How to Play the Edgy Loner WITHOUT Making Your Party Want to Kill You

We've all seen someone play and Edgy Loner before, let's be real... But does that HAVE to be a bad thing? Well, let's find out!
Want to find out about the music in my videos? - www.epidemicso...
🔴 RECOMMENDED VIDEOS/PLAYLISTS
🎥 How Did Combat Become So Important In Dungeons and Dragons: • How Did Combat Become ...
🎥 Player Character Inspiration: • Player Character Inspi...
🔴 ** BE MY FRIEND **
✅ Instagram: / roleyourplay
✅ Twitter: / playyourrole3
🔴 ** ABOUT ME **
Hello! My name is Jay, and I am a long-time veteran of storytelling and a semi-seasoned DM! I began playing Dungeons and Dragons roughly 5 years ago and began my first ever game as the DM. I figured things out by watching online games and fumbling my way through the rules, and never looked back! I've fallen in love with TTRPG's in general and want to share my experience and thoughts with the world and community I love so much. I currently DM two separate games regularly, and continue to learn every day.
🔴 ** ABOUT THE CHANNEL **
Play Your Role is a project with the intention of helping inspire and coach players and DM’s alike to add story beats and dramatic moments into their games through basic writing concepts, interesting player character inspirations, and discussions on how to effectively roleplay in a way that helps (not hinders) everyone else's roleplay at the table!
💡 TOPICS IN THIS VIDEO 💡
• Dungeons and Dragons
•
• Tabletop Roleplay
•
• DND5e
•
• DND
•
• TTRPG
•
• Roleplay Games
🔎 HASHTAGS 🔎
#DungeonsAndDragons
#TTRPG
#DND
#DND5e
🔎 SCRIPT EXCERPT: (This isn't important, just stuff for the algorithm) 🔎
Look, I know we've all seen him. We've all seen somebody trying to play with. Edgy dark character who sits in the back corner of a room and doesn't talk to anybody they're cagey about their past. And don't want to tell you anything about them. They want to just be mysterious and capable and only interact when the moment seems right.
The other fact of the matter is those characters are boring, straight up. They're just not fun to play with. They're super cool in different stories and media, but not in tabletop case. We've all seen countless green texts and story times about, oh, this person tried to play this edgy character and ruin my game.
We all know about this, but look, people don't try to play those characters just to ruin your game. It's because they actually have a fantasy they want to fulfill. There is something there which entices people, and I think could be a lot of fun if played in the right way. So I want to talk about how to play an in.
And how to make that actually work at your table. So let's talk about that. Okay. If you're wanting to play an edgy loner, chances are, you're probably a fan of people like Strider from Lord of the rings or Dobby from my hero academia. Ultimately at the end of the day, the reason people want to play these characters is they want to play somebody who seems to be.

[@Buzzerker_1775]

Only played an edgy character once as an adult; he was always brooding and edgy bandit (sometimes comically so), but had a heart of gold, so he was a huge team player and would always protect the rest of the party from harm. It worked; we had a lot of fun, and never had any issues.

[@PlayYourRole]

As long as your character is involved with the party, you can shine. It's the loners who want nothing to do with the party... That's the problem ya know?

[@moraien3278]

Sounds like batman

[@60sspider-man29]

@@moraien3278 that exactly sounds like batman and i love it. Justice League animated was so goodm

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

Ok but what made him edgy?

[@Buzzerker_1775]

@@WhyYouMadBoi We were playing a heavily homebrewed Mausritter short campaign (my friend who was the DM loves OSR games), my randomly generated character was a Brawny Trap-Thief. What made him edgy was that he was always stone-faced, spoke very few words, never laughed at anything, never showed fear, never vocally expressed concern for anyone or anything, never said anything nice to anyone; throughout the whole campaign I never failed a single "Willpower" roll, so it was really the dice and my luck that made him much edgier than I originally intended. The whole group would laugh in disbelief as he was always able to stare death in the face and make it doubt itself for a second. Despite my and the DM's best efforts, he survived the campaign and lived happily ever after. Without ever smiling, of course.

[@sammorse1412]

There is nothing wrong with wanting to play a edgy loner character just remember your not the only/main character and don’t let it be a excuse for bad behavior.

[@PlayYourRole]

Exactly this

[@josephcotton2550]

Every single edgy loner I've seen tries to be so unique and cool but it's overplayed

[@andrewgreeb916]

Sounds similar to the basic advice for making an evil character, you aren't the main character, and you need your party to further your plans. Also remember to put up a good front so nobody suspects you of any ill intent

[@dovahchicken935]

Funniest thing about the loner, to do it right... you don't steal the spotlight, the character is meant to be in the background without interrupting others.

[@EilonwyG]

I once played the typical "edgy rogue" - half elf, all black, dead parents. But I also played his bubbly, sweet bardic little sister who adored her big brother. He loved her and would do anything to make her happy, including joining in with a bunch of weirdo adventurers. One character slowly cracked through his tough exterior to learn he felt responsible for his parent's death and his sister was all the family he had left and he'd had to do some shady things to protect her, something he never wanted her to learn. Eventually, this character became my rogue's best friend. Another character reminded him of his mother's situation, as they'd both been former slaves. When she spoke ill of herself, because it was all she'd ever been told, he snapped and scolded her, saying she was stronger than she knew, knowing his mother had been, too. Slowly, these two fell in love. By the time we stopped playing the campaign, my edgy rogue had himself a found family he would protect with his life. He could never forget his past, but he was finally able to move forward from it.

[@PlayYourRole]

"He could never forget his past, but he was finally able to move forward from it." I'm not crying, you're crying.

[@benjaminholcomb9478]

@@PlayYourRole no im not, he's crying. *points blindly through the "totally not" tears*

[@motivated2473]

@@PlayYourRole I'm not crying... I just got something on my eye

[@troljynx9953]

... Isn't that Gauche and Marie ? From Black Clover ?

[@guilhermegaspar752]

I think there is a onion ninja here, but he is away for now

[@FlameMike101]

I feel like Caleb Widogast is a great example of this type of character done well.

[@PlayYourRole]

100% agreed.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

Came to say same thing. Liam's Caleb is a master class in edgy loner, but with enough connection to NEED to work with others.

[@FlameMike101]

@@queenannsrevenge100 Precisely. He begins seeing the M9 as a means of protection, and mobilization to continue getting as far away from Trent as possible. Then the sad boi falls in love with them

[@loudmusic4us179]

Just wish that wasn't every character he ever played 🙄

[@deffdefying4803]

@@loudmusic4us179 I mean hey, if you’ve found your favourite style of character to play, it’s kinda hard to not play that style constantly. And the other players at the table don’t have a problem with it - in fact they enjoy it as well.

[@dungeonsanddisclaimers4950]

Edge characters you have to think about Guts from Berserk. He shows how it doesn't work being edgy with a party, then he grows from his trauma and finds a group he loves like a family. Best part is he does this without most of the party knowing wtf is wrong with or what made him into this big bad "Black Swordsman" everyone fears.

[@PlayYourRole]

Ah man, I should have mentioned Guts! Good call out

[@toribiogubert7729]

Yeah made an Zealot Barbarian with some inspiration on Guts. Some traumatic events on the past, but just skipoed the Black Swordsman fase direct in to the group work (because is DnD and we started at lvl1). Sometimes he would be edgy and walk out of conversation, but I always try to not take much time of the table when it happens, but I also try to make the most when the party is bounding.

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

The thing about Guts is that people came towards him, Griffith came towards Guts, Casca came towards Guts. His band of lolis came towards Guts. He doesn't really have dialogue beyond those people around that like Casca, Griffith, the band of the hawk. His main party, he grows from realizing from himself and that's why DMs have to engage with Edgy players and bring in npcs that respects them even through rumors even a little bit. The party as well has to really interact with them as well from my experience.

[@CarlosAugusto-up5xm]

@@WhyYouMadBoi band of lolis, lmao

[@boxtank5288]

My Barbarian can count as that, only two members know what the hell hurt him so badly but most of the time he is an Eager to please Killing Machine. He sees the group as a family and also cooks, he often offers food to people (who strangely enough reject it)

[@CJ-hh3gx]

"Edgy" characters who don't want to talk about themselves make good bodyguards for other players. They aren't there to make friends, but they are invested in at least 1 person's survival other than their own.

[@hel3265]

This is a very good point.

[@nakenmil]

I actually did that once. I created a kind of death knight undead character (inspired by the Einherjar from Norse mythology) who also had a ghost-familiar kind of woman (don't ask how it worked, this was mostly narrative) and he was hired to be the party leader's bodyguard. This meant that my character had a reason to basically hang around all the time, even if he wasn't meant to be a sociable type. It also meant that he wasn't the one making decisions, ie. not getting into heated arguments or making a big deal, he was just kinda there to keep the leader (and by extension the party) alive.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

A lot of these types of character in stories legitimately fill that role, they are support characters who bring out the best in others. In interesting way to look at this is they might open up slowly being skilled at X... and in turn give the party pointers in X improving their abilities. So perhaps a loner wizard will improve everyone's Will Saves by +1 by offering them pointers. Meanwhile a loner sword fighter will improve stances so Accuracy Checks in melee range have +1. An Rouge might give stealth pointers for the party... ect. In a way a good Loner is almost like a Bard.

[@LeFisheboi]

Played this once, was a rouge bodyguarding a bard, good times

[@MAKRA567]

Great point, I think having a preexisting close relationship with another party member is a neat little hack that sidesteps a lot of the normal loner issues. A bodyguard is just one great and plausible way to have that relationship while preserving their edginess, but there are others. Your point is exactly why too: it gives them a clear reason to be invested in the party even in life-or-death situations. "As long as my friend/sibling/employer/master/student/lover/child/partner/etc goes, I go with them." Bonus points if that person is a bubbly, extroverted foil to the loner who gets along with the others. Its only a matter of time before the party can crack that tough exterior if they have that go-between character as a link.

[@aprinceofearthsea4875]

It's also important to remember that Aragorn was a lonely character, not a loner. He was eager to help his friends, be among them, and cherished them.

[@gabrielbustamante3167]

I am currently playing a Human Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter, at the beginning he was cold and didn't talk a lot, he saw his teammates as a means to an end, just tools. But with time he grew to like them, and even sacrificing a lot to bring someone back from death, something he thought was stupid at the beginning, because he could only care for himself. Now, after his character arc was developed he is much more friendly, changing his "just care for myself" to "I care for all of my friends", I think it came out really good and I'm very happy with the character

[@PlayYourRole]

Nothing is more heartwarming than seeing a loner character finally start to grow attachments, and I stand by that

[@Spiceodog]

If you want to see a edgy character played right at a table, go watch a couple episodes of nights of evening star and pay attention to Marcel. He’s incredibly edgy and misunderstood, but he doesn’t backstab the party for his own interests, and he doesn’t try to play the main character. And the player knows how to have the character be a jerk without the player being a jerk. Absolute masterfully crafted and played character in my opinion

[@PlayYourRole]

Ohhh I can't wait to go watch!

[@Spiceodog]

@@PlayYourRole another great thing that he does is he makes so extreme sometimes for comedic effect and he knows when to do that and how to do it right

[@qtscorpkid]

I played an "edgy" character because I did not have him fully flushed out. He was intelligence and creative and actually avoided combat. Table did not like that

[@PlayYourRole]

Hey, as long as you're helping out elsewhere, your character does not have to always get into the scrap!

[@cryofpaine]

Avoid as in "let's see if we can find another solution"? Or avoid as in "you guys fight, I'll be over here working on my crochet"? Because the first is great, especially if it actually encourages non-combat sokutions. The second, not so much. I could see it if you're playing a pacifist support that only uses buffs/debuffs/heals, but doesn't actually do damage, that could be interesting. But that's about it.

[@qtscorpkid]

More tried to negotiate terms with a hag instead of fighting. Also did it with a Balor we where lvl 3 at the time

[@armata_strigoi_0]

@Paul Gauthier I mean, there's nothing inherently wrong with a classic dungeon crawler/slash 'em up, it just depends what everyone wants out of the game. And to be honest, if you're the only outlier in a group that's playing that game then really it's incumbent on you to either go along with them, or find a group that you enjoy playing with.

[@skelitonking117]

Nah; it’s actually helpful to everyone when a character ACTUALLY wants to be an Adventurer

[@archsteel7]

A good rule of thumb I've found: The more genuinely evil your character is, the more sociable they have to be with the rest of the party. The less social a character is, the more important it is they have a heart of gold. Essentially, in order to get your character to not be hated by the rest of the party, he has to have some redeeming characteristics that make him likeable. The most genuinely evil characters I've ever played were also basically the party face, due to being manipulative psychopaths. And these characters (with the exception of a dice-cursed Bard, who I don't believe ever rolled higher than a 10 and then died to magic missiles) universally ended up being extremely popular with the party.

[@thesun10000]

I had a character who is edgy. He is a bloodhunter with the lycan subclass, and made it, where he wanted to use the curse to fight for good, but was scared how people would receive that. Ultimately he was a loner of the party, but it a goal to have the character make friends with the party and learn to trust. It lead to a cool roleplay moment where I bought a silver dagger and gave it to a party member I trusted if the character lost control of himself. You have to think about what the character wants out of the group too. Hopefully it's not to rob them blind.

[@PlayYourRole]

See, this is a great example: being a loner isn't a problem, it's an opportunity! What is better than seeing a loner character finally choose to trust the other party members? That can be such a good roleplay moment!

[@chentostrash2896]

Damn i had a very similar character, Bloodhunter Lycan that gave away a silver dagger to the group druid. But tried to play him like he views the curse as an honor to use it to fight evil and he was very proud if it. It seemed to work, he was somewhat of a moral instance for the group. I had to leave the campain for like 3 months because of personal stuff and then played another character, but my Lycan instead became a boss for the party because of deep corruption and it got super emotional for the group when we had to slay him.

[@isaacgraff8288]

someone once said that someone playing a 'loner' character writes themselves into having a character arc where they are no longer loners. The example was Han Solo from the original trilogy. Yes he had Chewbacca, but he was a loner character who only cared about himself. By the end of the OT he was a general, he was romantically involved with someone. He had friends. He wasn't a loner anymore.

[@meowsquared]

I played an edgy loner character with the twist being that he was just REALLY awkward, and would roll a wisdom saving throw to not have a panic attack and dip somewhere else anytime he was forced to have an actual conversation with people. As he became more familiar and comfortable with other people, he'd get advantage on his rolls with that specific person. It was fun to have the party frequently encouraging this dark, mysterious and edgy-looking guy into talking to a tavern keeper and buying the squad some rooms and imagining them as his own little support group. While he often sat back and observed things quietly, he yearned to be involved and really appreciated his teammates actively trying to involve him in stuff, even if he didn't always stick the landing.

[@jakemaxgross]

That is super clever 😂

[@HPVGSwag]

This was perfectly timed, I’m a forever DM and am getting a chance to play my “edgy” shadow magic sorcerer on Friday. His backstory involves a failed suicide attempt and instead of brooding or telling others “you wouldn’t understand” he deflects and avoids really addressing the trauma by using humor (playing into the high charisma). At least that’s what I’m planning to do, any suggestions welcome. Thank you as always for making these awesome videos 😊

[@ignacioperez5479]

how does it worked?

[@somejellykid]

Yeah how’d it go?

[@HPVGSwag]

It went really well! My shadow magic manifested as inky black shadow leaking from the scar from the failed attempt under a scarf I wore. My DM gently nudged my character when he hesitated or felt anxious and tried to deflect which was the first time I had a really emotionally cathartic moment in D&D since playing it was very special. I’d love to continue to play Dresdyr too see where it goes

[@blakezummo264]

@@HPVGSwag I hope you and Dresdyr have a long and fulfilling campaign ahead of you, he sounds like a fun character

[@Dhorannis]

That's exactly the thing. The character arc of a loner in a group plot is always becoming mor comfortable around their group and developing into less of a loner over time. D&D can give such a great found family dynamic.

[@spaccorn]

The loneliness is interesting when it works in the opposite direction as well. Your character starts off social, part of the group and because of the grand adventure they are on stays with and supports the group. But when the BBEG is defeated, "peace" is restored, your character and maybe others realize they have grown apart and don't agree with one another. This happened in a game I was in that ended early this year. By the end of the adventure, the pacifist was sick of how violent everyone else was willing to be and wanted to protect common people from the sort of threats adventurers like us posed, the wizard just wanted to create a school and do downtime activity, the vengeance paladin wanted to go beat up people with his new friend an NPC, the cleric was sick of the party treating her like an outsider (not that she made it easy for them) so plane shifted to where her mysterious and turns out very evil deity lived to learn under her and the two other members went and hung out with each other. Difficult events had transpired, trust had been broken and so by the end being together was not an option for most.

[@alternateaccount7940]

I was once an edgy sorcerer in a party of meme himbo melee PCs and the comedy came from me being the straight man realizing I’m in a bizarro backwards world. My character arc was embracing the nonsense without losing my low energy ie “Yeah the necromancers are being given power by ancient aliens, obviously.” I even started using my intimidation to start a cult centered around me being an avatar of a god of secrets. I made it my religion to keep my past quiet. “Say where are you from? I find that highly offensive to my RELIGION that you’d ask that” It’s basically the same thing but the players were laughing their asses off as I found more and more elaborate lies that nobody bought but me. I did leave some breadcrumbs by off handedly mentioning things and the other players, to my surprise, were collaborating with each other making theories. Eventually it came out when we found a specific NPC and I’ve never seen them more focused. One of my best moments unintentionally.

[@VestigialLung]

Since CR got mentioned, Caleb is an excellent example of this done right. Going to keep this vague because spoilers. It was glaringly obvious from day 1 that the guy had some major baggage, and he didn't particularly want to talk about it, but as it kept coming up, he eventually reluctantly opened up. He even did the loner move of trying to leave the party, but it was pretty clear that he didn't really want to go, just was trying to do the right thing, and it was with next to no effort whatsoever that he was talked into staying. The normally a loner but found a family despite that can be a solid story arc for a D&D character.

[@thetheatreguy9853]

I played an edgy loner vigilante character who, by the very nature of being a vigilante, did his killings on his own. I made it work by doing his vigilantism in the party's down time, and his story became about opening up to and learning to trust the other members of the party.

[@PlayYourRole]

I love it! Pursuing that lifestyle in your downtime is a perfect way to play that kind of character

[@thetheatreguy9853]

@@PlayYourRole Sure is! lol p.s. The once edgy loner ended the campaign adopting three of the other party members (orphan aasimars) as his own children. Funny how things can go full circle lol

[@quendi5557]

Uses Dobby for as an edgy loner joke, instant respect.

[@romantheboat9118]

My 'Edgy' character is the way he is because he grew up without emotion, all he knew before working with the current party was survival. He was forced to work alone, but now that he's with others, he's learning there's more to life. And it's scary, he is starting to care about people but is struggling to deal with it. All the unknown in the world he thought he knew in and out is overwhelming for him. But his growth is all thanks to the input of the party. He doesn't know just how to let people in but he's trying. Currently he's holding back a lot, but he's only now learning that his past actions aren't normal. His world used to be kill or be killed, and now it's a world of, 'What makes you happy' and it's a long transition for him.

[@tatfly5779]

Nice.Mine ended up being an assassin(obv) but rather than edgy he was more of the smile to your face yet already ready to kill ya type of psychopath.Which made it fun for the team when he started learning emotions little by little(he would be the doesn't prioritize anyone but those close to him type) and opening up to helping people in the long run.Heck we had an overall conflict with the pally of our group for the methods he utilized(interrogation and manipulation and such)which we simply resolved by him stating he will still use those skills but only to benefit those around him.Also teaching a pally and barbarian how to sneak was baller.

[@romantheboat9118]

@@tatfly5779 Sounds awesome haha!

[@dylandavis4112]

Perfect way to play the loner archetype is by having them start off as someone who only works for the group when it benefits them and have one of the high insight players notice this, then the group can try and through conversations or poking around find out why the loner has this state of mind and help them overcome this state of mind.

[@omikun17]

I played a character with the edgelord rogue backstory but I played him upbeat and friendly. Yes he wanted vengeance on the people who caused his tragic backstory but he knew he couldn't do that on his own. He needed friends to help him. If asked about his past he would say He doesn't like to talk about it but if you pressed he would tell you. "Ok if you really want to know here..."

[@agsilverradio2225]

What about the skillful introvert type? They are also mysterious because they are reluctant to socialise, but are observant and skilled, and jump into action when they see a problem that they know how to solve.

[@joemaster312]

Another thing I've seen done by good players of loner-type characters is have at least one person in the group that they become good friends with quickly, for example through some formative event, then the stick to that person at first and then learn to warm up to the rest of the group.

[@Frownlandia]

The easiest time to play a loner is at the beginning of a campaign. If you have a character who is impressively capable, they will probably recognize the capability of the players around them even if their goals aren't totally aligned. This is how you get a neutral player to go with the good guys.

[@Frost_Winterfall]

Had a friend of mine do an edgy character, I played a shy bard. We were always back from the more extroverted characters so our characters spent a lot of time together. Eventually, our characters became friends and always had each other's backs

[@tannerrobb8379]

Ashton from the recent CR campaign is how to do this correctly. He seems like a wandering loner. He might be okay with being alone, but he takes company when it’s there. He isn’t pushing the current party away (obviously, playing dnd), but he isn’t holding tightly on them. I’m intrigued by everyone’s story in campaign 3, but I’m really looking forward to Ashton.

[@PlayYourRole]

Ashton very much seems to be a punk kid who WANTS to be seen as the edgy one, and I cannot deny that I love him so much

[@a.z.pantera5577]

One of my favorite variations of this is a character who is *surprisingly* tragic or lonely. Someone who seems upbeat and jovial, but overtime the cracks start to show. For example, you have a Bard let's say. Typical performer or lorekeeper of some kind. A Wiseman with a spring in his step. You come to find out however, that this Bard is a disgraced noble or chieftain or the like in a self imposed exile. Using adventuring and thrill seeking as a convenient distraction from their intense shame or whatever great sin they've committed.

[@anska7475]

Great video! The next time I'll find someone bemoaning the loneliness of their antisocial loner character, I'll send them here. =) I especially liked the portion where you emphasized how important it's for the characters to care about each other because that alone can solve so many problems. Also, I sometimes get the impression that players tend to forget that being an edgy loner might not be their character's life goal. So narrowing down the mysterious loner to more specific things such as "my character doesn't like to talk much" or "my character is cagey around strangers" can help to make them fit in better. Anyway, I once build my edgy loner ex-soldier character to prove that edgy loner is a horrible concept if you want to make friends with your character. The experiment backfired. I had tons of fun with that fellow. He met a plucky runaway aristocrat, who adopted him as her big brother; an equally taciturn guard with whom he exchanged one-word-sentence conversations; a feisty barmaid with whom he traded jokes and a medicus who poked gentle fun at him. In the end, his friends helped him resolve his issues and - most shockingly - I even snuck a few pieces of dark blue into his black wardrobe.

[@sikerscry6865]

This has been my biggest issue as a player, making a non-loner character. Perhaps it's more because of my life perspective or personality but even when I was not trying to I made a loner character. Nowadays my characters cannot function on their own and they have a fascination with the party members in some way.

[@TheClericCorner]

Everyone needs to see this! Players don't want to play with someone who doesn't want to play with them 😂

[@PlayYourRole]

Exactly! A Party should want to stick together for one reason or another!

[@kayosiiii]

I think the "Loner" part of this equation can work well if you are playing with a group where you know ahead of time that you will not be able to make all the sessions. Give them a form of independent a mobility and then when asking why is the character not available - well they left the party for a bit because they wanted to be alone. Either that or if you are a group where more than one persons GMs and you are one of the GMs having your Edgy loner character stalk off before you start running a session could work really well.

[@mrbubl33s]

Once I played with a broody character. We called it "Piccolo like" (due to DBZ). He was a character that was by the book, killed his enemies and didnt talk a lot, yet he was always someone reliable and kind hearted

[@quendi5557]

This is really cool, my first D&D character was a Dragonborn rogue with a really edgy backstory, but instead of brooding he ended up really wanting to make friends and cared a lot about people.

[@genghiskhan6809]

One of my first characters was a female high elf who was an Order of the Profane Soul blood hunter. She had an edgy backstory but I manifested that as a conflict between her general fear of connection with other people, and her overwhelming, almost suicidal, desire to emulate the heroism of her savior. As such, it turned her into the party tsundere. She would act sarcastic to the party, but the moment anybody showed weakness, she try awkwardly to support them and if they were in trouble, she’d react with the fury of a yandere to protect them. Ultimately, I decided to tie this into her backstory by having the party resemble the party that saved her when she was victim.

[@heavy5013]

I play an edgy op character in a Power Rangers table top. He's had a awesome story and a lot of development. Started as a villain that was twisted and violent and became one of the most caring characters of the group Willing to do anything for his friends and family that he found. Development has been fun and the best part of the character.

[@oOPPHOo]

Closest I've gotten to playing an edgy character is of course my drow rogue/hexblade whose tragic backstory is that that everyone on the surface was racist to him so he wanted to instead live in the underdark with his people, but couldn't out of matriarchal obligations to his mother. He wanted to kill her but couldn't before her self-destructive and guilt plagued religious rituals killed her instead through essentially self-torture. Now he struggles with mother issues resulting from the guilt of wanting to kill his mother but not being able to before it was too late. Sounds _super_ edgy right? Well, I couldn't play him that way. A drow wouldn't survive on the surface if he acted like an edgy loner. In effect, I played in to his charismatic side and made him very eager to make friends/allies, because he wouldn't be able achieve his goals or even survive without them. It wasn't genuine, at first, and came from entirely selfish motivations but, eventually, it grew to be genuine and he discover that, perhaps, he didn't need a family in the underdark in order to belong somewhere. I like having uncertain character ars for my PCs that will be affected by events of the world and actions of the other PCs. An edgy backstory and race/class combination is all well and good, but I find it hard to play a character who actually _acts_ edgy. This video was an interesting perspective.

[@obi-wank-enobi]

I think a good example of this was Percival from CR C1 for most of the first two arcs of the campaign he was quiet and kept to the back but over time he kind of became the defacto leader of the group and had a lot of important roles in the lore of CR Even though he was an "edgy" character he was still a great team player and he became my favorite character of C1

[@SuperGoose42]

My first ever character was an edgy Drow way of shadow monk with a seven page backstory at level 3 😂 Anyway, could you at some point do a video on the "pacifist character" and how to make that work with D&D? As a DM I have a player that's pretty pacifistic (will fight but will NOT kill anything with a soul), and I'm looking for advice on how to make the combat fun for that player AND my other 2. I mean, we don't have combat every session, but still

[@PlayYourRole]

Oh that would be super fun! I actually once played a pacifist character! Not because he refused to fight, but because he saw no need. The DM let me play an openly broken Homebrewed class and so I made the character to be a 'care taker' who openly refused to fight because he wanted his ward (one of the other PC's) to learn how to take care of herself. He was far stronger than the party despite being the same level, but he never fought until one fight where three of them got downed in a single round. Always loved playing someone who did everything BUT fight.

[@SuperGoose42]

@@PlayYourRole that sounds fun and unique, must've been an interesting campaign

[@sagescribe_]

Currently playing a lv 2 pacifist Bard (will fight but won't kill an enemy himself) for a Humblewood campaign. He fights with a light crossbow but all his shots are injuring, but non-lethal. His spell list are all utility spells like Message, Sleep, Bane, and Silent Image. He has the mindset of there has to be another way to end a conflict that doesn't end in bloodshed, which is further supported with having Sleep in his arsenal. Both in character and out of character we (me and my character) realize we can't stop the people around us from killing, only control ourselves from killing, so we don't bother (though I will mention minor conflict has occured between him and some of the party because they think my pc's unwillingness to finish an enemy (bandit or monster) will eventually harm the party or hold them back). Instead, all he can do about it is continue to practice it himself and hope his self-practice will eventually influence some of the party members

[@anska7475]

It's so nice of you to think about how to make things fun for all your players. =) I often play characters that aren't particularly interested in harming others and I am pretty happy if my DM is open to "creative problem-solving". Things like creating a diversion or stealing things from the enemy camp while everyone is busy fighting can also help the situation, without requiring the character to harm anyone. It usually only gets frustrating if I get the feeling that the DM wants a mortal combat scenario and absolutely does not want any other outcome.

[@SuperGoose42]

@@anska7475 Thanks! I'm pretty open to whatever solutions my party comes up with, but it also puts me at ease knowing that some future threats they'll face are more of the zombie/fiend variety, so my party will be more willing to "kill" later on 🙂🙃

[@toondemaere3080]

In my opinion Geralt of Rvia is an example of an edgy Hero with a dark past done right that will still function in a Group of adventurers without problems.

[@TumluGaming]

My last character falls square into this category. Nyx has had a terrible past and can't seem to get away from it. They are literally hunted by people from their past live. The point is: They don't want that. It doesn't come up a lot outside of specific storybeats or RP-Scenes. Nyx wants to leave it behind, they want to deal with other stuff, but it doesn't always work. I don't hog the spotlight with their misery ^^' Nyx is very much a loner. They are not used to be around people, but it's slowly changing. They are starting to open up and grow closer with specific party-members. In the final session before that campaign fell apart, they risked their own life to save said party member. A huge step for someone who has major trust-issues and usually runs from their problems. "Edgy" loners can be incredibly fun and rewarding characters, but you need to be ready for character development. It's so satisfying to see the mysterious stranger with a haunted past turn into a valuable party member that really cares about the people around them. Give your character a good reason to be who they are and a chance to become someone else. Then you will be able to tell amazing stories.

[@PlayYourRole]

Honestly, I believe they only fall into 'edgy' when the whole focus is on their backstory... Not on what they choose to do outside of it. Circumstances are a big deal, sure, but just because someone went through a bad situation doesn't mean that has to be the only thing about them you know?

[@TumluGaming]

@@PlayYourRole Exactly. And while I'm certain the first impression of Nyx was very easily the edgy brooding character, that was remedied quickly enough :D

[@nerdlydelicious1876]

I like to think I managed to play an edgy character rather well. He was a Zealot Barbarian of Moradin named Samuel. TL;DR on the backstory is that he was found in the wilderness as a baby by a dwarf cleric of Moradin, who took him in and raised him as his own. Fast forward 18 years and while Samuel’s father and the more veteran warriors of the temple are away his biological father at the head of a horde attack the village and sacrifice everyone in it in a mass ritual, the center of which is Samuel. His biological father kills him when the deed is done, but Moradin brings Samuel back as a Zealot to avenge himself and his family. Fast forward 5 years and Samuel is still hunting him down, but joins up with a group of adventurers on a job because he needs money. Starts out as the edgy ‘I don’t have friends’ type and does some pretty brutal shit to his enemies, but after they save his life he opens up a bit and apologizes for his past behavior. Even when he was full edge lord he still tried to help others and tried to protect the party, seeing it as his duty to do so. By the end of the campaign he’d opened up to the party and accepted them all as his new family and even fell in love again. Edgy characters can be fun, so long as you have a plan to un-edge them at least a bit.

[@Frixon_]

Literally making a phantom rogue for my next campaign. Such good timing

[@samuelbaker9623]

At my table, players need to answer two questions for me to approve your character: 1. What would be stopping the party from abandoning you at the first opportunity? Sure you might contribute in combat once in a while, but why would they care that it's you, and not someone else? 2. Why would YOU be travelling with a party instead of alone? Do you have any stake in the story?

[@davidanddragons5339]

One of the things I do with characters with edgy backstories is I make them care a lot more about the party then themselves. For instance the warlock may be telling a rogue to stop making these deals with people because he doesn't want the rogue to make the same mistakes he did. Or a cleric with an edgy backstory who after failing to save a friend decided to never lose another comrade and they throw themselves at enemies to save they're friends. Or helping even an npc who's daughter has been captured because you know what it's like to lose your family etc

[@bndllama9067]

I like to play awkward characters, who come across as edgy but are really just odd. Depending on how the party treats them really determines how I play them. If the party is encouraging and complimentary of the skills my PC has then I do everything I can for them, if they mock my character and treat them like a joke I start throwing dynamite. That's realistic to me, embracing the oddball can make them thrive but mocking or belittling them will turn them to their darker tendencies. Most goth kids in school were really cool, smart and friendly people but they brooded as a defense mechanism because of bullying.

[@Brentoboxed]

The most overlooked feature of the “edgy loaner” archetype is that they almost always secretly have good intentions or goals. Unfortunately, lotta people just focus on the idea of being an “independent badass” which does not work in a group setting.

[@tatfly5779]

I don't really get that since everytime I play that type its usually the killer with a heart of gold for those near him.A person who uses the skills taught to him but actively learns to do so for others rather than himself.Just being edgy and brooding just aint fun theres no dimension to it.

[@lukelblitz3627]

I still think it's funny when people talk about the archetypal Edgelord that everyone hates in DND they ALWAYS use the picture of Aragon sitting on the corner One of the most loved characters from lotr

[@BlueTressym]

He is and I think that demonstrates the fact that many of the people who make the disliked edgelords you mentioned do so because they miss what makes Aragorn popular and it isn't the fact that he sits in the corner by himself when first seen.

[@johnekare8376]

Great advice all of it! I will bookmark this and make it a required watch for any player wishing to play this archetype.

[@oi6119]

there was this one time in a pathfinder campaign that i played a spellcaster who was pretty much the loner archetype. She was often at a distance from the group, and had her own capabilities that she'd shine at when the time was necessary, however, i specifically made her so that the reason she didn't interact much is because she was just.. Scared. Social interactions made her anxious, so she didn't even try that much. Every time the party would talk to her, she never hid anything from them or refused to collaborate, she just stuttered and got mixed up in her own words a lot. And eventually, i think it developed this wholesome party dynamic where they'd both respect her boundries and let her have space, while also encouraging her to open up more. It also created this moment where, during downtime, everyone was just hanging out and having conversations before going to sleep, and she started like... Actually talking! Starting conversation, making jokes, she was still quiet and didn't talk a *lot*, but from then on, she was actually making an effort, despite her crippling fear of social interaction. So that was my personal take on having made a loner archetype with 8 charisma. It's fine and understandable for them to be edgy, but it's good to remember that they don't always have to be!

[@chaddybear9845]

A good way to work with an "edgy loner" character is, 1: the reason they are an edgy loner has to be good like maybe something happened to them that gave them trust issues or something. 2: you can use it as a point of character development where the character slowly sheds the loner part with help from the rest of the party over time, like over time the character learns to trust and rely on the rest of the party and opens up to them. 3: something to remember is that an edgy loner is different from a jerk that is mean for no reason and everyone hates.

[@hwilson3701]

I had an edgy character that is supposed to be a shinigami. He was edgy enough so that it was still fun and he had a good character. He basically is just a one off character that was always on a mission ordered by his God.

[@SAI-Max_D]

At first I was gonna make a comment about asking how common these "Edgy McEdgelord" PCs actually crop up in public D&D groups (all I've known so far are beginners and chaos monkeys, myself included) but after watching this video and reading some of the comments, I've just realised that *I* was the one who had been playing the Edgy Loner PC every once in a while; it simply never occurred to me because the PCs that could defined as such I thought were 1-3 steps too removed from said trope Case-in-point: I've played a mercenary veteran whose previous company was wiped out after a job went south, yet remained calm and helped the brains of our group devise strategies when the odds seemed against us; even joining the rouge on a successful reconnaissance mission by literally walking in & out of the enemy base, conversing with the guards in broad daylight no less, while our sneaky boi ducked in around the back to avoid detection Heck, one of my favourite character concepts that I've never gotten the chance to play [yet] is a spin on mentor-like figures who've already completed their personal quest before main story, yet willingly go out retirement solely to offer wisdom and support to the other party members while sometimes acting goofy (To give a better idea, if said character were to travel with a group like the Mighty Nein, they would respect Nott's wishes not to go near bodies water without pressing the issue, constantly tease Jester like an older sibling, and go out of their way to help both Caleb & Yasha come to terms with their respective trauma in a healthy manner so that neither of them make any similar mistakes to the ones that they did)

[@singularity1130]

Funny thing about the "Loner" is that they tend to work in groups... Typical Highwaymen operate in teams: 0. Face (Discovers the operation/Talks to merchants) 1. Scout/Lookout 2. Field Coordinator 3. Sabatour 4. Disruptor 5. Flankers It's 100% possible that the Loner is from one of those specialties but chooses not to associate with their team after a job because of personal reasons but at the end of the day the operation does not work if a single person isn't on point. All "Loners" know how to work independently on a team without micromanagement but still participate because it suits their needs to ensure their job is done right and they can't do it alone because they simply don't have the skill, strength, talent or wit to enact it solo and they know it.

[@panpan1287]

The way I try to do it us be as subtle as possible. Make the character a genuinely good person at their core, they're a normal person. But they always hold back in a sense, they don't say as much as they should. They act friendly enough while keeping everyone at an arms length. And when it comes to certain things they completely clam up and become unresponsive. This is mainly a back story thing, for one of my characters this was the smell of ash since he watched his home burn down and still had deep-rooted trauma from the experience. At one point he came across the ruins of another town that had been burned down and basically shut himself off from the party. But this also led directly into the reveal of his backstory and him overcoming this. And he really couldn't be a loner either. He was a great character for combat, and was very resourceful at times. But he lacked any sort of formal education and was horrible at talking to other people (he was way too blunt). So he had to rely on the party quite a bit throughout the campaign. Genuinely more than they could rely on him. Genuinely the best character I've ever played. I miss you, Leon!

[@jeroenimus7528]

One way to play a loner is by taking a leaf out of Dragonlance. Raistlin Majere is an edgy bugger who only tags along with the party because of his brother. If you don’t have another player to collaborate with on this particular issue then you could still pull it of by having a really social familiar or pet who happens to drag your character along. Via the familiar you’ll still have a lot of interaction with the group and when you’ve given your loner story time to resolve itself they’ll be part of the group to.

[@bluemage67]

Hrrm. I think my current Fighter counts as 'edgy', even if his parents are still alive. Was the result of an attempt to graft magic-rich metal onto bones to basically force magic power into someone who had none. It worked, but the mages responsible realized the terrible potential of this metal and what my Fighter could now do and burned their research and killed themselves to keep the secret. My Fighter basically ran for years to make sure no one found him, until he encountered the party who found him in a bounty hunter's cage. To earn their trust he's been the first to face threats, leap into danger, and generally help however he can WITHOUT using the magic he's been given, and constantly has to lie anytime he's within range of an ally's Detect Magic spell. Not wanting them caught up in the people who are still after him and his metal bones.

[@mikato2]

I have a recurring *edgy boi*, and he originated in a modern-fantasy setting with abilities perfect for being an assassin... Or a theatre nerd. He grew up in the super rough gangland part of town and doesn't much like people seeing the real him. Only his best friend really knew what his past was like. But he was also the adopted son of a preacher (or in the pathfinder version of the character, taken in by the temple of Sarenrae) and his quiet faith leads him to try to inspire others around him. He just doesn't like talking about it. He is absolutely an antihero, whose preferred method for dealing with villains is to find an organized syndicate, join under a false name, and clean house. But when working with a team, he also usually ends up the 'cool older brother' figure, trying to help people stay sane under the stress of being an adventurer/superhero/whatever because he knows what having that kind of power and the responsibility associated with it can do to a person. And when he's "off duty" or when the party is in town between adventures, he volunteers with local churches and/or stage troupes. Another two of mine are sisters that were created as artificial beings meant for war. They destroyed the lab they were born in behind them and fled. They became adventurers because it's the sort of life that doesn't ask about your past. They don't talk much about their past (except when trying to comfort each other through flashbacks) but while the older sister is aloof, she's professional as part of a team. The younger sister (who absolutely looks monstrous, in contrast to the elder sister looking just slightly uncanny valley) is bubbly and outgoing, and always trying to make new friends, be they the rest of the party or be they random animals found along the road. Both carry an air of sadness with them, and seem to actively enjoy the adventuring itself. Alas, the campaign didn't last long enough for them to open up to the rest of the party, some of the other players in that game had some interesting characters.

[@lunaredelvour2972]

Played my first "edgy" character recently. His reason for adventuring at all is to put physical distance between himself and his past, and he will never bring it up himself. He has a soft spot for one of the party members because he's a supportive dad type, kind of like his own dad before he died. The other characters seem intrigued, and the other players are just so damn curious (not that I'm gonna tell them before it comes up in-game xD). I also heard some of the players say they just want to give him a hug which makes me think they don't find him "too edgy" and annoying, just troubled. All my previous characters have been wholesome and sweet and loving so it's really nice to have this dark tragic backstory and distant mysterious character work (Also, I am proud to say he isn't a rogue. He's an Oathbreaker/hexblade multiclass. Which I would argue is almost edgier than that but hey that's just me xD)

[@Blerdy_Disposition]

Folks are sleeping on this channel. You touched on everything I was thinking of. Thank you for this video!

[@WorgenGrrl]

Currently in Campaign 3 of Critical Role, there's a character named Ashton being played by Taliesin Jaffe. The character is an Earth Genasi Barbarian that is a Punk loner (with his Jacket saying "Just Don't" and inscribed on his glass two-handed hammer are the words "F* off!") but does have associates and interacts with (Emmy Award winning) Sam Regal's Character a Robot like character known as F.C.G (just...you have to watch it).

[@NerdAlert42]

I'd say my most recent character is somewhat this trope, but I've handled it p well i think. His name is sorrn, he's a drow bladesinger, and he's been on the surface for five months now. He's extremely set in his ways, and he's a follower of lolth, so he tends to clash with the group a little. He doesn't pick fights, but he gets bristly when someone implies weakness in him. But he understands that sometimes he's got no choice but to tolerate people he hates in order to survive, and surprisingly, he's gotten close with the ranger in the party- who's an elf! He also is extremely curious, and will tolerate practically anything in the name of learning- the party figured that out pretty quick lmao And while he doesn't like most people, he DESPISES being alone, because he spent about 10 months in the underwilds and he doesn't like the quiet. That helped in terms of bringing him closer to the party 😂 More recently, another drow joined the party, a woman 😬, and the fighter decided he couldn't take the way sorrn was being treated, so at one point, under a zone of truth spell, he told sorrn that as long as he didn't just attack people unprovoked, he'd protect him from austra. And sorrn damn near killed himself dealing with the illithid problem he discovered in the fighter's home town, because the only form of affection he knows is destroying someone else's enemies for them

[@blackwell4701]

My current PC is somewhat leaning on this trope. Though I did the opposite of the "brooding loner", and he is instead the saucy but still quaint drifter of the party. Instead of being the rogue of the group (which who is also a different flavor of broody and a treat), he's a bloodhunter with a totally not-safe-for-driving alcohol content in his blood at almost all times. We're a bit of a weird group, more neutral over all and our most sane PC is CN. We started at level 3, but 5 sessions in and only one level up later we killed a dragon with a dragon. The start of it all? My PC duped our new enemy into retrieving another party member's horse that was stuck in it's lair, with one of his formulas (order of the mutant) he made while claiming it was a potion a trade. He cared about getting the horse back since it was the only thing that reminded the PC of home, and she was several months of travel away from home. It was a terrible(?) decision but it made an amazing first arc for sure. My PC neglected his attachment to the party and as a result one of our party was kidnapped, out of guilt for being the cause and failing to save them from being taken... it sort of broke him right out of the initial shell. He's still not entirely friendly to the entire party, but from prank wars to a healthy sarcastic frienemy and to a dastardly duo when drunk, he plays off everyone well despite not being open to his past or as blatantly good as some others.

[@t.h.mcelroy6597]

This is one of my favorites videos of yours! You hit the nail on the head on how to both play The loner type character well and how did just be a good team player 💛

[@MAKRA567]

I really like this analysis. I've always said that the best part of a loner character is that fraction of a second that they aren't one. If you spend several sessions establishing the mystery, competence, and slow-to-trust nature of a character, then all it takes is a moment of vulnerability to get everyone else at the table excited to have them around. A big part of it is that mindset that a character who starts as a loner SHOULD grow over a campaign. That's the point. Being a loner in a collaborative game is a weakness (character flaw) that must be overcome, much like pride or recklessness or naivete. They might remain slow-to-trust because theyve been burned before, but they should probably figure out how to at least trust the party then.

[@themaddoctor5304]

I once had a player who played a good loner. He was a Swashbuckler Rouge and excelled at sword fighting. He didn't flaunt it, but when he did some major damage on enemies, it caught players attention. Not only that, but he was willing to interact with the other players. Sure, he worked better alone, but he knew he couldn't complete his goal by himself. Finally, when people did get to know him, he was uncomfortable, sure, but also opened up after a while and said it felt good to get some stuff on his chest. When that character unfortunately fell victim to a Night Hag, the party mourned his death. After his death, one character even made it his mission to complete the dead PC's goal of finding the character's family fortune.

[@luketaylor7262]

my first character was designed to have this vibe but I quickly left it behind when I realized it wasn't fun for the reasons you mentioned. I've never really wanted to play this archetype again but watched this out of curiosity... and now I kind of want to! This is helpful advice!

[@jaffarebellion292]

My Cyberpunk 2020 character right now is a psychopathic nomad sniper. He was a child soldier in a war between his family and a band of Raffen Shiv, and regards violence as normal and death as cheap. That doesn't mean he wants to kill everyone. He doesn't hurt kids, he's loyal, practical, and he puts himself in harm's way to protect people who he thinks deserve it. He can be ventilating a mercenary's skull with a power drill while casually carrying on a friendly conversation with his coworker about fixing a car engine. He also has a thing for classical music, generally preferring Bach. He's a lot of fun to play.

[@ilthok]

I played a kind of reverse-edgy character. He was a pleasant, bubbly character on the outside, a halfling thief-charlatan who hung around the party because he genuinely liked them. He bought rounds of drinks, bought them presents after a good haul, and was generally fun to be around. As they got to know him, they realized that the bubbly persona was just a front he put up to make people comfortable around him, because he hated society in general and authority in particular. As a charlatan, he had a personality cooked up for every scenario, and the party got to see him switch between them with alarming acumen. The real persona of their thief friend was angry and constantly hungry for recognition, wealth and revenge... ...but no one wants to be around a person like that. So the mask always came back to put others at ease.

[@OnBrandRP]

I think one important way to play a loner type of character like what you said is to start out as the loner type, you're tough to talk to but not tough to play with. One big example is a character I concepted a little while ago is a loner type but more of a mercenary. He had been watching the group from a far and finally met them in a tavern. He was eventually introduced after there was a tavern brawl and he helped the group survive the fight. They asked who he was and why he helped them and he said "Who I am isn't important right now, the guards will be coming and I don't have time to explain, but let me come with you and I'll have all the answers." essentially anytime someone would ask who he was he always had a excuse for why he couldn't share whilst always accidentally slipping up, but eventually he ran out of excuses and started being more subtle. It would finally be revealed near the end that his entire lineage was massacred, he is quite literally the last of his family that is alive, if he dies his entire ancestry will with him. He blames himself for their deaths because he very well could of saved a few of his closer relatives but didn't out of cowardice. The group that kills his family are the same group, his new friends have been looking for. He wanted to join them to try and take revenge on the group that killed his family. So he was a loner type that sought revenge and after many hard fought battles with his new friends he learned his family didn't all die out because he made a new family. One that wouldn't perish like the rest, his biggest battle was the battle within and learning how to forgive himself. Eventually that group would go on to capture the other group, strip them of their artifacts and have them arrested by the guards. The loner type would unfortunately die in the battle but would have a final goodbye with the group as well as thanking them for helping him pass on to the afterlife. If it wasn't obvious the only thing that was really keeping him alive was his thirst for revenge, without it he would lose his will to live. Upon forgiving himself and seeking real justice for the enemy group he would finally be ready to take his last breath. A character like this is both mysterious YET engaging because it's all how you play the character. Most groups don't like a chaotic neutral for this very reason, so long as you play it right everyone will love what your character can bring to the table, and you can be anything you want so long as you don't try to be the only one in the spotlight. You can be unique whilst being relatively normal.

[@NyxNovaStar]

Asterion from Baldurs Gate 3 is a great example. He's not a brooding dark loner in the typical sense. On the surface he's very flamboyant and sassy but you learn very little about him for a while as he keeps his story guarded. Eventually you find out his darkest secret and he's forced to come clean. It's a very fascinating character because even though he's self serving and doesn't seem like a team player he genuinely grows fond of the team over time and shows he's willing to fight for and with them.

[@devin5201]

"Dilute your innocence" legit made me giggle.

[@EpochWin]

I remember playing a crotchety druid hermit that hated having been thrust into the spotlight of *insert world-ending threat here*. Possibly the best character moment was when he was drinking with another PC in the bar who asked what he does for fun, or if he even has any at all. "I.... uh.... I whittle sometimes. Reminds me of home." Just left it there, and it was fantastic.

[@Correction_Guy]

The first and so far only time I've roleplayed as an edgy character was with my group of friends (8-10 players usually, 11 people w/DM). Gameplay-wise it was your run of the mill rogue duelist, backstory-wise (and the TL;DR version of it) he's emotionally distanced man trying his best to save his sister, his last remaining member of his family, while also paying off debt he owes to the bandit group's chief. I thought it was okay enough, the DM and everyone else seemed to like it at least. So what happened? He never got the chance to shine once. All notable events were as follows: - Perform pest control in the Earth nation's refinery. While he did save the 5th mage in the party, a fallen angel, he later got curb-stomped by nearly drowning in a giant slime which burnt off 90% of his skin and half of his muscle tissue. Lived on 3/29 HP to tell the tale of the campaign's first encounter and later steal equipment from a couple gravely injured adventurers to increase the DC from 25 to 29. - Locate and explore the ruins of a previously large village. Discovered catacombs in the town hall, got ambushed by necromancer's magic tricks and mage #3 (mage-engi) learned level 20 sorcery. He was level 3, like everyone else. Later we discovered the hidden lair of a foe so fearsome the Earth nation's royal knights were dispatched to deal with him (~12 lvl 15 NPCs). Half of the party trolled the boss by utilising their "fly" magic and suspended themselves in the air, while the rest spammed magic fireballs and other magic tricks. My rogue shot arrows and threw rocks. Eventually we lowered the health of the boss to 2 HP, in which case the DM decided to pull the middle finger on the hovering mages and send 3 magic missiles. He rolled 2 nat1s and a nat2. The battle concluded with the floor cracking open and the boss falling into a chasm with his missiles following suit. - Meet local lord and agree to escort his package of tiefling slaves to the village ruins so it could be rebuilt faster. On the party got ambushed, my rogue managed to slay one bandit before getting hit with 2 "star arrows" (a type of arrow which has a tip which shoots out spikes and takes the form of a lightweight morning star) - once in the shoulder, once in the femur. I decided to use a "cool roll" to not just remove the arrows but use them against the bandit before my character. I rolled a nat1. While my rogue did manage to remove the arrow in his shoulder, it was far too close to his face and consequently he got his lower jaw removed along with piercing his eye; the arrow in the femur expanded while being pulled out, which ripped half of the muscle tissue off. Needless to say, he had to roll for death saves, and got narrowly saved by mage #5 after I rolled a nat1. - Escort lord's tiefling slave package to village ruins pt.2. So after the battle we got ambushed by a set of undead elite enemies. The remaining bandits ran away, most of the party that was present got carried up a steep hill to escape, but the tank stayed behind. My rogue tried to run down the hill to help the tank, I rolled low (think about 2 or 4) - stumbled and toppled over, once again going into a critical situation. The tank had his moment to shine by solo-ing the entire party of undead elites and surviving at half HP (from ~60 iirc). - A mystery with a sickly girl and missing tiefling. One of the slaves escaped, and the construction chief's daughter was gravely ill, having about two to three days to live. The tiefling mystery was solved by mage-engi who "became the gestapo" and got the favor of the DM for his incredible acting and problem solving skills. My rogue had to keep one of the construction crew members still so as to not let her escape. I rolled a 2, with a strength modifier of -1, the girl easily sent my rogue flying into a tree despite being armed with a rapier and being a head taller than her. After the embarrassment we had to deal with the curse of the girl, which soon claimed its first victim in the form of the mother having every hole sewn with steel wire. One session of questioning and thinking later, we had to fight the curse taking form of the daughter's favourite toy. My rogue managed to stay hidden, but one poor roll later had me and magi-engi switch bodies/characters; couple rounds later my rogue was impaled through the stomach by a comically large needle because my friend decided to charge head-first at the toy. The battle eventually concluded with the toy evaporating but also the girl and the construction chief's holes sewn as well. My rogue was the only one to get some wooden ring while everyone else got gold or rewarded with favors from the construction crew. The final session concluded with everyone receiving letters, with the rogue receiving one where he was supposed to arrive at a specific location to speak with the band's chief. Unfortunately this was the end of DnD for us all because half the party was missing very often and a third of whoever showed up wasn't having fun. Considering my rogue's failure hitherto, I like to imagine the meeting was going to conclude with my rogue's sister getting executed or severely injured as some sort of motivation to keep going, although it goes completely against the DM's intentions as with each session he felt more pity towards me since, despite the sessions lasting 4-5 hours on average, I spoke up and interacted for about 20-30 minutes since I wanted to let everyone else speak their minds first. But even when I wanted to do something most I could do was rise my hand so as to not overload the DM.

[@YourBoyNobody530]

One way I found that can get others asking questions about your character is to include an A-typical trait for such a character like an elf that constantly has bags under their eyes when elves distinctly don't sleep which could lead others to ask why an elf looks like he is suffering from sleep depravation which if you handled the answer correctly it won't come off as cringe worthy, but rather a small look into your characters backstory which creates more questions than it solves.

[@nickolaszannetti5934]

I had a loner character that I had rolled up, and I had never bridged the gap of why my character would actually want to stick around if the money dried up. He was a "professional" and thus treated any job he got with a level of you don't need to know anything about me, and I don't need to know anything that isn't job specific, and I found that I had backed myself into a narrative corner of whether or not my fighter would stick around. Being invested in your team is super important and when that bullet point came up I had a whole mental relapse of me sweating whether or not my beloved dragonborn fist fighter would be leaving the campaign or not lmao

[@DarkWarrior076]

I played a lonely human noble fighter (from the starter pack) who really started off on the wrong foot when he teamed up with the other members who were commoners as he lived a privileged life. However, he lived a lonely life after his family left their castle due to a volcano then killed by orcs and lived a lonely life in a estate in a small village, until opportunity came when he was chosen to bring order to the land and teaming up with a commoner human fighter, a rogue halfling and a elven priestess. Later on their relationships gets better as they travel and fought together.

[@lordnul1708]

My DM and I once had a thing going where we make it work. Short version, my DM loved to get a little "knife twisty" when it comes to using backstory elements in the campaign, and mine was the type to feel as though they are "surrounded by people, yet completely alone" (depressing I know), with a major arc for said character literally being about overcoming that, but in my book relapsing a few times (he only truly overcoming it near the final battle) was an important part of his growth. After all, you cannot expect someone to change how they saw themselves and how they act overnight (since that's not development but a flat 180). It's not so much that he doesn't value the party as it is him not being used to having someone he can actually trust with his life. Of course, he used to shine the best during downtime, and after a few good rolls it became a canonical running gag that loners are surprisingly good chefs. Hell, dining with a local lord somehow managed to WORSEN morale because according to the DM, "it's just not as good as (my character's) cooking".

[@Apollo_Agni]

I once got the chance to play a homebrew Genasi character, he had every potential to fall into the edgy loner territory, dead mother, son of an evil elemental who was partially bound to his body. But exploring the intricacies of a character with those issues, and breaking it down so that he somehow, after all that edge feels incredibly human, and he ended up being most adventurers of that campaigns' favorite party member

[@FedericoVetencourt]

He's obviously not edgy but Barney from HIMYM is the perfect example of how a traumatized character can be mysterious about his past and still be the absolute opposite of a brooding character, he actually has a very positive attitude IN ORDER to avoid thinking about his past which is exactly what pushes everyone into wanting to know about it.

[@donanausetcscom]

My first character was the classical super edgy ‘you wouldn’t understand the deep darkness inside me’ type character. Eventually after playing him I realized that he was super lonely and secretly wanted closeness to people, but was just too hurt by events in his past to show it and was afraid to express it. He ended up growing and completely changing after he found those connections with the party and his future wife in the party. Going from an edge lord, to being just a kind and likable guy who would crack jokes, was fiercely and cares deeply for his friend. Not sure if this would go here, but just felt this connected to the vid.

[@arathyn8294]

Geralt of Rivia: speaks little and keeps his distance, but always has something interesting to say when engaged. One of the most capable fighters out there, but makes conscious efforts to avoid violence altogether. Is treated well only by the few, but does not use that as an excuse to treat others poorly. (In fact, he often stands up to strangers who are true victims of injustice). Those are the sort of traits I enjoy in that excellent character, and those which I think should be applied to others of the similar archetype to make them enjoyable.

[@frickle3216]

I personally have my own twist on the edgy loner role that every DM I've played with seems to like. I put some reason for them to have social trauma and be distrustful of people in their backstory, and I have them open up to the party as they spend time together and as their character arc progresses. By the end of the campaign they still don't feel comfortable around strangers, but they're sociable within the party, and even sometimes cute and wholesome within the party. Playing a static character is easy and just as fun for everyone if you hit the nail on the head with their personality, but dynamic characters with relatable and realistic flaws that they grow from throughout the story are almost always interesting and fun to engage with.

[@chimedemon]

I’ve always been curious of trying to play one of these characters and wanted to base him a lot off of people like Denji and especially Guts- one of my favorite aspects about them is the fact that despite everything.. they wanna keep going. They do see that things can get better, and for my character I really want him to at least be hopeful. I’ve done a really terrible job selling him to the DM but it’s also mostly because she hasn’t really read Berserk or Chainsaw Man (honestly probably for the best, she really wouldn’t like the gore or freaky creatures) But I think having him- like you stated- be a “loner” but still be really interested in the other players and safety of them would be fantastic! Especially since his past was all about the fact that someone would harm those he’d get close to every time- and so the first time he finds people he can genuinely trust and open up to he wants to guard and do everything he can FOR them! I’m use to playing mostly jokey characters (once a horny and drunken Changeling Monk who had a heart of gold, and later a greedy pirate goblin who had a boomerang as a weapon) so I’m definitely excited to bring some peace and humanity to this guy :)

[@Linkdoesminecraft100]

Planning on playing a Horizon Walker Ranger who hails from the Astral Sea, but I’m trying to incorporate their distaste of those who hail from the Material Plane due to their lack of strength and training to defend themselves from larger threats. So This video really help, I really don’t wanna make my character an asshole while still having this mentality. Thank you!

[@colinlinvill1310]

I don’t plan on replicating this to the letter, but I just had a great idea: Really bubbly, friendly character who wouldn’t hurt a fly and always buys everyone drinks at taverns, BUT Who both has a voice, demeanor, fashion sense, and skillset indicative of the edgiest mf who ever walked the earth. I can already picture the tavern scene in the first session.

[@Voltie_]

Watching this, I realize now my character, Milosandra, a shifter ranger, was actually pretty much this, entirely on accident. My main focus when making him was a ex-pirate, and I just went off that. Turns out, when you make a character who ran from his past and tried to become someone good, but has been down on his luck to redeem himself other than the 8 years of mandatory military service and 1 year of jail time after turning himself in, he becomes brooding, lonely, yet still capable. It was a blast to watch as the character I play grew more comfortable with the other members of the party, and as some of the in-party drama complicated things, especially when Milo met the victims of when he used to be a pirate. My biggest issue with playing him is that I am bad at separating role-play and reality in my emotions, so when he was having a panic attack because someone recognized him from the attack on the city 10 years ago, I felt some of that pain personally.

[@bodhijordan7405]

My most long-running character was an edgy loner Aasimar Sorcerer who wore a mask to keep him safe from a cult who had invaded his home island and spread to the mainland. He went from unable to call himself by his real name to going on a character arc where he learns to love himself and his friends because behind his cold exterior he really enjoyed all of their company.

Liam did an excellent Loner with Vax in CR C1. He was Brooding, and Dark and misterious, but he deeply cared about his sister and his friends and even opened up more during the campaign. The thing that ruins most Broody Loners is that they think they are the main character. But I have done the same thing several times when a player didn't interact with the rest of the party. He was left behind at the tavern and not part of the story.... most players learned pretty quick that way :D

[@MstEli]

Edgy PCs, like evil PCs are an art form. Lot of room for it to be done badly, but can be super challenging, and rewarding. When done right, those characters sometimes end up being the most memorable.

[@liamcage7208]

I played a Mysterious / Edgy / Loner character. His history was he was a loner because he is the lone survivor of a previous near TPK. To get close means to deal with loss if others die so keep to himself. As time went by he opened up, became friendlier and less edgy....to the group but not outsiders, he maintained his edge to outsiders. It was an attempt at character growth in game. I'm not sure I pulled it off but really how well does anyone rally role play their character without becoming a caricature of what they want to play.

[@daytonahurd6044]

My loaner character plays his mystery as not really mentioning how he knows how to do the things he does until it is relative to the stor. He is an eldritch knight that supports those on the front lines, hence being part of the team. When it comes to the loaner thing, he just doesn't know how to socialize and lacks a morale compass and is a true neutral but when it comes to how to solve this he makes contracts. what is stated in the contract is how he conducts himself. Without the contracts he usually goes neutral evil in his problem solving. The cleric of the party has started teaching him right and wrong and now instead of starting fights he waits for her to authorize him to go on the offensive. Which is a big change and a step of character growth for this character

[@traviscummings9178]

Really loved this video! I do have one question, though. I'm relatively new to D&D (I've watched a bit of Critical Role, so I have a limited understanding of the mechanics and whatnot), but I've wondered what a Mad Max themed D&D campaign would look like. My question is basically a two-parter: Is a Mad Max themed campaign possible, and what would be a good format for it?

[@jaysonklein6018]

I feel that another character done well with this (if it hadn't already been said) is Raven from the 2003 version of Teen Titans. She broods and is mysterious... HOWEVER, she also wants to run from her past (not obcess over it) and cares enough about her friends to make sure that they don't get hurt (or that SHE doesn't get them hurt), but she finds it hard to open up to the other Titans for fear of being misunderstood or downright feared/hated (it's also why she does her hardest to keep her OWN emotions in check. She honestly doesn't have a choice in the matter, as her powers go out of control if she doesn't). Also, she IS super-capable and wise, and certainly doesn't make her skills a bragging point (honestly, I can't recall her bragging about ANYTHING!), and she's made honest mistakes (letting her fear "haunt" Titans Tower in "Fear Itself", or unknowingly freeing an evil dragon from an enchanted book when he made himself look like the human hero who banished him). Raven is an edgy character made right.

[@Sl4wt3r]

Tldr: edgy loner was fun because it was played as a "fish out of water" and not a hyper-competent cringe lord. My last character was an edgy loner type. He was a man in his mid 30s with a "dark and mysterious" past in which he lost his wife and kids to an orc raid (along with the rest of his village). He then became a wandering sellsword and a bit of a death seeker. I found the best way to to play this as a "loner" was not to avoid interacting with the party or "you wouldn't understand" them. It was to be the gruff, grudging companion who bemoans being stuck dealing with "kids" (because most of my group decided to be younger characters). And as you said, this character type is done best and enjoyed by all when he's made to grow in the campaign. One of my friends was playing a young hot-headed teenage half-orc orphan thug and she deliberately played into my character’s prejudices (she was the first to learn about my character’s backstory) by always trying to partner up with my group if our party split or pinning the blame on my when she got into trouble, etc. Then there was this one session where our party split and the hafl-orc and I were working a sabotage mission while the rest were preparing for a frontal assault of the same enemy camp. The problem was that someone in the party let this info leak and the enemy was ready to ambush us. My friend was incapacitated in the fight so I had to deal with most of the baddies, which I did but it left me in a bleedout state. I had used up all our healing items just trying to live long enough to not lose the encounter. My friend finally came around after the battle and desperately worked to save mine and after that, the two characters ended up having a more father/daughter relationship.

[@DavidShgo]

Recently I joined a game my best friend started GM-ing. It's all home-made system, but I'll try my best to describe it in D&D terms to make it easier for everybody else to read. So, we were a party of 4 but we actually have ways to separate from each other at any time, that's always an option. We first met in a tavern. The party members are: a clockwork sorcerer vampire, a knowledge domain cleric tiefling, a hexblade warlock and me as a human barbarian/paladin, who has become a werewolf against their will in their backstory and refuses to use that to hia advantage, but also can't use his paladin powers 'cause he lost his inner connection to the deity he swore the oath to. The main problems started at session 2 that was run just yesterday. The sorcerer could not show up to the game, so there were 3 of us. The GM toned down an encounter we had to have in the beginning of this session and there were just 2 monsters against 3 of us + a merchant NPC. Initiative is rolled. In the first round our hexblade (with a nice magical chakram) chooses to wait her turn (all the way down the initiative), the cleric draws a crossbow he won in a card game last night and misses. Then the monsters make their move. Essentially, those were undead that can shoot blasts of necrotic energy, but it works only against organics, so my character has no problem blocking that, but the other characters who had not a single piece of real armor were in danger. I even had to spend 1 or 2 of my GM inspirations to let them reroll some saves, but that's fine with me. So, one of the monsters takes his shots. One miss and one block. The second one jumps at me and stabs me with his bone right in the shoulder. Then the merchant npc ran to the stables, 'cause he became too afraid of those creatures. Our hexblade uses her reaction to... Kill him with a throw of her weapon. Nat 20. He' s dead. My turn. Rage and an unarmed attack. Crit. I punch its head off its neck. But it turns out that thing was still alive. On the next turn I used my reaction to save our edgy "super sexy" hexblade from an all-in barage of enemy blasts, but those were not necrotic this time. So they made some nice damage to me after what hexblade just... Ran inside the tavern, spending her action to dash. In the end of the battle, both monsters were killed exclusively by my character, even though they were resistant to non-magocal physical damage. The only action done by those two was... When the cleric threw his crossbow to me 'cause I had better accuracy. The hexblade did only one attack, killing the merchant. That's it. After battle I was the one to persuade others to travel together. And just two in-game days later we come to a town where we find another group of 3 npc adventurers. A female human fighter, an illusionist wizard and a thief rogue. We sat in a tavern together, had some nice time together, until the GM threw this into play... The thief rogue went out for a few minutes, and then comes back with a map. Local ruler's house blueprints as we understood a moment after. He was up to going inside and stealing those, burning the barracks to ashes for cover and run away. The two tieflings got pretty interested, but my character and the rogue's teammates were against that. 3:3. Tieflings offer to do that together or to not do it at all. And they offered to deside that by playing another card game. Right after I and cleric won two books from wizard and fighter. Everyone refused. Then the rogue said "You know what... I didn't know how to deliver that but... I'm sick of you guys. I don't want to be in your party any longer" and moves to another table, inviting the two tieflings. And they took the bait, while I stayed with the fighter and wizard. We decided to move from that town the next day. After the game I discussed everything with our GM. He reminded me of cleric's and warlock's bad habits and said that he wanted to give them a chance to separate from me for their own doom. He only gave them the chance. No persuasion, no deception, he even showed them through the npcs that the rogue will abandon them the moment they get in his way or even if he just gets bored. A handful of times. And even explained a bounty mechanic he wrote that made the criminals a target for relentless bounty hunters. But the players were too obsessed with themselves to see how painful it will get. So, I'll be leaving the town soon with a new party, tieflings stay to plan the heist and the sorcerer will wake up in an empty tavern in the middle of nowhere with the nearest town in 2 days of travel by horse. And he has no transport. So I turned out to be the player with the least annoying and most interesting character. And that bothers me. I just sit here and wait for session 3 to kick in.

[@ravenwolf2220]

Best way to play the character - is like start with the edgy boi being cagey around the party, and then slowly have their arc being about actually befriending the group - it's really fun and means you don't piss everyone else off.

[@tigerclaw1544]

Played a character that was a artificer and loved to study all things mechanical and magical I gave them the haunted one background as I wrote in their backstory that their entire village was ransacked and burned (including his wife and kids) from a group of bandits. And used that as their motivation to join the party, they didn't want to connect with the party at first as they already went through the pain of losing everyone they had and as they were adventuring, knew there was a high risk of anybody dying. They eventually came around, explained their past and had a wholesome session around that. In my opinion this is one of the best ways you can make a edgy character, one that can stick to themselves and has interest but as this is a social game with other people you gotta give them a reason to be in the party. As them wanting to be alone but sticks with the party makes no sense. Give them reason to not explain their past and maybe even have them tell the party that it was traumatic for them and they don't wish to speak about it as it just brings up bad memories and possibly give them a reason to become more open with the party and start to appreciate who they are working with.