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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 😊

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.

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.

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.

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..."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 💛

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

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

"Dilute your innocence" legit made me giggle.

Fantastic video! I think one of my favorite parts is the videos about Shadow the hedgehog. It really I did a bit of humor I thought it was fantastic

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!

Thanks for the tips. I'm playing my first "edgy" character soon and I put a lot of thought into him so I want to play him right. This helped.

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).

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.

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 :)

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.

I love your content! Keep making this good soup

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)

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

god i love seeing that picture if deathbulge bro and his epic beard

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".

You almost got me there with that Dabi reference lol

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.

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.

What happens if your character is good at something but cursed with bad dice roles? 🤣 Good stuff!

My second character ever (the one I'm playing right now) is a loner and I naturally followed all of the steps in this guide.

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.

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

I've never played D&D in my entire life nor do I know why this was recommended to me but I still found this very interesting lol.

the video had me at dabi and dobby picture 😂😂

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

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.

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.

If your way of playing the edgy, mysterious, loner type character, is making sure your character is the center of attention in every interaction, then you are probably doing it wrong.

Edgy loner who works with the group: Raymond Reddington from The Blacklist.

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.

the part about “not making a big deal out of it” is HUGE

I don’t do D&D but I do some basic equivalents where I do Discord RPs. Someone sets up an overarching story to DM and we write up some characters with basic powers. Course then our characters are let loose and things start to domino. I mention that stuff cause I have no idea how D&D works but I wanna share an idea. I’d like to make a rogue loner edge boi type of deal. You know play into the stereotype where he sneaks everywhere all of the time. However, instead of doing sneak attacks I want him to just find subtle dumbs ways to help the party unnoticed. Like unlocking doors before the party even gets there, restocking supplies, repairing equipment in the dead of night when their sleeping. So he’s just trying to make everyone’s life better but just has extreme anxiety to talking to them. So even in combat the most he’ll do is set traps or smokescreens to corral the enemy to make them easier targets. Unorthodox support, dunno how that would work, but I think it’s cool