"What Kind of D&D Character Would I Be?"

I hope all my readers in the U.S. had a great Thanksgivukkah, and that everyone else enjoyed their Thursday. We had a house full of food, people, and puppies for about four hours, before I settled into a pleasant evening chatting with anyone on the Beyond the Veil crew who had not succumbed to a Tur-coma.

I was listening to a fresh episode of "The Pulse" the other night, and Graydol and Jaysinn brought up an interesting questionaire that supposedly helps answer the question, "What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?" I decided to take the survey and this is what it came up with:

I Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (5th Level)

(c) 2004 Niki Harless

Ability Scores:

Intelligence	16	Dexterity	14
Wisdom	13	Strength	13
Charisma	12	Constitution	13

Alignment:
A Neutral Good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

One funny thing about questionnaires like this is that I can usually tell what answers will get me what sorts of scores. They're not subtle, in other words. The other thing is that I tend to be fairly moderate in my conscious positions, so I end up with I consider to be muddled results:

Detailed Results:

Alignment:
Neutral Good	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (23)
Lawful Good	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Chaotic Good	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
True Neutral	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Lawful Neutral	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Chaotic Neutral	XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Neutral Evil	XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Lawful Evil	XXXXXXXX (8)
Chaotic Evil	XXXXXXXX (8)

On the other hand, these scores make perfect sense if each response is weighted, rather than an all or nothing proposition. I am more good than neutral, and more neutral than orderly, chaotic or evil. Scooter might dispute the chaotic part. I'd say the doing-good-without-respecting-authority description may be the defining attribute of my TSW solo character, Samantha Hawthorn, as well as my SWTOR main, "Versteckt." Both characters actively subvert(ed) the aims of their neutral- or lawful-evil organizations.

Law or Chaos:		Good or Evil:
Neutral	XXXXXXXXXX (10)	Good	XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Law	XXXXXX (6)	Neutral	XXXXXXXXX (9)
Chaos	XXXXXX (6)	Evil	XX (2)

This seems more like a different representation of the information given above. Although having not played D&D (Sacrilege! I know), I have only a cursory understanding of what each of these mean in relation to such characters.

Class:		Race:
Wizard	XXXXXXXXXX (10)	Human	XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Sorcerer	XXXX (4)	Elf	XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Fighter	XX (2)	Halfing	XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Ranger	XX (2)	Half-Elf	XXXXXXXXX (9)
Cleric	(0)	Dwarf	XXXXXX (6)
Barbarian	(-2)	Gnome	XXXXXX (6)
Bard	(-2)	Half-Orc	XXXXXX (6)
Druid	(-4)
Rogue	(-4)
Paladin	(-23)
Monk	(-25)

I wonder what I might have ended up with if I had filled out this questionnaire a decade or two ago. My faith used to be a much bigger part of my life; even now, I tend to lean toward faith-based (Priests/Paladins) classes when they are available in MMOs. The high intelligence/wizard thing is not so surprising either. I totally identified with the intellectual Ravenclaws of Hogwarts.

I also wonder what questions led to the racial scores. For most questions about my physical appearance, I gave "average" answers. For instance, I consider myself reasonably good looking, but I'm no supermodel. I also may also be more physically imposing than I usually perceive myself. That pesky residual self-image at work again, telling me I'm a scrawny nerdling. I was thinking I might have Scooter complete the questionnaire with me in mind, just to see if I fit in different categories from someone else's point view.

I encourage you, Dear Reader, to go take the quiz and see what sort of results you get. Be sure to at least leave the basic "I Am A:" in the comments below, if not a link to your own D&D self-analysis.