23 replies to this topic

[Rynhardt]

I'm not a major role player but I do like coming up with backgrounds for characters and even possibly stories or events in their lives. Honestly, looking at how the charr live their lives, I do feel a little limited in what I can do as a charr. The call of duty is so important in their society that it feels almost as if it limits your freedom, especially being tied down to a warband that's loyal to the efforts of the three legions.

I feel as though the personal storyline is the only reason my charr would ever leave Ascalon and would spend most of their time fighting off the ghostly armies instead, without accepting the shameful road of being a gladium. I know it's important to acknowledge the culture of the society your character is brought up to live and have been living in for their entire lives, but really, a gear in the machine is hard to misplace in Queensdale.

I'm curious as to what other charr players feel on charr society and whether or not or how it affects their reasoning for travel.

[Piellar]

I was thinking of playing a charr mesmer on august 25, but I feel the same as you; I can't figure out how I could fit in as a silly cackling trickster charr when the character creation screen tells you upfront "the fool has no place among the charr".

Is there an option during the personal storyline to become a gladium? Do I have to play a horned cat-person that doesn't even fit within his own race?

[Redd]

the charr aren't generally fun-loving nomads, but that doesnt mean your character can't break the mold

[Tregarde]

You don't have to be limited by what the game presents. There are always those individuals who go against the norm. And since the Charr have had exposure to outside cultures (particularly in Lion's Arch) there are going to be some who get "ideas" that go against mainstream Charr culture.

[The Gatecrasher]

The way the Charr used to work (and I doubt work like in GW2) was like a nation with a conscription that recruits soldiers at a very young age. Once these young recruits leave their mothers their mothers are not their family as their Warband is their family and that is pretty much how it is until they die. So most of them live very restricted lives as they are essentially feline Spartans!

I have written a short story that describes Charr lore before the events of GW2. Its not finished though.

http://www.guildwars...__fromsearch__1

Edit:To answer the threads question; If we could play Charr in GW I would feel very limited. But in GW2 it appears everything has changed and I believe the Charr would have much more freedom.

Edited by The Gatecrasher, 27 July 2012 - 04:23 PM.

[RyuujinZERO]

You may also be thinking of mesmers wrongly.

Mesmers don't have to be fun loving tricksters. They could equally be powerful dominators who delight in crushing their foes spirits with illusions and deception (Think of that scene in vampire the masquerade where a malkavian player has the option of tricking a guy into eatting his friends face), or deceptive psionics who use illusions and deception to stick a dagger in the back or mislead enemy forces strategy.

Characters like that are completely at home in the ash legion. Finally, the old flame legion used to use dominators in their ranks back in GW1

Edited by RyuujinZERO, 27 July 2012 - 04:26 PM.

[Wonsavage]

If you go to Lion's Arch, you can see several Charr NPCs that have already broken the mold of Charr society.  One of my favorites in particular is a Charr father arguing against sending his child to a fahrar, wanting to raise it himself.  Lion's Arch really seems to be a gathering place for all those people who want to break from the norm of their races.  So if you want to roleplay a different type of Charr, then just spend more of your time in LA than the Black Citadel.

[MinkoAk]

The posters before me pretty much summed up my thoughts, you just have to come up with whatever background would fit what you want to play, the two easiest explanations being using the Ash Legion and / or Lion's Arch. I too felt limited in what I could do with my Charr, especially since he is a ranger and Anet made them such an ecological profession and the Charr were made into a giant industrial machine. I spent a lot of time thinking (and searching in the lore) what could be a possible background. In the end I'm going to give him a mixture of the Ash Legion background, Lion's Arch and I did draw some inspiration from a gladium charr while not making him a gladium.

Remember though, things are far from what they seem to be, just look at your warband's professions, there is a guardian and I think an elementalist yet the lore almost makes them an "impossible" choice and also, just take a look at who's leading (and created) the Vigil, and especially the background of this person. The lore is just general guidelines and you just have to find some plausible explanations for the "weird" stuff in your background.

[Mr_Finesse]

The founder of The Vigil, Almorra, basically felt this way as a Charr after her warband was wiped out and was driven to break free of Charr society and take a different approach to life by forming The Vigil to take on the dragons.

http://wiki.guildwar...orra_Soulkeeper

I have a strange suspicion that many of the Charr story lines will push you to "break away" from the norm of Charr society.

[Kokocat]

Dinky the Charr Guardian and Eurayle the Charr Elementalist are the possible breaking the mold warband members you can have at creation.

Charr's military juggernaut society isn't as constricting as it appears. There are many different kinds of charr with distinct non-rugged personalities. If you listen to NPCs, you'll hear all of them.  There are even a few Ash Legion Charr that are pissing-in-my-pants scared of ghosts. Like the person above me said, the character creation and even your personal storyline quests AREN'T concrete to your character unless YOU make them to be.

[LlyranKeen]

I would think that one reason for Charr to be out exploring without breaking the mold of their society too much would be gathering intel for the Legions.

[ZuberiGF]

I suppose one option is that if you really want to keep to the rigid military organization, you could simply find a mission or role that would allow your character to move about freely, or at least get out of Ascalon. I get the feeling that while the Charr may be all about their "call to duty," how exactly they fulfill that call is pretty open. So for instance, maybe you could fulfill the call by saying that your legion sent you to liasion with/ fight alongside the Vigil or the Priory, and so your current mission is to help them out wherever you can, anywhere in Tyria that they would need your assistance. As long as it's in the best interests of the Charr race, I'm pretty sure other rpers would be ok with it, without needing your character to become a gladium.

Or, if you're rping alongside some other people who are in the same legion, maybe you could work with them to set up missions for you that would send you to the places you want to go. So for instance, you could talk about a mission that would take you to Divinity's Reach, and then one of your friends who is rping a higher ranking charr or something can order you to bring a message to one of those dirty humans and bring back their response. The response might take a day or two though, so you can spend that time gathering information (or relaxing in the local bar).

[Zunnash]

I think that introduction means that the charr would not tolerate foolishness while on a mission and such.  The charr are not all humorless and dead serious 24/7 when not on duty, even when conforming to their culture, nor are they all zombies even when on duty.  They just are not going to tolerate foolishness that would get in the way or distract from the mission is the way I read that.

The fact that they value discipline and military structure does not mean they never have fun or personal lives.  Their superiors really do not seem to tend to care what they do on their own time if they aren't causing any trouble.  Also of note is that it's not unusual for a warband to split up for extended periods of time after they leave their fahrar (though if I recall it's unusual if they stay apart for a very long time with no assignment as a reason).  The charr have far more freedom once they are out of their fahrar.  Their warband gets orders but how they carry them up is up to the legionnaire.  They also get leave time though I don't know the specifics of that (as evidenced by a charr NPC saying they could really use leave time at present).

Even if the lore was more rigid as others said you could play your charr however you wanted.  The lore itself is far less constrictive than you'd expect from the introduction though.  Unless you want your character to be a clown even on the battlefield I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Edited by Zunnash, 05 August 2012 - 06:10 PM.

[Greensuitjacket]

I don't like how the Golden legion isn't an option. I love me some fire magic, and would love to RP as a Titan/Destroyer/Shaman zealot. That's why I'm going to pick the sorcerous shaman story, because I secretly want to follow in my father's footsteps.
Same deal with the White Mantle, I wish anet would have let players choose sides and let players decide the future rulers of tyria

[Klofange Fiercehunter]

I love the Charr but the military approach is just a tad too far, I feel like I'm kissing Rytlocks Butt all the time, I want to be a freelance, never joined the military ranks, doesn't agree with it, Warbnds should be family, strong because of their closeness, not following some douche just because you end, up with him, It actually stops me enjoying the story mode, so I tend to spend more time in the Norn zones with my Charr as that fits my feel better

I came up with a past to explain why my charr isn't a simple, do as I say soldier.  

Spoiler

He pounced, he had waited for this moment for so long, arching his back and preparing his Fellblade he drove his great-sword deep into the head of the foul and allusive beast. Finally The Great White Wurm had fallen but at what cost.....

....Long ago, about 60 years or so, a young Charr, son of simple devourer herders, was orphaned. Ogres had attacked their village, killing all those who stood in their way, hyenas picking off the young. Klofange stood alone, barely weaned, in his hands a sword (great in comparison to the tiny Charr) wrenched from the dying grasp of a defeated ogre, dripping with the blood of hyena Klofange had felled.

"You have spirit, for a tiny fur-ball" Blurted the Ogre Cheifton with humour in his tone.

"Kill him"

Three ogres began their attack wildly swinging hammers and maces at the young Charr, but what they had in strength they lost in speed and agility, avoiding each attack drawing the ogres closer and closer together, in frustration the three Ogres attacked in unison with all their might but as the 'fur-ball' avoided once more, their attacks landed upon one another rendering them all unconscious. Bewildered by what he had seen the Cheifton had taken his eyes off the Charr. Klofange used this to his advantage. Charging forward his sword trailing in both hands ready to strike, he headed to the reason he had had to fight, to the Ogre who had destroyed all he had known. Leaping into the air and with one fell sweep the head of his enemy lay glazed in the sand.

It was a long time before Klofange saw another Charr, but after surviving on instinct, hunting and tracking in the wilderness of Ascalon, with nothing but an Orges Blade, a make shift Bow and a white raven for company, he finally reached the Black Citadel, capital of the Iron Legion. He had hoped to find a home and more importantly a Warband, for a Charr was nothing without his 'brothers'.

But hospitality was not to be found, from child of the wilderness to unwanted streetrat, but he was not alone, orphans from all over Ascalon could be find within the alleyways of the Citadel, many begged but a few were thieves. If non would help him then he would help himself and those like him, his skills of tracking a perception made him formidable at 'hunting' food and soon he had a following. A warband of thieves and miscreants struggling to survive in the harsh city walls and Klofange was their leader, taking the name from stories his father had told him, they became the Fierce Warband.

It was not long before their activity became known, many merchants hated them, but some saw promise in their skills, and before long they were mercenaries for hire, hunting whoever or whatever for the right price. As time past their legend grew, and they no longer had to steal to live, instead they had to kill, and killing is what Klofange was born to do.

The highest price came from slaying Wurms, not only were they a problem to many, particularly herders, but their meat and scales had great value. But hunting wurms was no simple or light hearted task, tracking them was near impossible as they travelled below ground, and many who hunted them, were ultimately hunted by them. Yet The Fierce warband and Klofange never failed, no wurm escaped their grasp, They were brothers connected deeper then a human family, they reacted as one unit, no commands required, no hesitation, and as such any advisory was at a disadvantage, their trails of youth had bonded them and now wurms felt their wrath. That was until one foul beast, unlike any wurm they had fought before, escaped unharmed and injuring the warband beyond any battle previous.

The Great White Wurm, as it came to be named, was a wurm corrupted by Jormag himself, but this fact did not stop Klofange longing for round two, his pride would take him to the end of the Tyria before he could rest. His warband followed as they had since they were children. Deep into the Shiverpeaks they travelled for years tracking this one Wurm which had escaped, they were struggling to survive once more, living of the land, but his warband followed without question, they had lost a hand full to blizzards and avalanches but still they marched, Klofange blinded by pride.

Finally the day of reckoning was upon them, the earth shook and from it rose the beast, Klofange ordered his men to distract the wurm whilst he climbed its scaly back. The Raven, his oldest friend identified a path to the creatures head, but by the time Klofange had reached the crown of his old nemesis, he stood alone once more, his warband had fallen, and with a final blow the beast was dead. As it tumbled to the snow below, Klofange had realised that although he had won the battle the war was lost, his pride had sacrificed those who should have meant most to him, A Gladium, a lone Charr, he had no enemy nor family.....

....To this day Klofange can be found in a Tavern known as 'Ye Olde Hat' (a bar fequented by washed up 'heroes') in the city of Lions arch drowning his sorrows in liqueur talking to no one but his bird, but many believe there is still life in this old Charr, a hero kept hidden by drink, a hunter who just needs something new to hunt, and a family to hunt it with.

Edited by Klofange Fiercehunter, 08 August 2012 - 10:14 AM.

[Roan Rivers]

Meh, social restraints.

Society expects charr to be strong, warlike, dominant, unyielding, resourceful, and commanding.

Be anything but that as a Charr you got character.

[Ruefully]

Yeah, I feel like it's a little restricting. I don't really like military style anything but still love the charr for what they are. I've thought up two different concepts for charr females and both are charr, one being a middle aged mercenary and the other being an elderly and crippled medic. Both centered in Lion's Arch.

[Midnight_Tea]

I always assumed that despite the larger militarism, charr aren't strictly forced into military roles at all times. Your warband is more like your family than it is a strict cell or unit. Many of us do feel a continued connection to our family or societies that raised us.

For those of you who want to roleplay a fire mage type, like the sort of shamans that the charr ousted, I'd go with Ash Legion. They seem to operate on the fringes of charr society and would be the most likely to be willing to use their enemy's methods against them. They seem to be the ones most likely to keep their old traditions alive in secret.

[Tetan0]

charr`s are mix of roman empire and Genghis Khan mongolian empire there is loads of thing you can do RP as charr just remember No Mages.

[Kraag_Deadsoul]

LlyranKeen, on 28 July 2012 - 05:43 AM, said:

I would think that one reason for Charr to be out exploring without breaking the mold of their society too much would be gathering intel for the Legions.

*Shhhhh!  Do you want them to know what we're up to over here?*

"Nothing to see here...nope, not at all...just enjoying visiting your lovely city.  My, that is some fantastic stonework!  How thick did you say that wall is again?  10 feet?!?  Really?  That thick, eh?  *mumbles a few calculations under breath* And guarded by 20 soldiers per patrol, three patrol rotations daily??  You don't say!  *let's see...that means shift changes occur every 8 hours* What?  Oh, nothing; was just talking to myself...silly habit...nevermind me.  Ha-ha!  Well, nobody's going to give you any trouble...nope, none at all.  You're as safe, as safe can be.  Yep, safe...as...can...be.  Well, nice chatting with you.  I must be going now."

Roan Rivers, on 15 August 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

Society expects charr to be strong, warlike, dominant, unyielding, resourceful, and commanding.

"No, we expect ourselves to be strong, warlike, dominant, unyielding, resourceful, and commanding.  Our society mirrors our personal conviction; not the other way around.  It's a Charr thing."

[dawnq]

Kokocat, on 27 July 2012 - 05:23 PM, said:

Dinky the Charr Guardian and Eurayle the Charr Elementalist are the possible breaking the mold warband members you can have at creation.

Charr's military juggernaut society isn't as constricting as it appears. There are many different kinds of charr with distinct non-rugged personalities. If you listen to NPCs, you'll hear all of them.  There are even a few Ash Legion Charr that are pissing-in-my-pants scared of ghosts. Like the person above me said, the character creation and even your personal storyline quests AREN'T concrete to your character unless YOU make them to be.

BLASPHEMY!!! Ash Legionnaires fear nothing! These are lies spread by Iron and Blood because of their fear of Ash!


I ask that you remove this slander or as Malice Swordshadow is my Imperator, I shall have my warband smite thee with a righteous fire from the dark.    Carry on nothing to see here.

Tetan0, on 17 August 2012 - 10:17 PM, said:

charr`s are mix of roman empire and Genghis Khan mongolian empire there is loads of thing you can do RP as charr just remember No Mages.

pfft

Edited by dawnq, 17 August 2012 - 11:02 PM.

[Kraag_Deadsoul]

dawnq, on 17 August 2012 - 10:46 PM, said:

BLASPHEMY!!! Ash Legionnaires fear nothing! These are lies spread by Iron and Blood because of their fear of Ash!

I ask that you remove this slander or as Malice Swordshadow is my Imperator, I shall have my warband smite thee with a righteous fire from the dark.

*Shhhh, brother (sister?  can't tell with that helmet on)!  Let the lies spread.  Let them drop their guard...believing us to be cowards.  Let their eyes tear with laughter...blind to the flash of our blade.  Let their guffaws echo in their throats...all the way up to the moment we slit them.  Then it shall be we who laugh last.  We are Ash...but they are dust.*

[Orkfaeller]

Have to admit, I kinda allways enjoy rolling the "nationalistic" to "fashistic" factions/races in (MMO)RPGs the most.

So that whole Legion-ideoligy of the Charr really works for me.

Far better than for example the Asura who do nothing but elbow eachother and are unable to work in any way, shape or form together.

Edith:

Still going with an exiled Flame-Shaman as my second or third.

Edited by Orkfaeller, 18 August 2012 - 03:27 PM.

[Weindrasi]

Rynhardt, on 27 July 2012 - 05:06 AM, said:

I'm not a major role player but I do like coming up with backgrounds for characters and even possibly stories or events in their lives. Honestly, looking at how the charr live their lives, I do feel a little limited in what I can do as a charr. The call of duty is so important in their society that it feels almost as if it limits your freedom, especially being tied down to a warband that's loyal to the efforts of the three legions.

I feel as though the personal storyline is the only reason my charr would ever leave Ascalon and would spend most of their time fighting off the ghostly armies instead, without accepting the shameful road of being a gladium. I know it's important to acknowledge the culture of the society your character is brought up to live and have been living in for their entire lives, but really, a gear in the machine is hard to misplace in Queensdale.

I'm curious as to what other charr players feel on charr society and whether or not or how it affects their reasoning for travel.

My charr uses her society to her benefit. Sadistic, power-obsessed, and highly intellegent, she uses the chain of command to control and exploit others, and gain power for herself. She has learned to move within the constraints of her society, and abuse its laws without actually breaking them. That, or not get caught.
When she wants to do something that is against her orders, or that her society would disapprove of, she finds a way to make it seem appealing to the Tribunes--usually by playing on their emotions through words, or by secretly instigating some event to sway their opinions. Since she's Blood Legion, and huge/brutish in appearance, most people don't think she would be capable of such subtle control--and that plays to her advantage as well.

At any rate, long story short, a clever charr can flourish in his or her society (and have a great deal of freedom) if he/she learns to work with it, and perhaps exploit it.

Greensuitjacket, on 06 August 2012 - 06:10 AM, said:

I don't like how the Golden legion isn't an option. I love me some fire magic, and would love to RP as a Titan/Destroyer/Shaman zealot. That's why I'm going to pick the sorcerous shaman story, because I secretly want to follow in my father's footsteps.
Same deal with the White Mantle, I wish anet would have let players choose sides and let players decide the future rulers of tyria

True, but they would've had to edit Flame Legion's lore to somehow allow female player-characters. I think people would be pissed if Flame Legion became an option, but you could only play male if you wanted to be the "villian".

Edited by Weindrasi, 03 September 2012 - 06:11 PM.