Character incarnations

Along with the character music topic there's another facet of characters that is interesting to explain. The different incarnations that a character has had. For some this is not our first time playing any particular character. A lot of times our characters are updated as they pass through the different ages. So to kick that off here are the incarnations of but one of my characters.

Kristn (note, no i, no y, no vowel between the t and n) was first created in Asheron's Call. At the time I had just switched servers and was not happy with my current character, Kintomar. I am one of those people who needs a concept in my head for a character so I can play it. It doesn't matter if I RP or not but the concept must be in my head.

I knew I wanted a melee character but didn't know which weapon. I then looked through my stable of characters as well as inspiration from books/comics/movies. What I landed on was Matt Wagner's Grendel, the second incarnation. A woman who was inhabited by the Grendel spirit and wielded a bladed staff. Well, a female melee fighter who wields both a staff and a spear. That I can get behind!

However the name was a problem. Her name was Christine Spar. She was the daughter of Hunter Rose, the original Grendel. Since I don't like to create names that are too out of character or too obvious in their origin I had to mask it some. In AC they had suggestions on how to form names. One of their races had an Arabic flavor to it and they suggested "Ibn" for "son of" and "bint" for "daugther of". So Christine Spar became Krist'n bint Rose or Krist'n daughter of (Hunter) Rose.

Krist'n shunned magic. In AC that was extremely rare. She also hunted Olthoi (an insectoid major enemy in AC) and was often knee deep in Olthoi bodies. I played her without fear. I was very good at melee fighting since I didn't have the crutch of magical defenses if I made mistakes. I did things that most people thought a melee aught not be able to do without magic. That's where the notion that Krist'n was a feirce, fearless fighter came about. I imagined that she was the devil to the Olthoi. She was the boogyman made manifest. That name whispered in fear to curse and scare.

Since then Kristn has made appearances in Shadowbane, DAoC and maybe one or two other MMOs. She has always been a melee fighter. Always fierce and fearless in combat. Always the one who would protect others at her own expense.

In PotBS she lost the "daughter of Rose" moniker and took up the d'Miyu name whose origin is a story unto itself. When I went to make a Naval Officer I could not think of any other of my regular characters that was more appropriate. Well, a male maybe but beyond that, the character just fits. She isn't as much of a hellion in melee and her ship combat is tempered a bit. At some point I decided to retain the fierceness of Grendel but try to temper it with the mannerism and tactical acumen of a fictional female naval officer who's series I have come to love; Honor Harrington.

Of course Honor's navy is set in space about 5-6000 years after the time of PotBS but she herself is modeled on Horatio Hornblower so I guess it all works out.

My friend gave me a CD and his 2nd account info and had me set up a UO character on Pacific shard where he did not play. I thought I would buy the game, at which time I would set up a "real" character, so I used the name Bognor Regis as my "throwaway" character.

Bognor Regis is a small resort town in south England. Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) in Fawlty Towers (Britcom I love to watch) is always compaining that the tourist trade bypasses Torquay where he lives and goes to Bognor Regis.

Through a number of circumstances, I ended up entranced with the game, such that it invaded my dreams and even my waking hours. I was alone in a world that I knew nothing about and was undergoing massive change at the time. (Some months before the carebear land of Trammel was created.)

So when the two or three weeks passed and my CD (or floppies?) arrived, I recreated Bognor because I was so enamored of that early entrancing experience.

Conary Mor is the name of an ancient Irish hero. My hard core melee characters get that name.

Edeor MacGregor comes from DAoC. His stories can be seen here: https://highlandconfederacy.forumotion.com/off-topic-f15/old-daoc-stories-t909.htm

His name came from the generator because I had been in Japan and Holland the prior two weeks and was too tired to come up with a new name. I could not use Bognor because I was saving that for a Briton and COnary Mor would have been Hibernian.

(edit: wrote this in a hurry yesterday and had a lot of typos)

Bog

Maguai DuLac is a brand new soul. This is his first incantation (and perhaps only) When I found Burning Seas, I realized this was a MMO I could play history with. The concept came from the classic Leatherstocking Tales by James F. Cooper. If any of you read the book or saw the movie "Last of the Mohicans" Maguai was the Huron spy pretending to be a Mohawk guide who let Natty bumpo, Uncas and Chingachkook. Maguai also means Sly Fox.
Because I made Maguai from the Great Region (Ontario specifically) I gave him DuLac which I think means "of the Lake"

So Maguai DuLac means "Sly Fox of the Lake"

and there you go


by the way, what are you looking for in the way of a backstory? in game or his time before he came to the Caribbean?

Lisette and Gudrun von Klein were uniquely created for the Highland Confederacy. I was not excited about being Scot or Irish, but I really loved the idea of expatriates fighting under the French flag. I was reading a book on the 1805 campaign (yes, I'm a military history nut - color me weird in yet another way) and began to wonder if some of Napoleon's German allies were long-time friends of France. It turned out that Bavaria was indeed a frequent ally of France (Marlborough's great victory at Blenheim in 1704 was against a joint Franco-Bavarian army). Given that Bavarians have a reputation for being among the most liberal and tolerant of all the Germans (see the lesbian notes below), it was a slam-dunk from that point onward. It doesn't hurt that I know a bit of German, including what a Bavarian accent sounds like (hence of the use of a southern-German sounding "Ish" instead of northern-German sounding "Ich").

In a larger sense, though, I almost always play lesbian characters. A couple HC members are former AO players who knew my "Betji" character from that game years ago. She too was a lesbian, but with a story and attitude appropriate to that game's setting (300th Century AD). Creating Gudrun as Lisette's straight sister was distinctly different, but I very much enjoy the by-play between them. Whenever Lisette gets a bit excessive, Gudrun can complain about it!

Needless to say, there was no gay lib in 1720, so Lisette is not public about her romantic interests. However, in 1720 it was not unknown for women to dress as men and take a man's role in life. If they were as successful, or more successful than men, a woman might be grudgingly accepted in that chosen profession. However, they had to act completely as a man, which meant no "feminine wiles." Such a "butch" lifestyle is right up Lisette's ally, so it all fits together into a great RP role.

Alas, I must admit, as many of you history buffs already know, that my moniker isn't too terribly original.

Jean-Pierre, by my imaginative accounts, is an ancestor of the American/French Privateer, and hero of New Orleans, Jean LaFitte.

Being a history nut when it comes to my city, and fascinated by the part New Orleans played in Pirate/Privateer history, I found this game's unique setting to be the perfect backdrop to do a little historically tweaked RP.

He has never existed in any form in any other MMO I've played, and is quite different in character than the others I've created in games ranging from SWG to LoTRO.

Lack of originality aside, I'm here to have fun.

Edwin is my middle name. As it is a good old saxon name (meaning friend of wealth), it is the name I usually go by when playing a character as i actually will answer to it.

Edwin Stewart is my personna at Renaissance Faire (see the "Who we are' thread). Indeed, some people know me by no other name. My Guild portrays Border Scots, and as I did a few years of my primary schooling in Gourock, I play someone from the Clydebank area. The Stewart comes form need once to have a petty noble for a guild gig. As the only filial line of the Scots kingship died out, I played the line as continuing through David (son of Robert III), Duke of Rothesay, the Stewart of Bute, with a natural son. It is Stewart, instead of Stuart, becuase the french way of spelling the name decends from Mary Stuart, Queen of France (i.e. Mary, Queen of Scots, cousin to Elizabeth I.)

Nicole la Souris...

She is my first character here in PotBS, well, my first that survived beyond 15th level.

I actually went to a F = E dictionary online to find female French names and I liked Faferd and the Grey Mouser tales so I looked up "the Mouse" and used that translation for Nicoles "last name". Game logic was she had no real contact with any nation, but being a nomad between her father's French origins and her mother's Pirate life.

One of the things I have found out about choosing a name....

Make sure it rolls with your tongue / brain / feelings or you are not likely to keep the character more than a few levels. A name (for me) signifies my contact to the character and is very important.

For those who have difficulty choosing a name= one of the things I do if I cannot find that nich is to close my eyes, type quickly on the keyboard (randomly) and then look at the string of letters (numbers lol). Often times some combination strikes my fancy and leads to a good name that sticks.

Cathern "Vixentrox" Flowers was my AO toon name. When the game first launched you had a random name generator for 1st and last names and could only choose the middle "call-sign" name. So Cathern Flowers is a computer generated name. Vixentrox was an agent, basically a sniper type with stealth abilities. She was one of the most well known toons on her server, possibly THE most well known player toon in all the game during her prime though I wouldn't be so bold to state that definitivly; there were a lot of well known people. Lisette can certainly attest to the fame of my toon. Among the role-players, "legend" was an oft used term I heard when they referred to me. I can't count the times I heard "OMG...you are a real player character!" becuase she was in so many news articles, both official and unofficial. A lot of people thought I was an NPC or a GM character for some reason till they met me in game.

It is threads like this that remind me what a rank beginner I am! I don't have any history with Deoiridh; she was created not so much for POTBS (my name on the POTBS forums is completely different; it was the name I was playing under in SWG at the time, and I was hoping it would be useful if any one from my old guilds was trying to find me) but specifically for the Highland Confederacy.

I'm with Greyed, though: I need a concept in my head before I can get started playing. Often that concept will evolve radically as I get into the game and more into my guild/society. But I need to have an initial strong idea of where I'm going with the character, a sense of the kinds of things that are driving the character and governing their participation in this particular world. And for me, finding the Confederacy allowed me to take the idea of exiles in the service of a cause and give it a particular gender spin. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I was interested in trying to figure out what kinds of things might drive a woman to a (alternative) New World during this period, and the challenges that might involve.

Aidan McDermott is actually a pen name I came up with years ago when I had grand ideas of writing a Fantasy novel (before I realize how much work it actually would be). I made it from a cross between my son's first name and the actor Dylan McDermott. Then when I decided to join this guild, I just went with the name due to it's Irish decendency.

As for the Bishop part, well, in RL I'm Protestant and take some pride in knowing why I believe what I believe in the area of spirituality. So since I had a decent background in matters of faith I thought it would be fun to play a Protestant Missionary or something along those lines. Well, then I decided to go with France instead of Britain because I like playing as the underdog and so I had to decide whether I just scrap the spiritual theme to my character or go with the prevelant religion of the nation.

After some thought I decided that assuming the role of a Bishop working for the Archdioses of Santo Domingo had interesting RPing possibilities and so I went that route. Although I have to admit that I still find it hard to play IC when it comes to knocking the Protestants. We're really not that bad

OxBaker wrote:

Aidan McDermott is actually a pen name I came up with years ago when I had grand ideas of writing a Fantasy novel (before I realize how much work it actually would be). I made it from a cross between my son's first name and the actor Dylan McDermott. Then when I decided to join this guild, I just went with the name due to it's Irish decendency.

As for the Bishop part, well, in RL I'm Protestant and take some pride in knowing why I believe what I believe in the area of spirituality. So since I had a decent background in matters of faith I thought it would be fun to play a Protestant Missionary or something along those lines. Well, then I decided to go with France instead of Britain because I like playing as the underdog and so I had to decide whether I just scrap the spiritual theme to my character or go with the prevelant religion of the nation.

After some thought I decided that assuming the role of a Bishop working for the Archdioses of Santo Domingo had interesting RPing possibilities and so I went that route. Although I have to admit that I still find it hard to play IC when it comes to knocking the Protestants. We're really not that bad

I'm an ex-christian and godless atheist IRL, but I do try to play the part of a good Catholic! It's called Role-Play for a reason.

PotBS is my first foray into any role-playing adventure. I have been playing military bases games for years. I have played SWG,, but my I did not think my characters there translated into a 'period' piece.

Ruiseart MacTamhais, could have been one of my ancestors. The MacTamhais clann does exist and, based on my family history, we are probably a branch that fled to the American colonies in the early 18th century. My RL last name is one of the anglicized derivations of MacTavish. Ruiseart is also not very inspiring since it the gaelic for my given name.

My alt Jean De la Motte, also is a probable ancestor. The De la Motte's name also changed when they moved from france to England and eventually the Americas.

One of the hobbies I dabble in is geneology. I have traced my family to the Carolina Colonies and the Georgia Colony in the 1720's. Therefore these characters are an homage to those souls that fled civilization to create a new life in the New World.

That's cool having a ingame name referencing your family history.

My father is from Scotland and there is a Tartan(?) representing his house but I don't know what it is or what the relations are.

When my father passes, my kids and I are going to go to Scotland and find out part of where we came from. Mostly is just getting outa the US and going to Europe to trek around a bit. All kids in the US should be required by their schools to visit a foreign country.... just my opinion though heheh.

My mother is German with a bit of Swedish and her mother was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize during WWII. She helped orphan children and prisoners of war (German and Russian). She (and my g-father) escaped from Hitler's personal attention and came to the US with my mother who was ahhh 10 (I think).