Favorite Characters In Fantasy Literature, Ranked (I did 20)

[Taymist]

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

 

I like both types: books that are delicious escapism and those who demand more of its reader, depending on my mood. Most often I have to admit my main purpose is to be entertained with stories, but I have become more critical in later years as to what I consider quality and worth reading. As for literary snobs, fantasy literature - even of the quality kind - is frowned upon by the book establishment over here same as in most countries I guess. But then again so is much popular fiction. I wonder if that will ever change. 

Agreed, I think one needs the balance between the two types even if just to give our brains and emotions some respite. My go to when I feel that way is the trashiest chick lit you can think of lol and I don't feel remotely guilty about it. Myst calls me a literary snob because a) I enjoy Shakespeare which she struggles with because of the language and b) I don't rate certain authors as particularly skilled despite enjoying their books. (Rowling and Sanderson fall into that category for me, entertaining but not one of the greats). I don't however, stick my nose up at any particular genre. I was lucky that sci-fi and fantasy were both on my Uni reading list and heavily discussed, yet I definitely did come up against that dismissive attitude towards other forms of popular fiction such as historical fiction in particular.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

The sequel, 'The Elfstones of Shannara' (maybe you read that one?)

 Can't recall to be absolutely honest.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

... but I still enjoyed them back in the day and if I want an easy (re)read I could read it again.

 That's Eddings for me. I could read them until the cows come home when I want to be amused and enthralled without thinking. 

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

Stephen Donaldson is an interesting example in this regard. In the Thomas Covenant books he writes in what some have called an old-fashioned style and uses many unusual words/vocabulary which some have problems with, but I found it interesting and rewarding. Donaldson is imo one of the greatest quality literary fantasy writers out there (regardless of what one thinks of his stories).

Well now you've really interested me. Words are absolutely my jam. I've had people tell me all my life to stop using big words but a lot of it's down to the books I grew up reading where the language is simply less commonly used nowadays. I think it's why I find some fantasy writers overly simplistic in their style, it's what I call writing for the lowest common denominator, the worst type of "popular" fiction.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

I have personally found that what I struggle the most with is authors who write in the first person ("I") instead of the more traditional third person ("He"). I know some readers even prefer that, but it just does not sit well with me somehow, it does not feel natural to me and so I usually choose the more traditionally written books instead.

100% agreed. Not a fan of that at all.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

Loved his foul-tempered horse too, Faran ? (there are some truly hilarious small scenes between the two of them ?).

Faran! ❤️ Oh my gosh. Iconic.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

PS. Talking of characters and books, I don't know if you every got around to reading Melanie Rawn's Exile books, first was "The Ruins of Ambrai".  I really enjoyed that fantasy-story, it has many interesting characters and a good story I thought, but I have read that some readers found her "wordy" (probably many of the same who criticized Robert Jordan of the same). The book got a sequel but sadly the last book in the trilogy has not been written in the past 20 years (author had serious personal issues and after a long break went on to write other books) so it is not for those readers who prefer to have the book series finished before they invest time in it (highly uncertain if that third book will ever be written).

Yeah, unfinished would irritate me. Don't even get me started on ASoIaF. I'm aware of the author and the series, but never tried them. Wordy doesn't bother me, it didn't with Jordan. I like good descriptive passages. Readers these days are, (often not always), lazy and impatient.

 

6 hours ago, Elessar said:

Another interesting fantasy trilogy is Robin Hobb's "The Liveship Traders", ever had a look at that? A well written kind of low-fantasy seaborn-series, character-based with a few magical aspects interspersed. I enjoyed that too, though it was somewhat different from much of the (more high) fantasy books I read at the time.

 

I've read the Farseer books, the Liveship Traders, The Tawny Man series and also her books written as Megan Lindholm. Fun fact, my Blademaster sword at the Band (not the RP) is called Windsinger after "The Windsinger Quartet" books she wrote. They're all sitting on the shelf behind me. Love her as a writer. One of the very few exceptions I've made for 1st person pov.

[Taymist]

2 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

6. Logen Ninefingers - First Law Trilogy

7. Sand dan Glokta - First Law Trilogy

 

I started reading the first book. Heard good things about Joe Abercrombie. For some reason I got sidetracked though, my attention hadn't been hooked yet and as a result, I haven't gone back to it. I really must. Thanks for the reminder.

 

2 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

... Can't think of anymore off the top of my head.

 

Note from teacher... Must try harder! B-  

 

 

[Taymist]

4 hours ago, imlad said:

 

You're a Scot? I never would have guessed ?. 

 

I know, right? I hide it well.  

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

 

I firmly believe that, while not my favorite series, the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy is the most beautifully written fantasy I have ever read.

 

Yes, agreed.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I'll be starting another thread similar to this one soon, but all about favorite book series (I have a Top 20 for that one as well).

 

Excellent.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I think The Land is one of the more beautiful fantasy realms I have read, which is pretty ironic considering that the Covenant stuff is some of the earliest dark fantasy. I wouldn't call it grimdark, at least not until the Second Chronicles (I haven't finished the final four books yet, but those were seeming pretty dark as well).

I agree with everything Elessar says about the Covenant books. They are definitely not for everyone. And they were definitely not for the 13 year old me who first read them. I reread the original six when I was in early to mid 30s and enjoyed them much more, and understood them much more as well, and that includes Donaldson's eccentric vocabulary (I first read my mother's copy which had dozens of words written in the back cover, words she found in the book that she didn't know and had to look up; I had to do the same). The man has a massive vocabulary and uses words that 99.99999999% of the populace have never seen before and probably will never see again outside of his books.

 

The first book in the series, Lord Foul's Bane, can also be problematic for some; fairly early in the book, the main character (I am leary of calling him a protagonist as he is in many ways more of an anti-hero) does something BAD that could trigger some readers. I know several people that stopped reading at that point, and I fully understand their reasons and reactions.

 

Great to get a second favourable vote for reading them. And again, eccentric vocabulary sounds right up my street. I'm now prepared for the big bad. I don't mind triggers if they're a constructive part of the plot/char development. If it's gratuitous...colour me far less impressed.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I devoured the original six Dragonlance books by Hickman and Weiss (and they're the first books to ever make me tear up and be sad at a character's death, and they did it twice).

 

That's what the Malazan books did to me. I didn't just tear up, I was a wreck. Absolutely heartbroken and sobbed my eyes out. My other half thought I'd lost the plot entirely crying over a book but to me, that's the sign of effective, impactful writing and of a book series I'll never forget.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I've always hated the "literati" out there, the Literature Snobs who look down on all genre lit as being worthless. This has gone so far as to the point of me hating the books they push, including the Trolloc dung they teach in school, most of which I absolutely despised and hated (The Great Gatsby I'm looking at you!). Until I started getting into some non-fiction and into Historical Fiction I've pretty much been a genre snob, the opposite of the "literati." Basically, 99.99% of what I have read in my life has been either Fantasy or Science Fiction. Some for pure escapism, some for deeper thought. And both of these genres is ripe with both categories thankfully.

 

I like The Great Gatsby! lol

There's really no reason to be any kind of snob about any kind of literature. You can subjectively hold opinions about what you prefer and what you rate in terms of genre, writing style, point of view etc. without dismissing everything you don't consider worthwhile as total rubbish. Bottom line, particularly these days, I'm a firm believer that any kind of reading is better than none.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

Glad everyone is enjoying this thread! ?? I'll be posting a "sequel" soon! 

 

Very much. This sort of chat is why I joined DM in the first place. We may have varying tastes, but we do tend to be like minded about our general love of fantasy and sci-fi.

 

[imlad]

32 minutes ago, Taymist said:

Great to get a second favourable vote for reading them. And again, eccentric vocabulary sounds right up my street. I'm now prepared for the big bad. I don't mind triggers if they're a constructive part of the plot/char development. If it's gratuitous...colour me far less impressed.

 

 

It is most definitely not gratuitous, it is very much a part of the character's development and mental state and belief set at the time it occurs.

 

33 minutes ago, Taymist said:

There's really no reason to be any kind of snob about any kind of literature. You can subjectively hold opinions about what you prefer and what you rate in terms of genre, writing style, point of view etc. without dismissing everything you don't consider worthwhile as total rubbish. Bottom line, particularly these days, I'm a firm believer that any kind of reading is better than none

 

I fully acknowledge that my distaste for mainstream literature, especially "the classics" is immature and very much a prejudice and, well, a form of bigotry I guess one could say. I've considered going back and trying to read Moby Dick again (I only managed about 2/3rds of it when we read it in high school, at which point I gave up and started using the Cliffs Notes). I've become more used to nautical tales since then thanks to several fantasy and even science fiction authors (thank you David Weber for your Safehold series!), and I think I could handle that sort of story telling much better now than before. I'll still never try Gatsby again though; I can't even sit through either of the film versions of it. And I cannot picture myself reading Hemingway or any other F Scott Fitzgerald, they just aren't my style. I did read a lot of Twain in my youth (and just ignored a certain word used extensively in the Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer books, even though I myself am not black). And I did enjoy Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scartlet Letter when we read that in school. And I even read, for myself, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women books (all three or four of them, I don't recall how many). And some of the English lit authors, I've read them and enjoyed them (a long long time ago), especially the older ones (period pieces are some of my favorite movies, so books like that are great IMO, and I actually recently acquired a bunch of the books by the Bronte sisters, and also plan to read some Dumas-- yeah, I know, he's French, but still classic older literature).

[Taymist]

I should clarify that by "you" I meant the general you, not specifically you lol. I love the Brontes and Dumas is wonderful too. I couldn't deal with Moby Dick at all so empathise with your plight over that.

[imlad]

On 8/22/2019 at 7:08 PM, SinisterDeath said:

I may as well add my list, in no particular Order.

 

1. Kvothe - King Killer Chronicles.

2. Vin - Mistborn

3. Perrin Aybara & Faile Aybara

4. Matrim Cauthon

5. Duncan Idaho - Dune

6. Logen Ninefingers - First Law Trilogy

7. Sand dan Glokta - First Law Trilogy

8. The Mule - Foundation Series

9. Tyrion Lannister - Song of Ice and Fire

10. Arya Stark - Song of Ice and Fire

11. Drizzt Du'Urden - Forgotten Realms

12. Jarlaxle - Forgotten Realms

13. Artemis Entreri - Forgotten Realm

 

 

... Can't think of anymore off the top of my head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

See, I like Duncan Idaho, a lot (but obviously not enough to put him on my own list). The thing is, that liking comes from books later in the series than Dune. I mean, he's hardly in the book from what I remember. Granted, it has been two decades since I last read the book, so I might just be remembering it by how little he's in David Lynch's "adaptation" from back in the 80s (I barely remember the SciFi Channel miniseries, except for thinking at the time that it was much more accurate to the novel than Lynch's...um, movie was). This is why I've been thinking that Jason Momoa's popularity (not so much "talent") is wasted on Denis Villeneuve's upcoming film (Light but that cast is stacked!). I'm not arguing or judging or questioning you putting him on the list, just puzzled over you putting him on for just Dune and not the whole series or for one specific book later in the series where he plays much bigger part.

 

Kvothe is a cool cat from what I recall of those two normal sized books. But that's not saying much, as I don't have the greatest recall for reasons that are pretty clear if you read my "About Me" and take into consideration that I consume tons of content; in the past I would read anywhere from 80-100 books a year (most 500+ pages long), and being unemplyed and not in school (and currently in the process of trying to get disability benefits) I now consume a lot of video content which includes a lot of scripted programming. Basically my brain has become a jumbled mess of characters and plotlines, not just the ones I've consumed by the ones I've come up with myself (I gotta keep those separate!). So something I've only read the one time, while sitting back mildly intoxicated... yeah, there's some memory slippage, and it happens with many books (and shows) for me. I'll remember stuff when someone starts talking about specifics, usually, but not unprompted. So suffice it to say, I do remember thinking Kvothe was cool and fairly badass. Which brings me to a complaint I've heard online and I'm not sure if it is warrated (this one rarely is): that he's a Mary Sue (I won't call him a "Gary Stu" as I believe we should cut the gendered crap out). Most such accusations are just a load Trolloc feces, at least in this current era of The Toxic Fandom. So while I figure it is most likely not the case, it will be something I will keep in the back of my head when I re-read the first two books in preparation for the 3rd book to come out.

 

Vin is frakking awesome. I can tell you this: if the pertinent author were to balefire from their works just one character off of my list, Vin would be the one to move into the Honorable Mentions list. She's essentially #26, even though I wasn't numbering anyone past #20. It was tough to not include her (or Kelsier). She's definitely my favorite female character of Sanderson's, followed very closely by Shallan Davar (Stormlight Archive). So I really love this pick.

 

I don't recall that much about Artemis Entreri (aside from him having one of the coolest names in all of Fantasy) except that he was the primary antagonist/nemesis for Drizzt in the drow's first three books, wasn't he? Was he also in the Icewind Dale trilogy?

 

I ? the way you put Perrin and Faile together as one; I personally love their relationship in the books, don't mind Perrin's hunt for her, and have always liked her character. Not popular opinions in the WoT community in my experience LOL. I really look forward to seeing who they cast to play opposite Rutherford (that's a role I haven't even tried casting in my head yet, and only partially because I was unsure what they were going to do for Saldaean ethnicity equivalents). Faile is just as strong and fierce and amazing as any other woman in the WoT. Alas, I couldn't fit her on my list. And Perrin is another one that was hard to leave off of the list, but had to be.

 

The one that has me the most interested in hearing more about is The Mule. I'm not judging you for having him on your list, but I am curious why he stands out to you, what it is about him that you like? If that's even something you can actually put a finger on. From what I remember of him, he's an odd choice, to me at least, for a list like this. Not saying he's an invalid choice, mind. To be honest, I'm not even sure you could say I even liked The Mule either time I read The Foundation series. But to be fair, I have Jaime Lannister, Sandor Clegane and frakking GOLLUM on my list LOL.

 

On 8/22/2019 at 11:06 PM, Taymist said:

I should clarify that by "you" I meant the general you, not specifically you lol. I love the Brontes and Dumas is wonderful too. I couldn't deal with Moby Dick at all so empathise with your plight over that.

 

I figured as much on the "you" front. I was just acknowledging my flaw when it comes to my genre snobbery. I admit it, accept it and even embrace it at times (like a Malkavian emracing their Madness; now I wonder who will get that reference??).

Edited August 26, 2019 by imlad

[SinisterDeath]

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I'm not arguing or judging or questioning you putting him on the list, just puzzled over you putting him on for just Dune and not the whole series or for one specific book later in the series where he plays much bigger part.

It would be the series, not just that one book. Pretty much everything on my list is from a series.

 

Quote

Which brings me to a complaint I've heard online and I'm not sure if it is warrated (this one rarely is): that he's a Mary Sue (I won't call him a "Gary Stu" as I believe we should cut the gendered crap out). Most such accusations are just a load Trolloc feces, at least in this current era of The Toxic Fandom. So while I figure it is most likely not the case, it will be something I will keep in the back of my head when I re-read the first two books in preparation for the 3rd book to come out.

Yea.. so, a 'Mary Sue' character is one that is basically over-powered, with no flaws.. Btu Kvothe has plenty of flaws. It's also a term people use in Dungeons & Dragons for when someone makes an OP character with basically no personality/backstory, that's perfect in every way.

 

Quote

I don't recall that much about Artemis Entreri (aside from him having one of the coolest names in all of Fantasy) except that he was the primary antagonist/nemesis for Drizzt in the drow's first three books, wasn't he? Was he also in the Icewind Dale trilogy?

I don't believe he was in the darkelf trilogy, but definitely in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. (Which was really the first Trilogy, the Darkelf Trilogy is technically a prequel written after the fact)

 

He's an Antagonist & Nemesis for much of the series, but Drizzt never kills Artemis, because Drizzt thinks he can change him. (Tip: He can't)

Later in the series they become more like Rivals, often working together against a unified enemy.

 

4 hours ago, imlad said:

I ? the way you put Perrin and Faile together as one; I personally love their relationship in the books, don't mind Perrin's hunt for her, and have always liked her character. Not popular opinions in the WoT community in my experience LOL.

No they aren't! And that's why I put them together.

 

Quote

The one that has me the most interested in hearing more about is The Mule. I'm not judging you for having him on your list, but I am curious why he stands out to you, what it is about him that you like? If that's even something you can actually put a finger on. From what I remember of him, he's an odd choice, to me at least, for a list like this. Not saying he's an invalid choice, mind. To be honest, I'm not even sure you could say I even liked The Mule either time I read The Foundation series. But to be fair, I have Jaime Lannister, Sandor Clegane and frakking GOLLUM on my list LOL.

 

Magnifico Giganticus, is a charismatic Clown.
The heroes of the story stumble upon him, being assaulted by soldiers, and so they rescue him.

From there, he tagged along with those intrepid heroes going from town to town, planet to planet, in search of a shadowy organization that they believe exists in addition to the original Foundation.
At one point, they start holding rallies, and Magnifico Giganticus plays a Visi Sonor to the audience.

Unbeknownst to the Heroes of the story, or the Reader, Magnifico Gigantius is the Mule. The Emperor, that's been hunting them, and this shadowy organization. And they led him right to it. We learn that the Mule is actually From that planet, that they call Gaia. That he's basically a twisted mutant version. He's a tragic figure, and I like him.

From him, spawned Final Fantasy 6's Kefka, the greatest villain ever... A Villain that won, blew up the world, and then got bored and let the heroes 'defeat' him.

 

 

[robertus]

My favorite character is Arya Stark from the Song of Ice and Fire! Also, my girfriend has recently introduced me to the world of Forgotten Realms and I liked Jarlaxle there! 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Taymist
Edited to remove advertising link.

[Niniel]

This was really hard. I didn´t even know where to start. So I picked characters from some of my favourite books.

 

1. Iroh - Avatar: The last airbender

2. Moiraine - WoT

3. Minerva McGonagall - HP

4. Arya - ASOIAF

5. Katara - Avatar

6. Toph - Avatar

7. Frodo - LotR

8. Bran - ASOIAF

9. Sam - ASOIAF

10. Verin - WoT

11. Loial - WoT

12. Jon Snow - ASOIAF

13. Severus Snape - HP

14. Death - Discworld

15. Rand - WoT

16. Moridin - WoT

17. Vin - Mistborn

18. Sazed - Mistborn

19. Marasi - Mistborn

20. Gollum/Smegol - LotR

 

If you ask me tomorrow the names have probably changed. :) 

[Guest]

 

 

1. Rand al`Thor - WOT

2. Ganoes Paran -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

3. Perrin - WOT

4. Drizzt Du'Orden -- Forgotten Realms

5. Lan Mandragoran - WOT

6. Fiddler -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

7. Quick Ben -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

 

 

After my top 7 favorites, the following are the rest of my favorites listed in no particular order. 

 

8. Mat Cauthon - WOT

9. Nyneave - WOT

10. Min - WOT

11. Aviendha - WOT

12. The Adjunct - Malazan Books of the Fallen

13. Theo Bell -- a Clan Brujah vampire in White Wolf's Vampire the Masquerade series of novels. 

14. Vin -- Mistborn

15. Kelsier -- Mistborn

16. Sazed -- Mistborn

17. Moiraine -- WOT

18. Raistlin -- DragonLance Chronicles

19. Pug -- The Riftwar Saga

20. Jimmy the Hand -- The Riftwar Saga

 

I could name about a dozen more, but for now, this will simply have to do until I get time to post here again. 

[imlad]

On 8/24/2019 at 2:08 PM, Niniel said:

This was really hard. I didn´t even know where to start. So I picked characters from some of my favourite books.

 

1. Iroh - Avatar: The last airbender

2. Moiraine - WoT

3. Minerva McGonagall - HP

4. Arya - ASOIAF

5. Katara - Avatar

6. Toph - Avatar

7. Frodo - LotR

8. Bran - ASOIAF

9. Sam - ASOIAF

10. Verin - WoT

11. Loial - WoT

12. Jon Snow - ASOIAF

13. Severus Snape - HP

14. Death - Discworld

15. Rand - WoT

16. Moridin - WoT

17. Vin - Mistborn

18. Sazed - Mistborn

19. Marasi - Mistborn

20. Gollum/Smegol - LotR

 

If you ask me tomorrow the names have probably changed. ?

 

I'm loving all the love Verin Mathwin is getting on these lists! I've seen her on a couple now. And also gotta say I totally dig the fact that you also picked Gollum/Smeagol. That poor little guy was so much more of a victim than a villain, at least in my opinion.

 

And yeah, I totally understand how your opinion could change on a day to day basis, mine wavers a lot too, the one I posted isn't quite the same as what I had originally put down, nor what I had tweeted a week or so after originally writing down (I think I changed it a few times in between).

 

12 hours ago, Vambram said:

 

 

1. Rand al`Thor - WOT

2. Ganoes Paran -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

3. Perrin - WOT

4. Drizzt Du'Orden -- Forgotten Realms

5. Lan Mandragoran - WOT

6. Fiddler -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

7. Quick Ben -- Malazan Books of the Fallen

 

 

After my top 7 favorites, the following are the rest of my favorites listed in no particular order. 

 

8. Mat Cauthon - WOT

9. Nyneave - WOT

10. Min - WOT

11. Aviendha - WOT

12. The Adjunct - Malazan Books of the Fallen

13. Theo Bell -- a Clan Brujah vampire in White Wolf's Vampire the Masquerade series of novels. 

14. Vin -- Mistborn

15. Kelsier -- Mistborn

16. Sazed -- Mistborn

17. Moiraine -- WOT

18. Raistlin -- DragonLance Chronicles

19. Pug -- The Riftwar Saga

20. Jimmy the Hand -- The Riftwar Saga

 

I could name about a dozen more, but for now, this will simply have to do until I get time to post here again. 

 

I read a few of the VtM books and rather enjoyed them. Brujah were pretty cool, but when it came to actual playing the game (in my case I preferred LARPing) I always liked to play Followers of Set or Malkavians. Totally love seeing some Feist characters (Pug and Jimmy) on there! None of my fantasy and science fiction reading friends have ever read any Feist, and I just can't get them to read him for some reason (they always have something else to read). It is nice knowing other people have read, and loved, his books and love his characters. They have all been a big part of my escapism for 30+ years now, it is like I know them personally, like old friends; I know them just as well as any of Tolkien's characters basically.

 

Only Tolkien, Feist and Jordan have characters that are that embedded in my psyche when it comes to Fantasy literature (GRRM doesn't even get his characters in there, despite having read nearly every book several times and seen each episode at least three times). With Science Fiction literature there are none, you have to go to film and television: Star Wars (all films and canon shows), Star Trek (all versions), Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica (RDM version), and Stargate (all TV series and movies, but not the initial theatrical movie). 

[Guest]

When it comes to fantasy literature, only my favorites from WOT have become embedded in my psyche. Sometimes, I compare how I am thinking about doing something by going at a problem in a similar manner as either Ran, Perrin, or Lan would have done it. 

It's cool to see that I ain't the only big fan of Vampire the Masquerade. Although I do like the Malkavian, Settite, Assamite, and Gangrel clans, the Brujahs were always my favorite. I like Theo Bell and Brujahs similar to him in that they rebel against corrupt authority while fighting for a better way of life. Kinda weird to think about vampires in that way, I know. However, in VtM, there are a huge multitude of different kinds and archtypes of vampires. 

[imlad]

4 hours ago, Vambram said:

When it comes to fantasy literature, only my favorites from WOT have become embedded in my psyche. Sometimes, I compare how I am thinking about doing something by going at a problem in a similar manner as either Ran, Perrin, or Lan would have done it. 

It's cool to see that I ain't the only big fan of Vampire the Masquerade. Although I do like the Malkavian, Settite, Assamite, and Gangrel clans, the Brujahs were always my favorite. I like Theo Bell and Brujahs similar to him in that they rebel against corrupt authority while fighting for a better way of life. Kinda weird to think about vampires in that way, I know. However, in VtM, there are a huge multitude of different kinds and archtypes of vampires. 

 

Dude, you have no idea how deep of a dive into the World of Darkness I took! For several years, back in the late 90s and early 00s was when I was heavily involved with several LARP troupes playing Mind's Eye Theatre rules (from White Wolf of course). It was mostly Vampire, but we also had Mage, Werewolf, and Changeling characters involved. And with the vampires, it wasn't just the Camarilla, it was also Sabbat characters and the "unaligned" clans and bloodlines. Pretty much everything but Wraith characters (I think we did have some Hunters in the one troupe). At one point I was involved in four separate games at once, two of which were out of town (a good 75 minute drive each way).

 

Several of our games had us doing stuff during "downtime" the period of time between game sessions (these games played in real time). For those games many of us created accounts on AoL Instant Messenger so we could chat with each other and the Storyteller in character between game sessions, which is something I did throughout my day when I was not at work. I'm talking 8-10 hours a day sometimes! And not only all that, but I would be reading sourcebooks (I had bought almost all of them, or borrowed from others) for the WoD setting, not just stuff connected to the type of character I played (I was more than just vampires over the course of those years), but stuff related to the other types of supernatural beings, or on the world in general. All of this was before the World of Darkness spanning event of Gehenna/Apocalypse that changed everything up. I haven't been into the game (tabletop or LARP) since that happened and they came out with new rulebooks and new setting books because the world had changed so drastically. I had a major financial investment in the setting before that (well over a grand), and I was rather pissed that all of my books were no longer going to have any relevancy.

 

I read a handful or so of the novels that were leading up to the Gehenna event IIRC, but don't remember too much from them, but the name Theo Bell does stick out. I've also written a piece of short fiction set in the world, but I'm not going to be sharing that here (it's erotica, based on a friend's dreams she told me about that she had about me, which caused me to be rather embarassed, but I took what she told me and used her vampire character, a Ravnos, and mine, her progeny, and wove a story about them together using that dream; I had a fairly large number of women who read it suggest I try writing "women's erotica" professionally; I declined, because that crap ain't easy!). Truly interested parties that can prove they are 18 or older that want to read it, we can find a way to share it to you. Otherwise, wait until you're older.?

[Guest]

Although I never did any of the LARP games, my friends & I did meet every weekend for long 8 to 12 hour tabletop role play sessions in the White Wolf World of Darkness universe. Most of what we played was VtM. However, we also would also play Werewolf the Apocalypse, as well as Mage the Ascension. My favorite Garou tribe is the Get of Fenris. My personal favorite among the Mage traditions was the Akhasic Brotherhood. I was hugely into the World of Darkness spending well over a thousand dollars during a span of about 6 years. This included all of the source books and novels I could get my hands on. I thoroughly enjoyed the novels leading up to the big Gehenna event as well as those novels of the big event itself. Like you, I didn't want to spend more money buying books for White Wolf's new settings and rule books. 

[imlad]

On 8/31/2019 at 5:20 AM, Vambram said:

Although I never did any of the LARP games, my friends & I did meet every weekend for long 8 to 12 hour tabletop role play sessions in the White Wolf World of Darkness universe. Most of what we played was VtM. However, we also would also play Werewolf the Apocalypse, as well as Mage the Ascension. My favorite Garou tribe is the Get of Fenris. My personal favorite among the Mage traditions was the Akhasic Brotherhood. I was hugely into the World of Darkness spending well over a thousand dollars during a span of about 6 years. This included all of the source books and novels I could get my hands on. I thoroughly enjoyed the novels leading up to the big Gehenna event as well as those novels of the big event itself. Like you, I didn't want to spend more money buying books for White Wolf's new settings and rule books. 

 

Damn, you probably did more tabletop VtM in one month than I have my entire life; most of my WoD RPing has been LARP. I didn't play any Garou, they never really interested me, I played a couple of mages, one a Verbena and another was something I don't recall (it's been forever, but I think she was Cult of Ecstasy; yeah I don't always play male characters, even in Live Action.. I've been known to wear dresses and makeup at LARPs several times ?). When it comes to Changeling characters, I played at one point an Eshu and another point a Satyr. The Eshu was the character I played during our Dark Ages game, set in 1195 in Constantinople, after the very unfortunate demise of Calis, my Setite Elder, who everyone thought was actually a potent Nosferatu ancilla; he got jumped by a Tzimisce ancilla (who the player had decided had modified itself to look like a xenomorph from the Alien franchise), a Gangrel ancilla and an Assamite elder. Calis got his arse "waffle-stomped" as the other players described it. The Storyteller was pissed that those three decided to kill Calis, and some bad bad bad Trolloc poodoo* came down on their heads when some sort of demon creature rose up shortly after Calis' death and rained havoc on the Kindred and other supernaturals of the city; apparently the death of an Elder upset some sort of balance that was keeping said demon at bay, which was news to me!

 

Unfortunately the Eshu didn't survive the demon, so I ended up making a Ravnos, the grand-Childe of a friend of mine (the one I mentioned in the above post, I misspoke up there referring to him as her progeny; he was actually the progeny of one of her progeny).

 

* Yes, I did just mix a WoT term with a Star Wars term!

[Illian Tear]

1. Mat Cauthon (WoT)

2. Raistlin Majere (Dragonlance)

3. Lord Soth (Dragonlance)

4. Rand'al Thor (WoT)

5. Kvothe (KKC)

6. Kelsier (Mistborn era 1)

7. Kaladin (SA)

8. Vasher (Warbreaker)

9. Wayne (Mistborn era 2)

10. Eragon (Inheritance Cycle)

 

Honorable Mentions:

Dalanar (SA)

Thomas Covenant (CoTC)

Lord Strahd (Ravenloft)