I am just asking about because I have had this idea for a while. I am trying to develop a character that is mute which I can play in a game (not as DM). I don't entirely know what I want for this character, but my latest idea is a Monk or Rogue, but other options are equally viable. Please suggest, but just so you know I do not want a charismatic (Sorcerer allowed) character and no Bards, Warlocks, or Paladins. They are kind of simple-minded as well. It is more about their protective personality and high main stats based on their class. Also, they must be human and no telepathy (Amnesia is an option for ideas). Any suggestions welcome, also feel free to discuss how you would support if one of your players ran a mute character or if you have done so and how it went.
Going to have to be a non caster as almost every spell has a vocal component, so that rules out Sorcerer anyway.
Left with the non caster versions of fighter, rogue and monk, a limited ranger (no hunters mark or other spells) or possibly a barbarian.
Of them all, a monk is most likely the best fit (vow of silence?) thematically.
As dropbear mentions - this is going to have serious roleplay implications/restrictions which may be novel to start off with but could be an issue during non combat parts of the campaign.
I've played a mute character for a while some time ago. They can work, as long as you don't frustrate other players with this. What I did is that my character had a shared background with another character. They had a form of sign language that they understood flawlessly. I simply said "I sign to (name of other character, I forgot) that there are three armed orcs left in the cave, two on the left and one on the right." After a while, the other characters could pick up general ideas such as "danger" if something was wrong or "curious" if I wanted to check something out. It worked while it lasted (campaign just stopped).
Make sure you find ways of communicating and don't be "that guy". As has been said, communication is important in this game and at the table. Personally I feel the "vow of silence" is more interesting than a person that is physically unable to speak. Breaking your vow at a dramatic moment is a very common trope to play with. It also says something about your character, since it's a choice your character made. If you were born with it it's like having special coloured hair or something; interesting at first but its novelty wears off fast.
I played in two different games that included a mute character, and they had different ways of roleplaying it - both seemed to work pretty well, and I didn't find it annoying.
Funnily enough, though I don't think these two players have ever met, they had the same character concept: their characters weren't truly mute, but suffered from a curse that forbid them from saying more than a handful of words a day. (The word limit was somewhere between six and a dozen, I think - basically enough for one normal sentence.)
Because these characters could speak when it was truly necessary, the words they did say took on much greater significance. When they weren't speaking out loud, one player used a whiteboard to write down what he wanted to say in-character. (In game, his character carried around a piece of slate and chalk to communicate.) When he was speaking out of character or describing his actions, he of course just spoke normally. The other player just did a great job of describing and/or pantomiming his character's gestures and facial expressions; he was an aspiring actor, so this was the kind of thing he did as his job anyway, which meant he was quite good at it. Like the first player, when he was speaking out of character or describing his character's actions, he just spoke normally.
Like people have mentioned above, playing any sort of caster is out because pretty much all spells have verbal components. I would go with monk, barbarian, or fighter, personally. A monk would probably have a vow of silence, while a fighter or barbarian could have been cursed by an old foe.
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"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Thanks for the feedback and concern about the difficulties when it comes to running a mute character. I have personal ways around the verbal spell component aspect, but this is more aligned to the idea of a person who can still make some noise. It mainly involves grunts and guttural noises, but in reality, I know that it would not work perfectly with the rules. I have floated two main ideas before. One was a Rogue Urchin names Kid who only spoke in grunts and never knew how to speak, but I know this is not truly mute. The other was truly this theme and it is an innocently minded monk who is a Way of the Kensai and acts perfectly like a Human cat (Not a Tabaxi). She even meows. I realize that a fully mute character would be difficult to pull off. In the sense of a true Mute character, yes I agree it would have to be for a game that ends by level 9, say one of the few premade campaigns like Curse of Strahd or Storm King's Thunder. Although, I still feel I could pull it off with expressive faces and gestures like a sign language that everyone could understand. It would need to be a character who is semi-independent, but not a scout or leader. We would need another player to run as the leader of the party (a role I normally take) for it to fully run. It also would need to be an IRL game as a mute character would be hard if they couldn't read my full body expressions. My personal pick after giving this some thought would have to be a Fighter using Archery who stands in the back. Maybe this idea:
The best characters are mute, or at least, minimally communicative.
Chewbacca, Silent Bob, R2-D2.
All around, stand out, great characters, BUT! they are sidekicks. Well, kind of, they are better than sidekicks. Anyway, its a great option for D&D, because they are inherently social characters.
I'm currently playing a silent monk named Jianyu. I'm very happy with the character, and other members of the party seem to really enjoy having him. It's important, of course, to describe the characters actions. Without speaking you can really put more thought into describing his movements and such:
Jianyu, now scarcely aware of his companions, circles the space where The Madcap once stood. His face moves between subtle grins of excitement and discovery, and frowns of deep thought.
As he paces he picks up a handful of soil. He sniffs it. He tastes it. He works it in his fingers as he watches it fall to the ground. He picks a few blades of grass and throws them into the air watching the direction and speed of the breeze as they fall. He looks to the horizon and holds out his fist, measuring the angle of the falling sun.
Then he returns to his map and adds more notations. Trying to determine the methods and magic of planar travel.
I am curious to know how that goes for you. I played a game once with a person who played a mute character and it was nothing but annoying. Don't play it like, they did. Don't ever not say anything. You can be descriptive and narrate. your actions.
I don't have a particular game yet and won't for a while, but I have been considering a short-term character with this premise for a long while. I just need a stronger personality person to lead the group where I usually do.
I'm currently in a game playing a mostly mute druid hill dwarf. Her form of communication is mostly gestures, sounds & (imho the most interest) communicates with another PC's familiar (using speak with animals) who is psychically connected to their player. For most spells i use bird calls/animal sounds instead of saying words. You just have to think creatively & outside the box, as well as having open communication with your dm.
It also depends on how the player plays the character. If the player has the PC not interact with the other PCs simply because of the muteness, I can definitely see it as annoying. But if the Player has the PC sign or write their dialogue and show the other PC's (ex. [PC Name] writes in [insert pronoun] journal and shows it to [other PC Name] and it says [Message]), I feel like the concept might be interesting. But the DM definitely needs to know so they can accommodate it into the campaign.
I feel like a lot of ideas are either cringey or annoying, but now my brain is stuck on the idea of a mute character who uses dance and consistently wears Moodmark Paint to express themselves. To make it easier to play with I would probably still communicate with other players with simple sentences like, "Allania is afraid wants to leave now."
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
"ways around the verbal component"? The rules are pretty clear, if you can't speak you can't cast spells with Verbal components. So unless your way around that is to avoid all spells with verbal components, then it's not much different from the people who say they want to play a blind character but who actually want to play Daredevil.
Right now I'm playing as a mute Aarakocra rogue named Secress in a brand new session. She is more selectively mute as the only language she can speak is her kinds own language. She can read/write and understand other languages but not speak them. Usually, I have her write down her answers or use gestures and such for others to understand her. This is my first time playing anything close to a mute character so I will admit it can be hard. You often have to make sure you don't go and give to much away for example.
"Secress tries to get your attention as to warn you of the approaching enemy." Isn't a very good roleplay sentence because it feels meta-gaming and as if you're reading a badly written story.
"Secress tries to get your attention as she waves her arms around." This works better and doesn't give it away. If anything just makes sure to never give too much away when you're roleplaying as a mute character.
I play a mute character in another system, and honestly wouldn't recommend it.. It's a fun idea at first, but after a while it gets frustrating.. I don't tihnk my party minds, but as a player it's really annoying not being able to participate in discussions.
I am just asking about because I have had this idea for a while. I am trying to develop a character that is mute which I can play in a game (not as DM). I don't entirely know what I want for this character, but my latest idea is a Monk or Rogue, but other options are equally viable. Please suggest, but just so you know I do not want a charismatic (Sorcerer allowed) character and no Bards, Warlocks, or Paladins. They are kind of simple-minded as well. It is more about their protective personality and high main stats based on their class. Also, they must be human and no telepathy (Amnesia is an option for ideas). Any suggestions welcome, also feel free to discuss how you would support if one of your players ran a mute character or if you have done so and how it went.
The mute character concept is one of those things that sounds great to everyone except all the other players at the table with the mute PC.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
Going to have to be a non caster as almost every spell has a vocal component, so that rules out Sorcerer anyway.
Left with the non caster versions of fighter, rogue and monk, a limited ranger (no hunters mark or other spells) or possibly a barbarian.
Of them all, a monk is most likely the best fit (vow of silence?) thematically.
As dropbear mentions - this is going to have serious roleplay implications/restrictions which may be novel to start off with but could be an issue during non combat parts of the campaign.
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I've played a mute character for a while some time ago. They can work, as long as you don't frustrate other players with this. What I did is that my character had a shared background with another character. They had a form of sign language that they understood flawlessly. I simply said "I sign to (name of other character, I forgot) that there are three armed orcs left in the cave, two on the left and one on the right." After a while, the other characters could pick up general ideas such as "danger" if something was wrong or "curious" if I wanted to check something out. It worked while it lasted (campaign just stopped).
Make sure you find ways of communicating and don't be "that guy". As has been said, communication is important in this game and at the table. Personally I feel the "vow of silence" is more interesting than a person that is physically unable to speak. Breaking your vow at a dramatic moment is a very common trope to play with. It also says something about your character, since it's a choice your character made. If you were born with it it's like having special coloured hair or something; interesting at first but its novelty wears off fast.
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
I played in two different games that included a mute character, and they had different ways of roleplaying it - both seemed to work pretty well, and I didn't find it annoying.
Funnily enough, though I don't think these two players have ever met, they had the same character concept: their characters weren't truly mute, but suffered from a curse that forbid them from saying more than a handful of words a day. (The word limit was somewhere between six and a dozen, I think - basically enough for one normal sentence.)
Because these characters could speak when it was truly necessary, the words they did say took on much greater significance. When they weren't speaking out loud, one player used a whiteboard to write down what he wanted to say in-character. (In game, his character carried around a piece of slate and chalk to communicate.) When he was speaking out of character or describing his actions, he of course just spoke normally. The other player just did a great job of describing and/or pantomiming his character's gestures and facial expressions; he was an aspiring actor, so this was the kind of thing he did as his job anyway, which meant he was quite good at it. Like the first player, when he was speaking out of character or describing his character's actions, he just spoke normally.
Like people have mentioned above, playing any sort of caster is out because pretty much all spells have verbal components. I would go with monk, barbarian, or fighter, personally. A monk would probably have a vow of silence, while a fighter or barbarian could have been cursed by an old foe.
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Thanks for the feedback and concern about the difficulties when it comes to running a mute character. I have personal ways around the verbal spell component aspect, but this is more aligned to the idea of a person who can still make some noise. It mainly involves grunts and guttural noises, but in reality, I know that it would not work perfectly with the rules. I have floated two main ideas before. One was a Rogue Urchin names Kid who only spoke in grunts and never knew how to speak, but I know this is not truly mute. The other was truly this theme and it is an innocently minded monk who is a Way of the Kensai and acts perfectly like a Human cat (Not a Tabaxi). She even meows. I realize that a fully mute character would be difficult to pull off. In the sense of a true Mute character, yes I agree it would have to be for a game that ends by level 9, say one of the few premade campaigns like Curse of Strahd or Storm King's Thunder. Although, I still feel I could pull it off with expressive faces and gestures like a sign language that everyone could understand. It would need to be a character who is semi-independent, but not a scout or leader. We would need another player to run as the leader of the party (a role I normally take) for it to fully run. It also would need to be an IRL game as a mute character would be hard if they couldn't read my full body expressions. My personal pick after giving this some thought would have to be a Fighter using Archery who stands in the back. Maybe this idea:
The best characters are mute, or at least, minimally communicative.
Chewbacca, Silent Bob, R2-D2.
All around, stand out, great characters, BUT! they are sidekicks. Well, kind of, they are better than sidekicks. Anyway, its a great option for D&D, because they are inherently social characters.
I'm currently playing a silent monk named Jianyu. I'm very happy with the character, and other members of the party seem to really enjoy having him. It's important, of course, to describe the characters actions. Without speaking you can really put more thought into describing his movements and such:
Extended Signature
I am curious to know how that goes for you. I played a game once with a person who played a mute character and it was nothing but annoying.
Don't play it like, they did. Don't ever not say anything. You can be descriptive and narrate. your actions.
I don't have a particular game yet and won't for a while, but I have been considering a short-term character with this premise for a long while. I just need a stronger personality person to lead the group where I usually do.
I'm currently in a game playing a mostly mute druid hill dwarf. Her form of communication is mostly gestures, sounds & (imho the most interest) communicates with another PC's familiar (using speak with animals) who is psychically connected to their player. For most spells i use bird calls/animal sounds instead of saying words. You just have to think creatively & outside the box, as well as having open communication with your dm.
It also depends on how the player plays the character. If the player has the PC not interact with the other PCs simply because of the muteness, I can definitely see it as annoying. But if the Player has the PC sign or write their dialogue and show the other PC's (ex. [PC Name] writes in [insert pronoun] journal and shows it to [other PC Name] and it says [Message]), I feel like the concept might be interesting. But the DM definitely needs to know so they can accommodate it into the campaign.
I feel like a lot of ideas are either cringey or annoying, but now my brain is stuck on the idea of a mute character who uses dance and consistently wears Moodmark Paint to express themselves. To make it easier to play with I would probably still communicate with other players with simple sentences like, "Allania is afraid wants to leave now."
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
"ways around the verbal component"? The rules are pretty clear, if you can't speak you can't cast spells with Verbal components. So unless your way around that is to avoid all spells with verbal components, then it's not much different from the people who say they want to play a blind character but who actually want to play Daredevil.
Right now I'm playing as a mute Aarakocra rogue named Secress in a brand new session. She is more selectively mute as the only language she can speak is her kinds own language. She can read/write and understand other languages but not speak them. Usually, I have her write down her answers or use gestures and such for others to understand her. This is my first time playing anything close to a mute character so I will admit it can be hard. You often have to make sure you don't go and give to much away for example.
"Secress tries to get your attention as to warn you of the approaching enemy."
Isn't a very good roleplay sentence because it feels meta-gaming and as if you're reading a badly written story.
"Secress tries to get your attention as she waves her arms around."
This works better and doesn't give it away. If anything just makes sure to never give too much away when you're roleplaying as a mute character.
I play a mute character in another system, and honestly wouldn't recommend it.. It's a fun idea at first, but after a while it gets frustrating.. I don't tihnk my party minds, but as a player it's really annoying not being able to participate in discussions.
I have a player who recently asked about this for a monk and we discussed using Minor Illusion as a Communication Aid.
Totally original (I've watched The Good Place)