So Zal and I have been talking, and I'm sort of curious and I'd like feedback:

Do folks generaly want to play heroes or antiheroes or villains?

Do folks generally want to optimize, or play simpler builds?

Some background:  I've noticed for a while that our group tends to go for antihero type characters, and also optimized builds.    Nothing is wrong with either, unless part of the group isn't keen on it.  Myself, I'd much rather make simpler characters and heroes, which is also causing some friction in RP.  Please take the time and answer this little survey.

i seem to play antihero a lot. not so much a bad guy or trying to drag anyone down, but i tend to play with my own agenda. as far as optimizing vs simple builds, i like having powerful characters but not over the top break a campaign kind of powerful. i like my characters to be cool and fun and different from sword and board characters.

I tend to play anti-heroes or almost villains. The closest thing to a "hero" I have played lately is my character in the Legacy campaign.

As far as my builds go, I optimize for what I'm trying to do. If I'm making a skill character then it is going to have the most skills I can get ahold of and then put those skills to the best use possible. Same is true for my combat builds. My combat-related builds usually have a tweak in them to make them unique (See: sunder fighter, advice towards the charger Keyes uses, telling blow strength rogue, etc.). Simple builds can be fun, but for the most part I want my characters to be able to do what they do extremely well.

Fuck these banana trees!

I like heroes (or heroine, if you prefer) more often than not, and semi-optimized more than not.

Reserved.

I love the team achievement part of this game, so I almost always play "good guy" heroes who encourage the party to plan for the long-term and work together.

 My builds are usually simple, but I'm beginning to see the value of optimizing more.  I prefer efficiency and consistency to versatility-- I like doing one thing extremely well in (almost) all situations.

And we are back!

In the last few weeks, I have done much thinking on how our group functions.  There is a huge bit of drama between those who like to play RP restictive classes (those with an ethos built into their character) and those who wish to play diametrically opposed classes.  So here is the fundamental argument:  Half of the group hates paladins (and by extension any divine class with a strong ethos).

This leads to the following:

(1) Those that hate paladins taking an exclusionary approach in RP
(2) The Paladins being played as more extreme than intended (since they are being pecked at constantly)
(3) People talking behind other players backs in an effort to subvert the group to one side or ther other.

So we are left with a terrbly unfriendly situation.  The deeper issue is that people like Oni and Keyes like being bad guys, while those like myself like being good guys.

Zalon suggested that those who want to play paladins work with their co-players more to find a good niche for everyone.  If this actually worked, I would be in favor of it, but the forces at work here are diametrically opposed to such an extent that it almsot makes Congress look cooperative.

So some poeple want to always be the bad guys.  And some always want to be the good guys.  And this now causes irritation on both sides.  From the evil side, players are frustrated b/c they want to be unbound by rules/laws when in character (since it is escapism).  From the good side, players want a chance to be part of the heroic ideal.  Unfortunately, these two things are mutually exclusive.  As was brought up "Paladins cannot knowingly associate with evil persons."  This takes every bit of evil characterization off of the table.  At the same time, one person taking an intentionally evil PC makes it that much harder for those that want to play good.

I guess I'm saying that this issue is not one that easy to solve.  While conflict CAN be good for RP, the constant struggle to determine if the party will burn down orphanages or save the poor kids from orcs is one where our group perpetually finds itself.  Just as the evil doesn't want to go one down path, so the good doesn't want to go down the other.

I've stayed (IMHO) fairly objective in writing this.  That said, I'm also expressing both disatisfaction with the current state, and also a hope that we can figure something out.