Fair point about batman, but he's also a master martial artist, weaponsmith and tactical expert. He's basically a rogue (mastermind)/monk (way of shadow)/fighter (battle master)/artificer (armorer?) multiclass with several thousand platinum to burn
All true, but he’s known as “The World’s Greatest Detective” not because of any of that, but because of his deductive reasoning. Sherlock Holmes was also a world class pugilists and fencer, and a master violinist, but his detective skills were why he was famous. House MD just had an opioid addiction and a physical disability, but his mind....
And like you said, Batman would be (at least in part) a Mastermind Rogue. Doesn’t that sound like kinda what they are describing for their character? As long as they remember to start early in Batman’s Sabin’s career* and make sure to play the version that is part of the team instead of the solo version, I think the general concept of the character should still work.
*Like you said, “The most interesting things that happen to a character shouldn't happen in their backstory.”
That said, in the comics, both Batman and Superman are often not active JLA members, simply because neither scales all that well with normal League activities. And Flash and Green Lantern are often portrayed much weaker than they are in their solo titles. Very legitimate point regarding his detective skills though. He has always had those from the beginning, even back in his first appearance when his combat skills involved things like hitting someone with a wrench, or just normal brawling.
There are times, though, when an elaborate back story makes sense, in particular when it is *not* a first level character, but rather a higher level character joining an existing party. Even so, backstories should *always* be written *with* the DM, not for them or in spite of them. It is the players' world to explore and interact with, only writing their parts. A backstory involves more than just the part of the player and therefore should be a joint effort between player and DM.
Fair point about batman, but he's also a master martial artist, weaponsmith and tactical expert. He's basically a rogue (mastermind)/monk (way of shadow)/fighter (battle master)/artificer (armorer?) multiclass with several thousand platinum to burn
And has more plot armor than a stack of RA Salvatore novels.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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Totally agree with that last paragraph.
And has more plot armor than a stack of RA Salvatore novels.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.