Great Role Player - Playing the Protector Character in your Tabletop RPG -Role Playing Tips GM Tips

[@ASunlessLand]

I played a 'protector' (maybe mixed with a bit of ambassador and solver) character recently who was a father/husband who is/was temporarily separated from his wife and child due to trying to fulfil a prophecy. He was older than the entire party put together (he was a wood elf) and his experience with fatherhood made him really conscious of everyone's safety and future. It put a lot of pressure on me as a player because of how much the character looked at a majority of the party like surrogate children and wanted to protect them. But the feeling of elation that I think both of us got when everyone made it out of a close scrape was well worth it, I think.

[@GreatGMLive]

Awesome. Thank you for sharing. As you say the rewards are make playing a type so much more rewarding than just playing a Wood Elf who is older than the party average. It brings meaning and satisfaction I feel.

[@Never_heart]

Bacon Battalion RPG Exactly. That is why on my first game of Pathfinder, my first tabletop rpg ever I went through every race and class. Resulting in an ifrit Inquisitor in the service of the Elvish goddess of love because when mis-summoned from the Fire Plane as a snall child. I was taken in by the ruling elf house as a vasal. She was an Inquisitor built on compassion rather than the archetypal cruelty often associated with Inquisitors. In mamy ways I plsyed a more strategic cleric in concept.

[@DristanRossVII]

Great job on these character types videos, I've thoroughly enjoyed them. A suggestion/request: Now that you've gone through all of them, perhaps you could put the respective links in the first type overview video(s)? Either in the description or as annotation links at suitable timestamps. That way, a new viewer could watch the summary to get a feel for it and then head to the video for the type they chose to explore further.

[@GreatGMLive]

Great suggestion! I'll get the Marketing Goblin on that right now! Thanks for that idea! And glad you enjoyed the videos.

[@bestponyisbestpony]

I once played a character who was a sort of protector/loner type in a modern campaign. It was a fun mix, summed up as "Dumb douche with a heart of gold".

[@RichardNixon1969]

Man I've enjoyed these player role videos! Definitely gives people better ideas of what kind of player they want to play as.

[@GreatGMLive]

Glad you enjoyed the set of character types.

[@GreatGMLive]

Thanks for commenting :)

[@AlexBermann]

I'll try to defend the loner as well. I will do that by talking about the protector and the dependable. Both of these character types can be extremely unflexible - and starting an argument in the heat of the moment can quickly lead into certain failure. Furthermore, the protector will block off possibilities when the plan is argued about. Let#s say our group consists of cops and you want to investigate a murder. However, a lead goes cold because you can't get a search warrant. The protector will most likely never agree to the option of breaking the law, so burglary isn't an option. The dependable would not agree to it unless the group agrees to it. The leader might even suspect the protector to report the others if they decided to take illegl steps - and since he want to hold the grup together, he will not take that risk. The loner could just get that evidence and fake a story of how they acquired it. If the protector sees through that, he will despise the loner, but the loner can live with that risk. He also can live with the risk that he will face punishment for his crime - and he ensured that his collegues didn't become accomplices. The point of the loner is that thy sacrifice themself for the group. They do the things the others would not agree to - even if they are necessary. They bring up uncomfortable situations and argue for solutions which mark them as evil, craven or irresponsible. A good loner doesn't play a solo game, but they are involved in the group and their affairs to notice when important possibilities are blocked by the group dynamic or individual characters. They need t know when their ...debatable... actions are actually appropriate, which is why being thoughtful is vital.

[@GreatGMLive]

Your key words are "A good loner doesn't play a solo game". I like your response and you have convinced me that it is time I got off my high horse and agreed - there is a place for the loner... and make a video. Thank you. I love changing my perceptions about things, and I believe there may be a place for a loner - a very complex space... thank you ;)

[@AlexBermann]

This may be The nicest reply I got in my whole online life. Thank you.

[@GreatGMLive]

Well it's true. Between you and the other defender of the Loner class, I've changed my mind :)

[@anthonynorman7545]

Alex Bermann +

[@Psychesrose]

My character is a lawful good protector character with a very strong moral of not killing anything that isn't inherently evil because a long time ago she killed a lot of people and is repenting(although she will not stop others from killing, just for story sake). However, my DM has placed a curse on her so that during his choosing she will temporarily become lawful evil and her body will do evil things without her consent. When she is back under my control, how should I role-play her without going into a suicidal spiral that will stop the game from progressing? She is aware of the events that happen when she's evil, but she can't stop them.

[@GreatGMLive]

Excellent question with a short answer: Rage. She should rage against this curse. Instead of turning inward towards her own failure of strength to stop committing these evil acts, she should turn that introspection into pure rage. Her mission should be to find the source of the curse and obliterate it, make it pay for what it did. Ultimately of course her retribution should boarder on Evil in it's intensity or severity such that once the curse is lifted she realizes she is capable of true evil with or without a curse. This could then launch her into a campaign of true peace seeking - either away from the party if it's gonna kill the mood, or with the party as she drops her paladin ways and tries to become a priest who won't touch weapons etc. Just my thought.

[@TheStartrek99]

are characters with ambiguous or shifting alignment a thing?

[@wondercartoonist5353]

Yeah for sure. Ive played a few.

[@oliverwirth42]

JUSTICE WILL BE DONE! PRECISION GERMAN ENGINEERING! CATCH PHRASE! LET ME SHOW YOU HOW IT'S DONE!

[@GreatGMLive]

Well yes... :)

[@gond9166]

I don't agree. The protector doesn't need to be lawful or justice oriented. He can be like the comic book character Spawn. Heaven and Hell want spawn dead, and he is all that stands between them and humanity. His morality, sense of justice are based on "Who tried to hurt the ones I love?" Which then proceeds to annihilate the threat.

[@padalan2504]

I ussually do not think of "loner" as i don't need anybody its more like a brave, rebel or independent character. loner character can help others, but he would rather help by himself , than risk the lives of others. or he/she has some kind of other motivation for it. rogues that are not loners and they want to drag the rest of the party with them will have a bad time trying to sneak into the house, to open the door for the rest of the party while having a 80kg lump of steel behind them.(our ussual dwarf fighter). so for me loner characters are character that will act independently that will not obey and that will carry "I have to do this now so we can move forward" mentality with him. imagine you have a boat in the middle of the sea and directly underneath you there is something you need (maybe a ship wreck that has something important in it). But there is a kraken underneath the ship, it has not reacted yet. you have all of these characters on the ship. Who will be the first one to go? Leader? maybe, but maybe he will just give an order to somebody else. Ambassador? he will probably try to remove the obstacle first, but in a non aggressive way, to keep others safe. Protector? he will probably try to keep all others on the ship until they will make a final decision Soul? will try to observe the magnificent creature Solver will try to figure out how to help the ambassador conscience will remind the ambassador, that they shoul pay attention to their own safety. And dependable? maybe he will try to help others. or maybe he will try to help the loner. because he is probably closest to him, only difference is, that dependable does his action only after somebody aggreed or told him what has to be done. (he is kind of like a soldier, while loner is a rebel a guerrilla fighter, he doesn't care what leader thinks because he does what he thinks is right, he does what he likes to do.) thanks to his independent personallity he is there to support those who would otherwise not dare to do something. he goes with the adventurer to have a look into that room, they have missed. etc. he is kind of like a secondary GM, he observes and if the GM did something wrong he will hit him for doing so. backing up the player that would be harmed by this. back to the boat: Loner will just take a empty barrel attach a rope to it, get something heavy on the end and he will go down there to get what they need.

[@GreatGMLive]

Exactly right - although to my point rather than your own. The loner in your example just nullified all the role-playing efforts and problem solving issues the other players were going through. By simply diving off the edge of the ship. Now the GM is faced with one of two choices. Wake the Kraken and destroy the ship and everything on it, let the thief get the treasure and return. Net effect: ALL the other characters are redundant. But look at it from a one on one game where the loner is the only PC and suddenly the story has meaning and danger and consequence. The lone character - the thief - can operate in typical Indiana Jones or James Bond style without making anyone else feel left out. There is a place for the Loner, but I still don't think it's in a group game. One on One for sure. Having said that - Absolutely TOP MARKS for your description of the character types and what they'd do in that situation. Thank you!

[@padalan2504]

 !!!LONG I think that in a group game most of the PCs will not be just one type. they will be combinations of these types. paladins could be good protectors leaders and dependable characters. but mostly they will be a bit of everything. and in certain situations clerics are usually dependable, consciense, protectors. but they will become a soul once they enter a great temple of their god, decorated with golden sunrays on the ceiling with copper plates shaped as clouds and a brown marble on the floor inlaid with green serpentinite. this will melt his strong and concentrated mind into a pond of wonder and admiration. So I think it has its place in a group game, but only if you understand the concept of a group game. BUT it is NOT something for new players. my example was something that happened to me. I was the loner I was describing. because nobody else was brave enough to do anything. but unlike in my game. in my example everybody could get involved and they did. solver,conscience and ambassador were trying to solve the problem with the kraken. (or ensure the safety of our diver) while loner wanted to get the thing. dependable could be helping him, or others. the soul wants to go with the loner to observe the kraken up close. the protector could also go with the loner, to protect him, and in case something goes wrong he will be in a right position to strike. now the only one who is redundant is the leader. leader sets a direction in a group, while loner (rebel) disrupts it. and sets a comradery instead. there are parties that have a strong leader and these parties will have their characters more "specialised" in their types. and parties that have a loner will instead change their roles depending on what they can do best in that situation. and the leader will be decided by the fact that he/she knows how to resolve the situation. this is why independent characters often take a role of a leader, even when they don't want to. they are strong personalities, they are decisive and independent and flexible. they will set tasks and leave to do what is needed for the gears to fit inside another and start turning. I would take the loner as more of a backstory to what they are in a group, rather than a code they follow. What I just described is a nice example of Loner and Leader combined. other combinations are also possible, but some are almost suicidal (Soul + Loner, Adventurer + Loner) but taking risks is probably also another aspect of a loner character.

[@GreatGMLive]

Thanks for the warning - nah I love long posts, it means thought when it to writing it! You make your point, and I'm willing to agree that IF and it's a big IF the player understands how to play a loner in a group, then a loner can be useful.... have you just convinced me to make the loner video type? Maybe. I'd need to think on how to do it calmly lol. Thank you for sticking to this discussion and helping me change my mind a little bit on Loners.

[@AlexCureske]

ha ya screw that my arbiter is a dick. My party's better off having a strong dependable agro carry. As long as I can control the flow of combat, they can get them selves in to what ever crazy situation they want.