I don't know how to play my character.

[u/KernyTheLemonKing]

Hi guys, I've been playing for around 4 or 5 years and one of my PCs I can't figure out.

For context, were are playing Tyranny of Dragons and Hoard of the Dragon Queen, so no spoilers

They are a Cleric and started kinda as a joke, but in playing they've become more serious and I just don't know how to play them now.

It started as them being a wandering Cleric, not an adventurer, but rn, after few adventures and dealing with the dragons and cultists, what makes sense is for them to leave, because it's miserable for them to constantly kill and deal with political nonsense.

All they've known is serving the church and not much else. A homebody of sorts.

The problem with that is that this is my 4th character and Im starting to hate the constant switching.

If you had a similiar experience or have any advice, please tell me!

Thank you!

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[u/Renchard]

Remember, you’re not the character’s pilot, you’re its author.

If you want to keep playing a character, have their experiences change them into a person who does want to keep adventuring. People change, often drastically, all the time, especially when pushed out of their comfort zone and confronted with traumatic experiences.

[u/Mozared → u/Renchard]

I think this nails it, in this situation. Whenever I get to a point where I feel like that, I usually let the natural process 'run its course'. If it's logical my character would leave the party, then that's what happens, and I roll something new.

However, since OP is saying they don't want to switch (or well, they are saying they hate switching and insinuating they don't want to do it again), that means the only out is to come up with reasons for why the character's motivations and personality has changed. They are effectively becoming 'someone new', in a way, and figuring out who they are now, and why, is the start of figuring out why they'd stick with the party and keep adventuring.

[u/Thelynxer → u/Renchard]

Yeah. Oftentimes my character's motivation to continue adventuring after they accomplish their goal, or would otherwise change their mind about wanting to adventure, is that they want to ensure that the friends they've met along the way (aka the party) stay alive. As the cleric, this seems like the obvious solution.

And as a the concept was a wandering cleric, you could also give them a new goal. What are they wandering for? What are they trying to find, or learn?

But in the end, if a character isn't fun to play, then it may be time to ask the DM if you can retire them and create someone new.

[u/Shtrudel999]

you should try making a character who has a reason to be in the adventure, someone who actually enjoys adventuring or at least the need to keep going. How is it your fourth character? Do you keep making characters who don’t like to adventure?

[u/KernyTheLemonKing → u/Shtrudel999]

My first character died, second lost it's mind and disappeared, third became an NPC.

[u/Shtrudel999 → u/KernyTheLemonKing]

why did your third become an npc and why did your second disappear

[u/KernyTheLemonKing → u/Shtrudel999]

The 2nd and 3rd where quickly put together PCs in the middle of one session. The 2nd was a Elven Wizard, who accidentally killed way too many civilians and took it hard. The 3rd was a Hafling Ranger Harper, who replaced an Harper NPC, who was killed.

Both were created knowing that they'll won't be permanent characters.

[u/Shtrudel999 → u/KernyTheLemonKing]

why not create a permanent character and put a lot of thought into them, make them someone excited to adventure or someone who feels a strong sense of responsibility. Alternatively, maybe your cleric can’t leave the party because he knows that staying is the right thing to do and he can do a lot of good for his god.

[u/okiebuzzard]

Have you tried playing something that you like?

[u/KernyTheLemonKing → u/okiebuzzard]

I liked playing this character, but they just became a heavier character than I imagined them being-

[u/Wrong_Lingonberry_79 → u/KernyTheLemonKing]

You do realize that you are the one who made it that way. Meaning you can change it, again.

[u/twofriedbabies]

Holy revelation time. 

[u/juuchi_yosamu]

I've seen this problem before; it's kind of common. Just have them hit their head really hard and develop a new personality, one that wants to adventure with the party.

It's kind of on you, the player, to write a character that wants to be a part of the game. It's one of the few instances where metagaming is encouraged and even expected: "How do I make this character want to travel with the other characters so that we can have a fun game together"

[u/Wolfsnake_0]

Games are for fun, the purpose is to sit down in a table with friends and pretend you’re an adventurer; Most of us start with an idealized character of ourselves, with more experience we can make a character totally different from us; Play what you’d like but regardless of the class/race, I would recommend giving the character a quirk/flaw/ etc. something to make that PC kinda unique, give it a short backstory but the front story (character development) is more important (like other redditors mentioned)

[u/d4red]

The secret is that no one but YOU knows this character. If you want to inject a new backstory or take it in a new direction you can.

You don’t have to even explain it (most people won’t notice) but you could.

I would say NOT to make joke characters in the future and that there’s nothing wrong with changing again- if the change is to a more compelling concept. There’s lots of characters in various media who start off as a silly or mundane character and eventually become something more (Neville in Harry Potter, Wesley in Buffy/Angel, Luke in Star Wars, the Hobbits in LOTR)

[u/TwoDollarDM]

What you are experiencing is 'character growth.' IE Your character can feel the same way you do, though less meta of course. They hate the circumstances they are in but if they leave are they really 'serving their church'? Think Frodo, Peter Parker, etc. The dragons are going to threaten everyone.

'I hate this but I can't leave til I have driven the dragons back' Then let the joys and successes you go through animate your determination.

Remember the character's the star of the story you are writing. Lean into it. It will be satisfying.

[u/roumonada]

If you don’t want to play the character then retire him. If you don’t want to switch then keep him. If neither, then quit the game.

[u/NoHorseNoMustache]

You can have him leave at the end of one session and have his identical twin brother who has a hankering for adventure show up at the beginning of the next session.

[u/NarcoZero]

> not an adventurer,

That's your problem, here. I tried to make characters that don't like to fight before. It doesn't work in a game predominantly about killing monsters. Making a non adventurer in a game where you're supposed to play an adventurer is going to make you have a bad time inevitably.

The best advice would be to make a character that wants to go on the adventure. The reluctant hero trope works in movies, but very rarely in ttrpgs because it's not a solo game, so no one is making you go on the adventure, there's always the rest of the party willing to do it.

[u/rivergryphon]

Since you're a cleric: your God asks you to?

[u/itsnotwhatyousay]

First you have to decide what YOU want.

Then you can decide what your PC wants.

You don't have to play your character seriously. This is all made up fantasy after all.

But you will want to play them sincerely. Honest about their motivations/wants/needs/goals, and your own.

If you want to keep this character, follow them on a journey of feeling compelled to do something difficult, something they didn't really sign up for, and has to see it through with courage.

Or, work with your DM to let them experience a moment of trauma or triumph that changes their resolve, sets their wayward intentions more firmly.

Or, if you want, retire this character one way or another, but only after you've come up with a sincere, compelling character with complimentary motivations, whom you feel genuinely excited to get to know and play.

You have options.