Eilistraee.com

I frequent one of those text based role play games that are so popular among us social introverts. I won't say which one because it's irrelevant to the story.

I play a drow there, and so does a group of other people I was fortunate to get involved with. Wonderful fun these people are and they portray our race wonderfully. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the others who choose to create drow characters. They are a disgrace, but that's another rant entirely.

One person in particular just made me want to excommunicate her from D&D and drow fans altogether. Why? Well I'll give you a hint. Her character's name is Qilue...

Now I dislike people who try to play canonical characters in general, because in general they're just bad at it. This person though, hooboy, defamation of character is just the beginning of what she did.

Now I should be a little open minded, I know, since in the character's info she has a little note that says she's not Qilue the famous Eilistraeean priestess and even has the character's last name listed as Illyston...because she 'rejected' her house name. The character also admits to 'formerly' being drow AND a cleric of Eilistraee. She says she created the character before she even knew who Qilue was. Anyone else smell a crock?

But what really got me was what she did with the character. Assuming her little note about being the real Qilue being a ploy to keep people off her ass, she took her and pretty much ruined her. Because now she's a golden-haired High Elf follower of Corellon...her character history saying that she woke up that way after Eilistraee's death when Corellon took the drow under his protection. Just...the very thought made me want to reach through my computer and strangle her...all while I was laughing my ass off at how STUPID what I was reading sounded.

It irritated me for two really big reasons. One, she ruined a canonical character while trying to pretend she didn't. Two, she accepted the changes to 4E which tells me the player is probably a drone with no personality. The whole thing just made no sense to me. Why, why, whyyyyyy would you make that kind of change? You make a drow character because they are an interesting and compelling race, not the type that you would just make into another race on a whim or to keep them having a patron deity to tote around like a status symbol.

And that, more or less, is my ranting. I hope you all found it a little more amusing than I did...because that's really the reason I'm posting this

I can understand your frustration and anger towards this asshat of a failed player.

I too loath people that play canonial characters as it clearly shows they have absolutely no imagination and have to rely on someone elses creation in order to RP. In addition, despite their claims that "their" character is unique and nothing like the original, they conviniently include selections of past history, powers, feats etc and will bitch and whine constantly about how they "know" what their character is capable of acheiving. Its the poorest form of epic fail fandom and in no way is presectful to the original character or the other players.

The best solution is to completely ignore this waste of space and not to respond to any of their actions. Carry on as though they are not there and eventually they will get pissed, start spamming the board & other players about their treatment and will result in [b:1i9gbchl]tha ban hammer smack down [/b:1i9gbchl]on their sorry ass.

Then there will be much rejoicing

I fully understand this...

But have you ever perchance encountered a player an -experienced- RPer who has a level 10 half-drow-half-dragon-half-Micheal-Jackson who is also the doughtier of Bhaal and the twin golden locked (and hearted) sister of Lollth who has spent her life in hiding so she can finally re-re-marry Vhearun to do something completely uncomprehending and stupid.

Plus she can move planets from their spot.

But on a serious note, canon characters can be fun to play, and they may be easy to play which is why I would mostly reserve them for people who haven't had the chance to RP so much as to make a character with their own clear strengths and flaws...
Experianced RPer can bring the Canon characters even closer to the player and give them a whole new dimension, even make them feel 'real' to some extent.
If played right.