l have been thinking of makeing a character that starts the campaign with amnesia and am woundering the pros and cons of doing this. any advice is welcome.
My experience with amnesia characters has been pretty bad. Probably because of their players. Everything from "what is a door?" to asking the party "who are you guys?" every session.
My advice if you are going to do it is: don't make your character an idiot or a gag character. Have it mirror real amnesia cases and not cartoon characters. They can start with normal general knowledge of the world, but no personal memories, but make new memories as campaign progresses.
It's very possible. Character still knows things but over time cant recall how. Still knows how to do things but doesn't know why he or she knows them.
Like picking a lock. Has no memory of the skill but can do it and wonders why. The background of said character could be seeking how he or she has no memories of things and why they are gone then seeks to find out what happened. The character Arc could be anything to fix and return those memories. Could be from battle, a curse, a choice to forget a heartbreaking event.. anything really. Have fun with it.
Pros - it's easy for your DM to push your character into interesting quests, and to have the backstory be discovered along with the main campaign plot.
Con - too often used as an excuse to not have any "character" to your character, to play as a blank slate with no ties and no motivations.
Overall, I'd say you should have an idea of *why* you want to play this particular backstory, and how you expect it to affect your campaign. Run it by your DM.
To throw in my 2 coppers: Amnesia? Sure. Recent amnesia? Maybe not so much.
Discovering one's own past is more of a solo adventure. Having some new experiences to set a foundation for joining a group is better: at least some backstory after waking up with amnesia. Getting beyond focusing 100% on one's forgotten past and turning outward into a new life will likely take time, and a character 100% focused on their history and not in the "now" seems like it could get annoying for a party that needs its "head in the game."
Also, Amnesia tends to be selective. Skills, especially proficient skills, are often retained. Though, memory of having those skills might never surface and awareness of having the skill could arise in circumstance, but it could still be unknown how the character acquired the skill.
In summary, using an amnesiac to provide a future hook and a truncated backstory should be okay but probably not a new amnesiac who hasn't really begun to have a new life.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
in the campaign i run, EVERY character has a limited form of amnesia. they know 2+2 is four, they know all their spells, and fighting techniques, but they have no idea where they learned them. they characters were struggling to roleplay with eachother at first, but their shared amnesia gives them a sense of bonding between them. makes them feel like they're in it together.
l have been thinking of makeing a character that starts the campaign with amnesia and am woundering the pros and cons of doing this. any advice is welcome.
My experience with amnesia characters has been pretty bad. Probably because of their players. Everything from "what is a door?" to asking the party "who are you guys?" every session.
My advice if you are going to do it is: don't make your character an idiot or a gag character. Have it mirror real amnesia cases and not cartoon characters. They can start with normal general knowledge of the world, but no personal memories, but make new memories as campaign progresses.
yeah,that was what l was thinking. also,really,"what is a door"? lol.
It's very possible. Character still knows things but over time cant recall how. Still knows how to do things but doesn't know why he or she knows them.
Like picking a lock. Has no memory of the skill but can do it and wonders why. The background of said character could be seeking how he or she has no memories of things and why they are gone then seeks to find out what happened. The character Arc could be anything to fix and return those memories. Could be from battle, a curse, a choice to forget a heartbreaking event.. anything really. Have fun with it.
Pros - it's easy for your DM to push your character into interesting quests, and to have the backstory be discovered along with the main campaign plot.
Con - too often used as an excuse to not have any "character" to your character, to play as a blank slate with no ties and no motivations.
Overall, I'd say you should have an idea of *why* you want to play this particular backstory, and how you expect it to affect your campaign. Run it by your DM.
To throw in my 2 coppers: Amnesia? Sure. Recent amnesia? Maybe not so much.
Discovering one's own past is more of a solo adventure. Having some new experiences to set a foundation for joining a group is better: at least some backstory after waking up with amnesia. Getting beyond focusing 100% on one's forgotten past and turning outward into a new life will likely take time, and a character 100% focused on their history and not in the "now" seems like it could get annoying for a party that needs its "head in the game."
Also, Amnesia tends to be selective. Skills, especially proficient skills, are often retained. Though, memory of having those skills might never surface and awareness of having the skill could arise in circumstance, but it could still be unknown how the character acquired the skill.
In summary, using an amnesiac to provide a future hook and a truncated backstory should be okay but probably not a new amnesiac who hasn't really begun to have a new life.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
in the campaign i run, EVERY character has a limited form of amnesia. they know 2+2 is four, they know all their spells, and fighting techniques, but they have no idea where they learned them. they characters were struggling to roleplay with eachother at first, but their shared amnesia gives them a sense of bonding between them. makes them feel like they're in it together.
i feel like how you run it will be how good is it but i like the idea for a one shot or a mini campaign where the pcs find out they are accent hero's