSeth

I usually do my playthroughs in this order.

1: Paragon/good character. Uses magic if applicable (biotics count when appropriate.) Tend to make a female character.

go for the gay romance option when possible.

2. Captain Dickweed. Guy, evil. Goes for the craziest love interest available (Ashley, Jack, Morrigan, etc.) This can be either a stealthy type or a soldier type as my mood takes me, though many games (like Fallout 3,) have too wonky stealth effects for me to consider it worth it.

3. Assuming the game interests me enough for a third playthrough, this is the weird one, the "Hello" character. Based on the name for my neutral character in Fallout 3 (Yes, it's a reference; yes I'm sure you already got it,) Hello is a dark-skinned female who tends towards the rogue options, unless Captain Dickweed already went that way. The gimmick, in my mind at least, is that it's always the SAME character. Hello bounds, Quantum Leap style, from game to game, with only the vague details about her past lives. She's supposed to have the same understanding of the universe that I the player has, so she's clueless at first, and if an NPC walks up and says, "Hello (heh,) I'm your dad," she'll react appropriately even though she still has no actual memories of him being her dad.

Caveman Paws

I always go combat monkey/saint of the (game setting here). This way my constantly stealing anything that might come in handy (or would net me alot of money by selling) won't drop my karma dangerously low. It's not wrong if you don't get caught.

Second playthroughs tend to be more neutral characters with skills and combat targeted at things I enjoyed in the first playthrough and things I now know are needed/desired/required as opposed to all the useless stuff I got the 1st time around (I'm looking at you survival!).

Alfred J. Kwak

Thief and/or magic user (or the equivalent of a D&D Bard) with all required utility skills and maximized conversation skills to get the most out of the game's dialogue options. If there are summoner abilities I will specialize in them, and use ranged weapons (crossbow/sniper) for combat

During the game I will sneak into everyone's houses and empty every chest. I usually play a jester/chaotic neutral type of character that moves in a morally grey area and decides on whim what action (s)he wants to take - mostly the one that appears to have the most interesting consequences (I can play a perfectly reasonable and good-natured character and then do the most hideous acts and doom everyone because it seems like a cool thing to do). In a conversation, I'll likely pick the wittiest response. I only stray from my habits from time to time if I'm really invested in the characters and game world, like for example if there are companions I really care about I can't do horrible things to them.

And always a female characters for some reason.

cooljammer00

I guess I haven't played as many WRPGs as I had thought. I know with Alpha Protocol, I played it professional as much as I could; I was there to work and find out who burned me. It'd sort of be like what I'd do in that situation.

edit: I guess in games like Fallout, you can talk your way out of most things. So Speech and Hacking, so I can make other people do dirty work for me.

Graviija

Always good. Always. I have never once been able to complete an evil playthough on any game that gave me a choice. High "charisma" goes along with this. I like to talk people down, or just otherwise have them like me. If that doesn't work...

Always the warrior/soldier archetype - high attack, high defense. Basically, and unstoppable force AND an immovable object. I don't do magic or its equivalent. I don't do sneaky, stealthy attackers. I don't do bows (although I do love sniper rifles in FO3/NV...).

Always male. I don't think I'm a misogynist/chauvinist, but I simply don't play a female character when given the choice. It's just difficult for me to picture a woman as the above-pictured unstoppable badass, unless that character already "exists" (see: Samus). I'd attribute this more to a crippling lack of imagination, as strong, badass women exist in real life. No offense. Sincerely.

Caedere

Exclusively female, but the exact specifics honestly depends on the game I'm playing. I don't have a default, really.


Alpha Protocol - Ladies' Man, lots of Stealth
Jade Empire - Despicably evil. Truly reprehensible.
Dragon Age - Overall a good person, mage/healing. Human.
Mass Effects - Paragon/Xenophile Shepard. Infiltrator all the way.
Fallout 3 - Defiler of the Wastes. I didn't mass-murder up front, but I manipulated, lied, and ultimately ended up exterminating most of the Capital Wasteland. Stealth/Rifles/Science build.
Fallout NV - Good-hearted person who is a klepto. Try to avoid conflict, but not afraid to put bullets into people who cross me or other people. Stealth/Rifles/Science again.
KOTOR 2 - Siiiiiiith. So much Sith.
Fable 2/3 - Evil evil evil, but loved by the people. Will and Skill.

Szechuan

I obsess over what appears to provide the maximum character utility and fun for the least amount of work, based on the properties of the game.

Xagar

Maaaaaaaaaaage!

I usually do a "fighter/soldier" playthrough too, though.

Domhnall

First game is always somewhat modeled around me. Male and follow my own choices which is pretty much always the good ones with a warrior build for fantasy games and a small armed guy for games like fallout. The second playthrough is a female one in which I pick all the opposite choices (so pretty much all the evil ones) and just pick skills I think would be fun.

Any other playthroughs after that is min/maxing the heck out of everything (nearly always male) and going for the most amusing moral choices.

Witchsight

Before visiting sites like this, i never thought of there being "Best Builds" for anything... You just played a type of character you liked. So its kind of stunted my enjoyment a bit because now i consider that in the back of my mind and cant help it.

Mass Effetc however, i started as a vanguard Femshep because of Jenny Hale. Then in round 2 tried a Renegade Male... Got through Eden, and literally hated my own character due to his awful voice and the fact he looked like a McDouche.

Malechai

I usualy go mage type with high charisma and int. If the game is good enough I'll give it a second go with the douchiest route possible but on my first play through I tend to be a good guy. Never been able to finish a evil PST game some of the shit in that game will make your skin crawl.

Another thing is party build. I usualy tend to go with the charactors that have the more intresting side storys and more ammusing banter. Even if the most powerful awsome charactor in the game is a stale cardboard cut out I'll still take the berserker talking to a hampster in his pocket.