Is anyone else having difficulty thinking up new characters for the Arcanist?

BloodyStigmata

I'm sitting at 18 characters already, and every character I wanted to make has been made. This new class, thematically speaking doesn't fit any of them, so I'm tasked with creating two entirely new characters from scratch. Again.

And like, I'm just out of ideas. For me, my characters are all part of a shared world, thus, a shared narrative or "headcanon" so to speak. Any character I make needs to feel like they have a place in that story. Since their classes are part of their identity, I'll be needing to think of how to incorporate an Apocrypha-themed class into the equation. I have one single idea on the drawing board, but I need a polymorph that hasn't been released yet for the idea to be even possible, and it might not ever be released, so I basically have zero ideas. Creatively, I am at a loss.

ANYWAY.... for the role-players out there who are already planning on making an Arcanist, what about you? How's the creative process going for you? Do you have any ideas yet or do you need to see more of the class?

TaSheen

I've already got names planned for 2 arcanists per account. In general, the name comes to me first, and then after I've mulled that over for a while the character will show up in my mind, pretty much fully formed as to race, looks, backstory. It's not really a "process" for me, it's more internal so hard to explain.

Seriously, they just show up wanting me to make them.

Bobargus

I wouldn't leave or sacrifice my nightblade main, even if a dragonborn class was released the next day.

Stealth is love, stealth is life.

Danikat

I'm waiting to see how it plays before making any decisions, and hoping that if I do decide I want to play one I'll have an idea which will work by the time I've made my mind up.

I do have one character idea I haven't used yet which might work, but I'm not sure.

I also have one which would work for the class, but would only be interesting for role-playing because her personality wouldn't come through in the actual game and she's a terrible person so I wouldn't want to inflict her on an RP group.

BloodyStigmata

TaSheen wrote: »

I've already got names planned for 2 arcanists per account. In general, the name comes to me first, and then after I've mulled that over for a while the character will show up in my mind, pretty much fully formed as to race, looks, backstory.

Maybe I'll try that. Names have come to be before the character before, but it's usually the other way around for me.

Elsonso

BloodyStigmata wrote: »

I'm sitting at 18 characters already, and every character I wanted to make has been made. This new class, thematically speaking doesn't fit any of them, so I'm tasked with creating two entirely new characters from scratch. Again.

And like, I'm just out of ideas. For me, my characters are all part of a shared world, thus, a shared narrative or "headcanon" so to speak. Any character I make needs to feel like they have a place in that story. Since their classes are part of their identity, I'll be needing to think of how to incorporate an Apocrypha-themed class into the equation. I have one single idea on the drawing board, but I need a polymorph that hasn't been released yet for the idea to be even possible, and it might not ever be released, so I basically have zero ideas. Creatively, I am at a loss.

ANYWAY.... for the role-players out there who are already planning on making an Arcanist, what about you? How's the creative process going for you? Do you have any ideas yet or do you need to see more of the class?

Wait for more Lore details to be released. Creating a character concept in the vacuum that we current have is much harder.

TaSheen

BloodyStigmata wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

I've already got names planned for 2 arcanists per account. In general, the name comes to me first, and then after I've mulled that over for a while the character will show up in my mind, pretty much fully formed as to race, looks, backstory.

Maybe I'll try that. Names have come to be before the character before, but it's usually the other way around for me.

This has been happening to me in every game I've played since the first time I DM'd an AD&D game way back when. And when i moved to CRPGs in the mid 80s. And in everything I write.

I can recommend it as the easy way (for me) to come up with a whole account full of characters really fast.... Good luck with your search!

fizl101

I’ve made a dummy character to reserve the name I want for mine

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe

Yes, I've found it difficult to implement a Hermaeus Mora themed class to any of my characters, as it's so specific and thematically opposed to most of my characters. The class looks fun, but it's going to be odd to need to create a Hermaeus Mora affiliated character to enjoy it...

TaSheen

I'm not interested in a specifically Herma Mora theme for my arcanists. Just because "green == Mora" doesn't mean much to me. I'm honestly not really thrilled that we'll be "helping" Mora, but I might like that aspect better depending on who the antagonist turns out to be.

Or maybe it will turn into another chapter I buy for only one thing (in this case the class) and don't bother with the rest of the chapter content other than exploring the zone and grabbing wayshrines and skyshards, and digging antiquities. That's all I did with W Skyrim/The Reach, and the Deadlands. I'm not a completionist in any way, I don't do all the quest content on every character. Each of my characters does what makes sense for her backstory.

RaddlemanNumber7

I plan to make a template Arcanist on PTS to see what it plays like. I'll make a new character on Live only if it's got a good feel and offers something really special that no other class does. At the moment I'm not seeing that.

Syldras

If using established character names wasn't forbidden, I'd probably play Morian Zenas. You know, that guy who got disposed of in Apocrypha by Divayth Fyr and went insane there
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morian_Zenas
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Secrets_Overheard_in_Apocrypha
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if we'll find him there as an npc in this chapter...

Elsonso

Syldras wrote: »

If using established character names wasn't forbidden, I'd probably play Morian Zenas. You know, that guy who got disposed of in Apocrypha by Divayth Fyr and went insane there
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Morian_Zenas
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Secrets_Overheard_in_Apocrypha
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if we'll find him there as an npc in this chapter...

For all we know, he is the main antagonist.

Syldras

Elsonso wrote: »

For all we know, he is the main antagonist.

Nah, can't be. It's always the evil Telvanni.

tomofhyrule

My goal is eventually to have one character of each class, but since I'm one of those people who needs to write a full 4+ page backstory before I can start a character... it's been slow.

I've got my DK (main), my Warden, and my NB made. I also have my Templar and Sorc mostly planned out, but there's a bit of a block getting them started - I need to figure out their sliders, but I think I'm also dragging my feet since for those two specifically. My three characters I have kind of grew naturally, but those two kind of had a "I want to reference XYZ," so it wasn't as interesting at first as if they had just grown themselves. And as for my necro, I only had the most skeletal concept but again it was a lot of "I'd like to have a race XYZ" and building around that instead of letting it happen organically.

Of course, as soon as the Arcanist was announced, I had to think up another concept.

I was originally going to try quotas - only one of each race/weapon type - but that also left me with really nothing but a vague [insert character here] to go with. I even thought of swapping my bare-bones necro concept to an Arcanist, but then that would have left me needing a new necro.

...but then it hit me - I always had one minor thought in the back of my mind that if I ever wanted to make more than one character per class/race/weapon/etc., my Warden's brother is really important in his story and I was considering making him as a frostmage eventually. What if...?

And yes. I already have a name reserver made and am really excited to make him.

So his story: He's actually the shaman of the Skaal.

One day, a hunting party finds one of the Black Books and it drives one of the hunters insane. The other hunter takes the cursed one back to the shaman to get help, but there's nothing he can do. But he knows what this is. They all want to just keep the Black Book buried, but now Mora knows where the village is and sends his Watchers to gather information. My character sees it trying to haunt his young daughter.

He knows he has to get rid of the book or the village will be in danger. So he leaves his apprentice to lead the tribe spiritually until he returns from the cave. And there's the Black Book... and it takes him into Apocrypha.

He's trapped there for weeks. But he's really smart, and incredibly strong-willed. Hermaeus Mora keeps tempting him to give up the knowledge of the Skaal in exchange for his power, but he won't yield. But he also knows there's no way out of there... unless he starts to use the Demon of Knowledge's own power against him. He starts to learn the spells of the Arcanist. He's got a photographic memory so he can get them quickly, and he keeps his mind closed to the Daedric Prince. I'm also going to have him get marked by the pools of inky creatia in Apocrypha - that's what gives him the ability to turn his arm into tentacles, but it also is Mora trying to take him and turn him into one of his servants. He finally finds a Black Book that takes him home, but he still has the mark on his hand. He needs to find a way to stop Mora and get him to leave the Village alone, so he leaves Solstheim and goes on a quest to find out more about the Prince of Fate...

...and the Skaal secrets are kept safe from Herma-Mora. At least until the 4th era.

BlueRaven

The class itself seems to write its own narrative. The spells seem to resonate nicely with a corruption scenario.

Examples;

Librarian/scholar delves too deeply into forbidden tomes. Gets corrupted by their obsessive need to learn more.

Or:

(You can take a nod towards Skyrim: Dragonborn.) Your character makes a deal with HM to try to save your characters family/loved one/town getting your character inexorably tied into servitude to HM.

Or;

Your character could have been raised in a HM cult. Once a devote follower of HM, your character learned a truth that shattered your confidence. Now your character seeks to free themselves of the corruption.

Etc

Personally I am going with the first one. Easy concept, open exploration friendly.

chessalavakia_ESO

The possibilities I saw were to make a character that is deeply naive/green, make a character that is crazy about knowledge, or make a character that is crazy about power.

Personally, none of that is really my cup of tea so I'm leaning towards passing at the moment.

The deeply naive/green part would potentially work with the prologue on the PTS.

Spoilers for the Prologue:

In Wayrest, a character considers you to be special and asks for your help. You succeed in helping them and sign a deal with Hermaeus Mora. Thus, you could pretends to be a random person visiting town for some purpose and then getting lured into the work by being told you are special combined with the allure of the potential of adventure. If you pretend you are a skilled archer from dealing with wild animals/hobbyist it wouldn't really be a crazy stretch for the skill to transfer to killing the enemies in the quest. Plus, it'd make the whole bit about Hermaeus Mora seeing you losing many of the outcomes make more sense. Then you can pretend that signing the deal grants you the Arcanist Class skills and start using them.

shadyjane62

No.

SilverBride

I plan to make an Altmer Arcanist... or an Imperial since I don't have a character of that race yet... or a Redguard since I don't have that race either, and then she would have something in common with Azandar Al-Cybiades.

AcadianPaladin

No class change ability, no new characters for me.

The game is too big to start over after you've run several through it for me so I stopped making new characters before the Necromancer came out. A class change ability would perhaps change that for me.

Dark_Lord_Kuro

I plan to make 2 arcanist with the 2 new slot

1rst will be a dark elf, stamin arcanist. He will be a house telvani guard that seek power to rise trought the house and for a telvani power is knowledge.

For the 2nd i remain undecided, wanted a high elf but already got 4. Maybe a breton? I think ill go the reformed cultist route

Vrienda

Was gonna go a High Elf Xarxes worshipper who delved a bit too deep and became a periah.

And a Dunmer who would be based off of whatever the Arcanist lore for Necrom winds up being.

This is all kind of mute though, no RP realms. No real reason to play alts because it would mean abandoning my main who's completed every quest (And my Templar who's almost completed every quest). I'll level them though and see what the class offers.

Artim_X

I don't particularly like creating alts unless I really enjoy a certain aspect of another class. I started getting really into the aedric spear aspect of the templar and made a character that focuses completely on that. In Skyrim I loved rping as the champion of Hermaeus Mora, so there is a good chance that I'm definitely creating an arcanist.

From an RP perspective my sorc and temp are twins, that exist at the same time in the world. Both wanted to pursue immortality just like Orgnum and chose to do so via vampirism. Now that the arcanist is becoming a thing I'm going to make my toons triplets, with the arcanist choosing a different path in order to become immortal. Instead, they sought the power of the void and became one of the first voidmothers (hoping this polymorph is in the next crown crate season). The transformation made her lose her mind and the other two siblings were forced to seal her away. In their adventures the siblings met Hermaeus Mora, who was quite interested in gaining more knowledge of the void through the siblings' sister. The prince promised to restore their mind through the gift of knowledge in oneself, but at the cost of the siblings' soul. The siblings consented and their sister was once again sane, but still cursed to be a voidmother. Their arcanist skills were corrupted by apocrypha and became green.

Sheezabeast

Just a tip, create a placeholder character of any class with the name you want to use. Then delete it on the launch day and remake as an Arcanist. A lot of variations of Arcanist are sure to get taken.

FantasticFreddie

I'm not sure what I am planning to make yet. Haven't decided. But, I think whoever I make will be a member of the Mages Guild, and maybe they are taking their quest for knowledge a bit far, but can you blame them?? Dark anchors, Oblivion portals, a war in Cyrodiil, the world is in chaos. A little extra knowledge couple be the difference between life and death out here!

TaSheen

Sheezabeast wrote: »

Just a tip, create a placeholder character of any class with the name you want to use. Then delete it on the launch day and remake as an Arcanist. A lot of variations of Arcanist are sure to get taken.

Already done! Great tip though!

Soarora

I was already creating a character before the announcement and went "OH THAT'D FIT SO WELL" and used it to advance his development. I'm not too sure about the other arcanist, though. We'll see how the class goes. Might just make him twice too, he disguises as another race.

SilverIce58

I'm, of course, making another Argonian, and I'm using Bloodborne for inspiration, as that's giving me lots of ideas for a cosmic horror/arcanist-esque character

FeedbackOnly

Very easy

Librarian
Scholar
Researcher
Book worm
Failed pirate who is afraid of water and can only turn to book for comfort for reality is too cruel

kaushad

I'm still struggling with a necromancer character.

I like to have a character of each race, which leaves me with Nords and Imperials. So my idea is a Nord who was unfortunately born into one of the worst kinds of anti-intellectual backgrounds. Thanks to his upbringing, he's a capable warrior, as well as a weird nerd.

MJ202

I too have 18 characters, however they each have their own, unique, and independent backstory. As such, creating an Arcanist won't pose a dilemma. I will however proceed slowly with creating the new character. I will want to know more about the mechanics of the class before committing.

I do have a name picked out already, so nobody else better use it.
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