so l was thinking of haveing my first pc being a self insert,but another thred i voiced this idea said that it is...less then advised. however l was thinking about it and was hopeing to run some ideas on my self insert,to make it...not $hitty. so here goes
my idea is that some time b4 the campaign starts (this would all happen in a session 0 or my backstory) that l somehow found myself transported to (insert setting here) in the middle of ,say,a large forrest, and l am found by a old retired master/expert of (insert class choice here) at this point l have lv 0 commoner stats,but because this is the middle of nowhere the old master takes me in and teaches me some of their craft,and l train with them till they die of old age,at which point a few months/years have passed,l am a lv 1 (class) and l set out to meet the party (or maybe they find me in the forrest,dms choice)
so,what do you think,is it passable? l am not some op anime protagonist,l am just a fitter,trained version of myself that hopefully wont die in the first combat.
Background is fine I guess, you should be asking DM.
I think the reason self insert characters is a bad idea is because it is easy to take things that happen to them personally. You should always use a character you don't mind losing.
I think everyone will tell you that the most fun character they ever played is one different from themselves and have an epic or tragic tale of how they left the party.
a valid point,however it would be for my first ever pc,and cause l am so new to the game,lt would be a good excuse for my character to not know some/most things (cause l would likely only learn stuff about my local area and how to swing a sword in this backstory)
I disagree with djc on using a character you don't mind losing. I'd never think that way. I created a character for my first time playing and it got killed in about 30mins. Was a fun character to play.
Your backstory is fine. But that's up to the DM. Not us. If I was the DM I'd be fully supportive of your backstory. It can use more detail but the jist of it is solid. So do it and have fun.
If you're going for the digital self then there are a few ways to make it more interesting, but the best method I find is to think about your past... then GO CRAZY EXAGGERATING IT!
Let's use this example to help digitize yourself:
Our example player is named Kevin. Kevin grew up in the suburbs and had a normal childhood. He went to scouts for a few years, selling cookies door to door (and not popcorn on facebook like SOME people's parents do...) as well as getting to go camping a few times a year in a nearby wood. At school he was alright with crafts but struggled a bit on maths. On the playground he was excellent on the jungle gym, climbing and such but he sucked at baseball. I mean he sucked HARD, and he had to wear fairly thick glasses. Outside of school he liked being outdoors, but was frightened of spiders, something he developed after reading about Australia and the size of the spiders over there. He had a part time job for a local landscaper, mowing some lawns and helping to plant or chop down the odd tree.
When sucked into the world he finds he is no longer human because while transforming, he couldn't get the image of his pet turtle Raph out of his head. Because of the life story, we can develop the following:
Kevin is now a 1st level Tortle Ranger, with point buy stats of 14(16), 8, 12, 10, 15 (16), 13 and natural explorer - forest, favoured enemy beast (if you wish spiders not to be beasts, monstrosities is good too) and proficiency in survival (scouts), persuasion (selling cookies) and athletics (jungle gym).
You might argue that's not okay he must be human, or you might not feel comfortable extending things to extreme lengths but to directly put yourself into a game designed for superhumans (adventurers have attributes far higher than normal humans with magical powers of flight after all) you will find your stats tend to read 11 10 10 9 10 8, which'd be a bit dull to play.
Well, I thought it was a bad idea because you seemed to say you were doing it "to make the game easier on yourself", so you'd have less to learn and think about, and I don't think that's the case - I don't think playing a self-insert is any easier than a standard character. The easiest to roleplay is a fantasy cliche - something like a Rogue that's interested in gold, or a Wizard that's exploring to find knowledge, or a Paladin that wants to do good and protect people, etc. Play along with the setting and it makes it easy; fight it and you've got interesting times ahead of you.
Since you keep coming back to it, it sounds like you're doing it because the idea really appeals to you and not because you're looking for a shortcut! So that's fine, it can certainly be made to work.
I just don't think you're making it easier on yourself by doing so. Each time you defend the idea by saying oh, you're so new to the game, it's your first pc, it's a good excuse not to know anything, the self-insert idea sounds worse and worse. If you were to defend the idea by talking about how you're really excited about it, why you think this would be cool to do, that would make it sound better.
I really like Sarella's approach to making a cool character out of yourself, though.
I'd also comment that one thing you should add is an adventure hook, a reason for your self-insert PC to go off adventuring. After all, adventuring is dangerous business; you might die! Why would your character go along with this party to do whatever it is that they're doing? Make sure that your character has some connection to the DM's adventure, or has the sort of personality/background where they'd follow an adventure hook.
Do you know which character class or what type of character you're interested in playing? That could help flesh out the backstory of where you've been transported or who your mentor would be.
I just don't think you're making it easier on yourself by doing so.
oh l dont, lf you saw me irl you would see that even a few months of training in the middle of nowhere would make me barely able to hold my own in a fight. and its not even about useing it as a excuse for being new (though it is a good "lore" reason l know F***all about the world l find myself in) its more of a (admititably kinda dumb) thing where when playing a new rpg,my first run is a "personal run" where l do what l would do if it were me,and what better way to do that in dnd,then to actually be myself.
I'd also comment that one thing you should add is an adventure hook, a reason for your self-insert PC to go off adventuring. After all, adventuring is dangerous business; you might die! Why would your character go along with this party to do whatever it is that they're doing? Make sure that your character has some connection to the DM's adventure, or has the sort of personality/background where they'd follow an adventure hook.
Do you know which character class or what type of character you're interested in playing? That could help flesh out the backstory of where you've been transported or who your mentor would be.
well my "plot hook" would be to find out what caused me to be transported to this world,and to find a way to go home. my plan would be to get antiquated with the game,then when l feel confident,l (with the ok/help of the dm) would use a wish spell/MacGuffin to return to my home world?(or die,whichever comes first),and make a new character to join the party.
also l would likely be a fighter,trained to be able to use a short sword/shield or something
Also, your character is fully capable of knowing more or less about the world than you do. That is what arcana, history, nature, and religion skills are for.
I'm not crazy about this idea. I do love the idea of a first timer playing as a character similar to himself or herself. Maybe even basically the same, just not you 100%. Exaggerate some characteristic that you like about yourself. Or make a character that embodies something you wish was true about you. If you're a good person, make a good character. I'f you're aloof, play a character that is. If you've always loved the idea of performing in front of people but have been to nervous, make a character that lives to perform.
You're always yourself. While I don't absolutely hate the idea of literally playing as yourself, I think you'd be missing out. Also, I think it could be immersion breaking if you're some dude named Brian from Idaho who really likes the Denver broncos and pizza (for example). More interesting would be a version of yourself that is native to the universe you're role playing in. Someone that might share your personal ethic, but someone that doesn't share every little personality trait and physical detail.
well l could go full isekai and have my backstory be that got hit by a truck and reincarnated and grow up in this world with memorys of my past life (irl me) like in the anime "wise man grandchild (which was a partial inspiration for my above backstory) but that would be even "worse" and "weeby" (weebie?)
I would not advise this. And to be honest, if one of my players suggested it, I'd ask them to invent someone who was very like them but not actually *them*.
Over the course of a campaign, your character might:
Be killed
Be tortured or badly wounded
Fall in love
Suffer traumatic events
Be treated badly by other party members
Find themselves in humiliating situations
Be mind controlled or charmed into doing things you wouldn't want to do
You probably need to ask yourself how much fun this would be for the other players who are picturing your burning corpse, or imagining you being chained up.
You are kind of limiting your character in terms of their development as well. Character flaws make one of the most fun aspects of role playing, and sometimes it's good to do things that aren't necessarily helpful to the game but that are in line with an imagined personality. For instance, we once had a level 3 barbarian who on hearing that there were 5 vampires behind a locked door promptly smashed the door with her axe before we had a chance to say anything at all. It was very nearly a party wipe, but it was who she wanted to be! I don't know what age range your game is but romantic sub-plots can be fun, and I don't know how I'd feel about involving someone playing themselves with a half-orc called Mary.
One issue with characters being portalled in is that "Gee whizz, this sure isn't like Kansas" gets really, really tired very quickly, as does "Back home we have these things called automobiles!" The fun of it - and having to feign ignorance of literally everything in the game - gets tiring fast.
Lastly, self insert characters sound like they're going to make you feel like a Mary Sue. You're making the whole game your story and nobody gets to be the main character in a party.
I would not advise this. And to be honest, if one of my players suggested it, I'd ask them to invent someone who was very like them but not actually *them*.
Over the course of a campaign, your character might:
Be killed
Be tortured or badly wounded
Fall in love
Suffer traumatic events
Be treated badly by other party members
Find themselves in humiliating situations
Be mind controlled or charmed into doing things you wouldn't want to do
You probably need to ask yourself how much fun this would be for the other players who are picturing your burning corpse, or imagining you being chained up.
You are kind of limiting your character in terms of their development as well. Character flaws make one of the most fun aspects of role playing, and sometimes it's good to do things that aren't necessarily helpful to the game but that are in line with an imagined personality. For instance, we once had a level 3 barbarian who on hearing that there were 5 vampires behind a locked door promptly smashed the door with her axe before we had a chance to say anything at all. It was very nearly a party wipe, but it was who she wanted to be! I don't know what age range your game is but romantic sub-plots can be fun, and I don't know how I'd feel about involving someone playing themselves with a half-orc called Mary.
One issue with characters being portalled in is that "Gee whizz, this sure isn't like Kansas" gets really, really tired very quickly, as does "Back home we have these things called automobiles!" The fun of it - and having to feign ignorance of literally everything in the game - gets tiring fast.
Lastly, self insert characters sound like they're going to make you feel like a Mary Sue. You're making the whole game your story and nobody gets to be the main character in a party.
all valid points, l am thinking of maybe just useing this in a oneshot, to avoid most of these. that said, l would not be obnoxious with the "l am not from this world' thing, other then telling the party if they ask,l would likely not bring it up too much,simply focusing on surviving and getting home. hopefully the group l end up with are able to keep the game and real life separate .
based on what you and others are saying,l am thinking that,rather then be literally me,maybe l should make it someone from our world,who is like me,but not exactly me. Would that be better?
I would not advise this. And to be honest, if one of my players suggested it, I'd ask them to invent someone who was very like them but not actually *them*.
Over the course of a campaign, your character might:
Be killed
Be tortured or badly wounded
Fall in love
Suffer traumatic events
Be treated badly by other party members
Find themselves in humiliating situations
Be mind controlled or charmed into doing things you wouldn't want to do
You probably need to ask yourself how much fun this would be for the other players who are picturing your burning corpse, or imagining you being chained up.
You are kind of limiting your character in terms of their development as well. Character flaws make one of the most fun aspects of role playing, and sometimes it's good to do things that aren't necessarily helpful to the game but that are in line with an imagined personality. For instance, we once had a level 3 barbarian who on hearing that there were 5 vampires behind a locked door promptly smashed the door with her axe before we had a chance to say anything at all. It was very nearly a party wipe, but it was who she wanted to be! I don't know what age range your game is but romantic sub-plots can be fun, and I don't know how I'd feel about involving someone playing themselves with a half-orc called Mary.
One issue with characters being portalled in is that "Gee whizz, this sure isn't like Kansas" gets really, really tired very quickly, as does "Back home we have these things called automobiles!" The fun of it - and having to feign ignorance of literally everything in the game - gets tiring fast.
Lastly, self insert characters sound like they're going to make you feel like a Mary Sue. You're making the whole game your story and nobody gets to be the main character in a party.
all valid points, l am thinking of maybe just useing this in a oneshot, to avoid most of these. that said, l would not be obnoxious with the "l am not from this world' thing, other then telling the party if they ask,l would likely not bring it up too much,simply focusing on surviving and getting home. hopefully the group l end up with are able to keep the game and real life separate .
based on what you and others are saying,l am thinking that,rather then be literally me,maybe l should make it someone from our world,who is like me,but not exactly me. Would that be better?
Rename them, change their home city and you can still play them exactly as though they are you for the same effect but avoiding 90% of the potential issues. We have a player in our party who plays as a character from a specific book set in another world.
I'm doing something similar for my 1st 5E game. I've generally played somewhat like myself in games that offer choice, eg Mass Effect, Fable, KotOR. I also don't take it personally when there are justifiable consequences for my actions & failures. New to tabletop, so not sure why there's such a stigma for playing oneself there as opposed to more modern RPGs. Granted most people don't really know themselves very well (eg breaking point, honesty about fears/flaws), hence the Mary Sue phenomenon.
I'm confident I've put more time into my backstory and forging a connection to the Sword Coast than anyone else at the table, and it's GM approved, so I'm stoked about my first campaign.
not sure why there's such a stigma for playing oneself there as opposed to more modern RPGs
There's a pretty good list of reasons here in this thread. And another one - it can often get creepy. Not just what's done to you, but what you do. If my buddy wants to play a randy bard that seduces every tavern wench he meets, whatever. But if he's roleplaying himself getting laid... that's weird bro. Don't do it.
D&D heroes face a lot of stuff that we normally wouldn't. At the very least they are killing sentient beings regularly. Playing as yourself there are two eventual ends to this - either you end up so traumatized by PTSD that you have to leave the party, or you reveal to your friends that you see yourself as a psychopath. Some tables might be okay with exploring that stuff, but to some guy who just wants to be a superhero for a couple hours a week it could be a real buzzkill.
Yeah, don't play yourself, literally yourself, as your first character or any character.
You will probably always remember your first experience making a character and playing D&D as that character. You don't want to ruin that memory with it being a cringy version of yourself. This is not something you want to do.
You can certainly put aspects of yourself in your characters (I do this with most of mine). If you're smart in real life, make them bookish, or know a lot of random stuff that they will never need to know. I know a bunch of facts about strange animals in real life. If I was going to play a conjurer wizard in 5e, I would probably make them know the mating rituals of frost salamanders, or the grooming habits of girallons.
Put parts of you into your characters if you'd like, but don't ever steal a real life character and make your character be them. Don't do this with TV show characters, movie characters, or anything like this. It will end up wrong.
Certainly, never, ever, ever play yourself in D&D. It will be wrong.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
it can often get creepy. Not just what's done to you, but what you do. If my buddy wants to play a randy bard that seduces every tavern wench he meets, whatever. But if he's roleplaying himself getting laid... that's weird bro.
Yikes! Yeah. There are def people like that out there, but I'm sticking with myself, thank you. I'd be disgusted too playing a creep out to catch all the STDs in the realm.
heroes face a lot of stuff that we normally wouldn't. At the very least they are killing sentient beings regularly.
Not sure if it's a house rule, but my GM said 5E patched non-lethal to actually be non-lethal vs the RNG of the past. Though as I alluded earlier, I could see complications with those who don't think through their moral systems, if any. The GM's shown himself to be fairly open to player creativity, so I don't have any worries about him being a nightmare nutcase. This is only my first campaign, but I was under the impression tabletop was designed to allow freedom of choice (& consequence), rather than being a boxed-in improv. Ofc, there are tables for like-minded folks out there, as we've seen.
Another caveat I should've mentioned was the vulnerability & trust inherent in baring oneself before a group. I don't think I'd be as free if I didn't trust the members at the table with my personal flaws.
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so l was thinking of haveing my first pc being a self insert,but another thred i voiced this idea said that it is...less then advised. however l was thinking about it and was hopeing to run some ideas on my self insert,to make it...not $hitty. so here goes
my idea is that some time b4 the campaign starts (this would all happen in a session 0 or my backstory) that l somehow found myself transported to (insert setting here) in the middle of ,say,a large forrest, and l am found by a old retired master/expert of (insert class choice here) at this point l have lv 0 commoner stats,but because this is the middle of nowhere the old master takes me in and teaches me some of their craft,and l train with them till they die of old age,at which point a few months/years have passed,l am a lv 1 (class) and l set out to meet the party (or maybe they find me in the forrest,dms choice)
so,what do you think,is it passable? l am not some op anime protagonist,l am just a fitter,trained version of myself that hopefully wont die in the first combat.
Background is fine I guess, you should be asking DM.
I think the reason self insert characters is a bad idea is because it is easy to take things that happen to them personally. You should always use a character you don't mind losing.
I think everyone will tell you that the most fun character they ever played is one different from themselves and have an epic or tragic tale of how they left the party.
a valid point,however it would be for my first ever pc,and cause l am so new to the game,lt would be a good excuse for my character to not know some/most things (cause l would likely only learn stuff about my local area and how to swing a sword in this backstory)
I disagree with djc on using a character you don't mind losing. I'd never think that way. I created a character for my first time playing and it got killed in about 30mins. Was a fun character to play.
Your backstory is fine. But that's up to the DM. Not us. If I was the DM I'd be fully supportive of your backstory. It can use more detail but the jist of it is solid. So do it and have fun.
If you're going for the digital self then there are a few ways to make it more interesting, but the best method I find is to think about your past... then GO CRAZY EXAGGERATING IT!
Let's use this example to help digitize yourself:
Our example player is named Kevin. Kevin grew up in the suburbs and had a normal childhood. He went to scouts for a few years, selling cookies door to door (and not popcorn on facebook like SOME people's parents do...) as well as getting to go camping a few times a year in a nearby wood. At school he was alright with crafts but struggled a bit on maths. On the playground he was excellent on the jungle gym, climbing and such but he sucked at baseball. I mean he sucked HARD, and he had to wear fairly thick glasses. Outside of school he liked being outdoors, but was frightened of spiders, something he developed after reading about Australia and the size of the spiders over there. He had a part time job for a local landscaper, mowing some lawns and helping to plant or chop down the odd tree.
When sucked into the world he finds he is no longer human because while transforming, he couldn't get the image of his pet turtle Raph out of his head. Because of the life story, we can develop the following:
Kevin is now a 1st level Tortle Ranger, with point buy stats of 14(16), 8, 12, 10, 15 (16), 13 and natural explorer - forest, favoured enemy beast (if you wish spiders not to be beasts, monstrosities is good too) and proficiency in survival (scouts), persuasion (selling cookies) and athletics (jungle gym).
You might argue that's not okay he must be human, or you might not feel comfortable extending things to extreme lengths but to directly put yourself into a game designed for superhumans (adventurers have attributes far higher than normal humans with magical powers of flight after all) you will find your stats tend to read 11 10 10 9 10 8, which'd be a bit dull to play.
Well, I thought it was a bad idea because you seemed to say you were doing it "to make the game easier on yourself", so you'd have less to learn and think about, and I don't think that's the case - I don't think playing a self-insert is any easier than a standard character. The easiest to roleplay is a fantasy cliche - something like a Rogue that's interested in gold, or a Wizard that's exploring to find knowledge, or a Paladin that wants to do good and protect people, etc. Play along with the setting and it makes it easy; fight it and you've got interesting times ahead of you.
Since you keep coming back to it, it sounds like you're doing it because the idea really appeals to you and not because you're looking for a shortcut! So that's fine, it can certainly be made to work.
I just don't think you're making it easier on yourself by doing so. Each time you defend the idea by saying oh, you're so new to the game, it's your first pc, it's a good excuse not to know anything, the self-insert idea sounds worse and worse. If you were to defend the idea by talking about how you're really excited about it, why you think this would be cool to do, that would make it sound better.
I really like Sarella's approach to making a cool character out of yourself, though.
I'd also comment that one thing you should add is an adventure hook, a reason for your self-insert PC to go off adventuring. After all, adventuring is dangerous business; you might die! Why would your character go along with this party to do whatever it is that they're doing? Make sure that your character has some connection to the DM's adventure, or has the sort of personality/background where they'd follow an adventure hook.
Do you know which character class or what type of character you're interested in playing? That could help flesh out the backstory of where you've been transported or who your mentor would be.
funny you say that,that was actually the first character l made on this site.
oh l dont, lf you saw me irl you would see that even a few months of training in the middle of nowhere would make me barely able to hold my own in a fight. and its not even about useing it as a excuse for being new (though it is a good "lore" reason l know F***all about the world l find myself in) its more of a (admititably kinda dumb) thing where when playing a new rpg,my first run is a "personal run" where l do what l would do if it were me,and what better way to do that in dnd,then to actually be myself.
well my "plot hook" would be to find out what caused me to be transported to this world,and to find a way to go home. my plan would be to get antiquated with the game,then when l feel confident,l (with the ok/help of the dm) would use a wish spell/MacGuffin to return to my home world?(or die,whichever comes first),and make a new character to join the party.
also l would likely be a fighter,trained to be able to use a short sword/shield or something
Also, your character is fully capable of knowing more or less about the world than you do. That is what arcana, history, nature, and religion skills are for.
I'm not crazy about this idea. I do love the idea of a first timer playing as a character similar to himself or herself. Maybe even basically the same, just not you 100%. Exaggerate some characteristic that you like about yourself. Or make a character that embodies something you wish was true about you. If you're a good person, make a good character. I'f you're aloof, play a character that is. If you've always loved the idea of performing in front of people but have been to nervous, make a character that lives to perform.
You're always yourself. While I don't absolutely hate the idea of literally playing as yourself, I think you'd be missing out. Also, I think it could be immersion breaking if you're some dude named Brian from Idaho who really likes the Denver broncos and pizza (for example). More interesting would be a version of yourself that is native to the universe you're role playing in. Someone that might share your personal ethic, but someone that doesn't share every little personality trait and physical detail.
well l could go full isekai and have my backstory be that got hit by a truck and reincarnated and grow up in this world with memorys of my past life (irl me) like in the anime "wise man grandchild (which was a partial inspiration for my above backstory) but that would be even "worse" and "weeby" (weebie?)
I would not advise this. And to be honest, if one of my players suggested it, I'd ask them to invent someone who was very like them but not actually *them*.
Over the course of a campaign, your character might:
You probably need to ask yourself how much fun this would be for the other players who are picturing your burning corpse, or imagining you being chained up.
You are kind of limiting your character in terms of their development as well. Character flaws make one of the most fun aspects of role playing, and sometimes it's good to do things that aren't necessarily helpful to the game but that are in line with an imagined personality. For instance, we once had a level 3 barbarian who on hearing that there were 5 vampires behind a locked door promptly smashed the door with her axe before we had a chance to say anything at all. It was very nearly a party wipe, but it was who she wanted to be! I don't know what age range your game is but romantic sub-plots can be fun, and I don't know how I'd feel about involving someone playing themselves with a half-orc called Mary.
One issue with characters being portalled in is that "Gee whizz, this sure isn't like Kansas" gets really, really tired very quickly, as does "Back home we have these things called automobiles!" The fun of it - and having to feign ignorance of literally everything in the game - gets tiring fast.
Lastly, self insert characters sound like they're going to make you feel like a Mary Sue. You're making the whole game your story and nobody gets to be the main character in a party.
all valid points, l am thinking of maybe just useing this in a oneshot, to avoid most of these. that said, l would not be obnoxious with the "l am not from this world' thing, other then telling the party if they ask,l would likely not bring it up too much,simply focusing on surviving and getting home. hopefully the group l end up with are able to keep the game and real life separate .
based on what you and others are saying,l am thinking that,rather then be literally me,maybe l should make it someone from our world,who is like me,but not exactly me. Would that be better?
Rename them, change their home city and you can still play them exactly as though they are you for the same effect but avoiding 90% of the potential issues. We have a player in our party who plays as a character from a specific book set in another world.
I'm doing something similar for my 1st 5E game. I've generally played somewhat like myself in games that offer choice, eg Mass Effect, Fable, KotOR. I also don't take it personally when there are justifiable consequences for my actions & failures.
New to tabletop, so not sure why there's such a stigma for playing oneself there as opposed to more modern RPGs. Granted most people don't really know themselves very well (eg breaking point, honesty about fears/flaws), hence the Mary Sue phenomenon.
I'm confident I've put more time into my backstory and forging a connection to the Sword Coast than anyone else at the table, and it's GM approved, so I'm stoked about my first campaign.
There's a pretty good list of reasons here in this thread. And another one - it can often get creepy. Not just what's done to you, but what you do. If my buddy wants to play a randy bard that seduces every tavern wench he meets, whatever. But if he's roleplaying himself getting laid... that's weird bro. Don't do it.
D&D heroes face a lot of stuff that we normally wouldn't. At the very least they are killing sentient beings regularly. Playing as yourself there are two eventual ends to this - either you end up so traumatized by PTSD that you have to leave the party, or you reveal to your friends that you see yourself as a psychopath. Some tables might be okay with exploring that stuff, but to some guy who just wants to be a superhero for a couple hours a week it could be a real buzzkill.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Yeah, don't play yourself, literally yourself, as your first character or any character.
You will probably always remember your first experience making a character and playing D&D as that character. You don't want to ruin that memory with it being a cringy version of yourself. This is not something you want to do.
You can certainly put aspects of yourself in your characters (I do this with most of mine). If you're smart in real life, make them bookish, or know a lot of random stuff that they will never need to know. I know a bunch of facts about strange animals in real life. If I was going to play a conjurer wizard in 5e, I would probably make them know the mating rituals of frost salamanders, or the grooming habits of girallons.
Put parts of you into your characters if you'd like, but don't ever steal a real life character and make your character be them. Don't do this with TV show characters, movie characters, or anything like this. It will end up wrong.
Certainly, never, ever, ever play yourself in D&D. It will be wrong.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Yikes! Yeah. There are def people like that out there, but I'm sticking with myself, thank you. I'd be disgusted too playing a creep out to catch all the STDs in the realm.
Not sure if it's a house rule, but my GM said 5E patched non-lethal to actually be non-lethal vs the RNG of the past. Though as I alluded earlier, I could see complications with those who don't think through their moral systems, if any. The GM's shown himself to be fairly open to player creativity, so I don't have any worries about him being a nightmare nutcase. This is only my first campaign, but I was under the impression tabletop was designed to allow freedom of choice (& consequence), rather than being a boxed-in improv. Ofc, there are tables for like-minded folks out there, as we've seen.
Another caveat I should've mentioned was the vulnerability & trust inherent in baring oneself before a group. I don't think I'd be as free if I didn't trust the members at the table with my personal flaws.