🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
RPG Character - Old man who 'dies' a lot.
Author
I've been paging through some of my story design babble recently and was inspired to create an amusing character to keep a sense of lightheartedness at key points in the game.
I decided on an old man that the party will meet in the first cave (A druid underground sanctuary - 'nother story) who seems lost. They decide to help him find his way out and he travels with them. During the boss battle at the end of the cave, he unleashes some powerful magic and everyone is impressed.
On the way out, something happens (possibly the building is collapsing) and he 'dies'. There is a very tragic moment where all the characters are sad, sad music is playing, etc...
When the party resumes exiting the cave, he slowly gets up. 'You just gonna leave me here? Bah! Why in my day...". Everyone is very confused, but he isn't even injured.
Throughout the rest of the game, there will be incidents where it seems he dies, like this, and each one should be pretty funny. At first it's a little dramatic, and then the characters are getting fed up with it. He does not ever really die in the game.
There are still a few questions that I can use some help on.
What is this guy's background?
Why does he have powerful magic?
What are some funny ways he 'dies'?
What is this guy's background?
Why does he have powerful magic?
Well, seems like he's an old and wise, although clumsy, wizard. A bit senile perhaps? And all old and wise wizards have powerful magic.
What are some funny ways he 'dies'?
Maybe he could get swallowed by a huge monster (dragon or something like that) and then a bit later he could cast a spell and burst out of the monster's stomach.. Hmm, a perhaps a bit too bloody..
You probably shouldn't have him die too often and perhaps maybe at some point he could be "dead" for a long time so the player might think "oh, he really died this time..".
[OT: Yay, my 100th post! Damn, I'm addicted to GDnet.]
Why does he have powerful magic?
Well, seems like he's an old and wise, although clumsy, wizard. A bit senile perhaps? And all old and wise wizards have powerful magic.
What are some funny ways he 'dies'?
Maybe he could get swallowed by a huge monster (dragon or something like that) and then a bit later he could cast a spell and burst out of the monster's stomach.. Hmm, a perhaps a bit too bloody..
You probably shouldn't have him die too often and perhaps maybe at some point he could be "dead" for a long time so the player might think "oh, he really died this time..".
[OT: Yay, my 100th post! Damn, I'm addicted to GDnet.]
He could roll down a cliff, screaming and cursing, eventually falling into a rapid rive at the bottom, Then later in the story he's living in some riverside bushes, eating mushrooms...
Ok...
He could be Tetric Fynolt, an annoying guy after some time. His power came from long hours of study, and since he was allways a strange guy, he perfected his magic alone, but now is seeking companionship.
He could die in some of those ways:
Shoots a fireball at a boss, boss reflects and he is flying off a cliff hit by his own missle.
summons a deaf water golem who drowns him
Confuses spells and turns himself into a chicken, gets eaten by the boss. An egg comes out after the boss dies.
Chases an imp which stole his spellbook into a pool of sticky goo, he gets stuck in one such a pool, the imp (small red, like a fairy dragon) changes him into a cherry tree and eats a cherry.
He is abducted by a big bird.
A toilet monster sucks him in while on a toilet
Some ideas are crap, but ideas nontheless.
He could be Tetric Fynolt, an annoying guy after some time. His power came from long hours of study, and since he was allways a strange guy, he perfected his magic alone, but now is seeking companionship.
He could die in some of those ways:
Shoots a fireball at a boss, boss reflects and he is flying off a cliff hit by his own missle.
summons a deaf water golem who drowns him
Confuses spells and turns himself into a chicken, gets eaten by the boss. An egg comes out after the boss dies.
Chases an imp which stole his spellbook into a pool of sticky goo, he gets stuck in one such a pool, the imp (small red, like a fairy dragon) changes him into a cherry tree and eats a cherry.
He is abducted by a big bird.
A toilet monster sucks him in while on a toilet
Some ideas are crap, but ideas nontheless.
If he's old how about multiple heart attacks? Like those characters in SNL who sit around the table and talk about "da bears" and keep eating red meats and having heart attacks, dying, then being okay again. lol
I can easily see this guy as senile & very forgetful. Picture this:
You come up to a boss fight. Your guys are struggling to survive and protect the old guy, while the old guy stands there mumbling to himself "Fireball...now what were the words to that spell? No, not that, that's the impotence spell." And so on. Finally he goes "Aha!" and purposefully strides forward to cast the spell with as much dramatic flair as he can muster. This results in purple flowers sprouting all over the big boss's head, or something similar. He goes "Oops" and the boss "kills" him. Of course, this whole thing causes the boss to get so pissed off that he fights less defensively, thus giving the party an opening to kill him. (Don't ask me how the old guy survives this one, I've gotta log off so I can't spend time prodding my imagination heh.)
You come up to a boss fight. Your guys are struggling to survive and protect the old guy, while the old guy stands there mumbling to himself "Fireball...now what were the words to that spell? No, not that, that's the impotence spell." And so on. Finally he goes "Aha!" and purposefully strides forward to cast the spell with as much dramatic flair as he can muster. This results in purple flowers sprouting all over the big boss's head, or something similar. He goes "Oops" and the boss "kills" him. Of course, this whole thing causes the boss to get so pissed off that he fights less defensively, thus giving the party an opening to kill him. (Don't ask me how the old guy survives this one, I've gotta log off so I can't spend time prodding my imagination heh.)
read the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman. there's a recurring character Zifnab something or other, who is basically a cameo appearance of their god of good from their Dragonlance book (where he appears to humans as Fizban). essentially he's a cooky old guy with insane magical powers. also, one of the main characters of the book fits the bill almost precesly. he's old, forgetful and clumsy, but occasionally he bursts out with magics that not even the most powerful wizards of the day can comprehend. he doesn't even remember casting them nor how to cast them again:
first book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553286390/qid=1100632842/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-7494852-0234223?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
-me
first book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553286390/qid=1100632842/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-7494852-0234223?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
-me
Author
Quote: Original post by onyxflame
I can easily see this guy as senile & very forgetful. Picture this:
You come up to a boss fight. Your guys are struggling to survive and protect the old guy, while the old guy stands there mumbling to himself "Fireball...now what were the words to that spell? No, not that, that's the impotence spell." And so on. Finally he goes "Aha!" and purposefully strides forward to cast the spell with as much dramatic flair as he can muster. This results in purple flowers sprouting all over the big boss's head, or something similar. He goes "Oops" and the boss "kills" him. Of course, this whole thing causes the boss to get so pissed off that he fights less defensively, thus giving the party an opening to kill him. (Don't ask me how the old guy survives this one, I've gotta log off so I can't spend time prodding my imagination heh.)
Quote: Original post by Palidine
read the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman. there's a recurring character Zifnab something or other, who is basically a cameo appearance of their god of good from their Dragonlance book (where he appears to humans as Fizban). essentially he's a cooky old guy with insane magical powers. also, one of the main characters of the book fits the bill almost precesly. he's old, forgetful and clumsy, but occasionally he bursts out with magics that not even the most powerful wizards of the day can comprehend. he doesn't even remember casting them nor how to cast them again:
first book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553286390/qid=1100632842/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-7494852-0234223?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
-me
You guys are pretty bright, because you picked up on the fact that I was inspired by Fizban :)
What sort of characters are present in this party otherwise? Is it dynamic (can the player create a unique party?) or is it set-in-stone (a la Final Fantasy 2U.S.)? Reason being is that if any number of medieval heroes had *just* met some old kook who turned out to be a fair hand with magic who bought it moments after meeting him, how many battle-hardened warriors/magi are going to be sad enough to warrant tragedy music? Death of that sort is the nature of the game...so unless this dude has been with them a long time and is some how connected, his apparent "death" might generate moderate sympathy. (Rydia might get upset, but she's like ten years old; Kain and Cecil would just furrow their mouths a moment.)
Gags like that can get old too, so while it may be funny that the old man appears to buy the farm every so often, don't over do it. In comedy there is something called the Rule of Threes, which means if something gets a laugh, do it two times more, each time make it even more extreme/bigger/crazier/more impossible than the time before it. Always do it in mulitples of threes and always make each successive occurence more and more ridiculous. (Don't ask me why it works. I'm in an improv comic troupe and I see it work time and time again. People just laugh harder and harder.) There is a limit though.
Don't be discouraged though - your idea could work. Build a connection between the old man and the group: doesn't have to be history between them or reputation. It could be circumstantial.
The core lesson to learn here is that sketch comedy is hard: what seems funny and witty at the moment you conceive it may not be funny later when it's played out. This is why I'm an improv comic - the ability to determine what will be funny in the moment is a bit different from the ability to see what will be funny later. In one instance the environment is present and you build on it...in the other instance you must first construct the environment so you have it to work with.
Good luck.
Gags like that can get old too, so while it may be funny that the old man appears to buy the farm every so often, don't over do it. In comedy there is something called the Rule of Threes, which means if something gets a laugh, do it two times more, each time make it even more extreme/bigger/crazier/more impossible than the time before it. Always do it in mulitples of threes and always make each successive occurence more and more ridiculous. (Don't ask me why it works. I'm in an improv comic troupe and I see it work time and time again. People just laugh harder and harder.) There is a limit though.
Don't be discouraged though - your idea could work. Build a connection between the old man and the group: doesn't have to be history between them or reputation. It could be circumstantial.
The core lesson to learn here is that sketch comedy is hard: what seems funny and witty at the moment you conceive it may not be funny later when it's played out. This is why I'm an improv comic - the ability to determine what will be funny in the moment is a bit different from the ability to see what will be funny later. In one instance the environment is present and you build on it...in the other instance you must first construct the environment so you have it to work with.
Good luck.
Is his survival due to his magical powers or something, or is he a regular (but really lucky) guy?
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
