How do I design a character to fit and play well with party members

>>50813524
have you tried asking the DM and/or other players yet

>>50814107
Yes. The DM is actively keeping mum about it.

>>50814156
Then grab amnesia. That's a thing you can do in 5e, right? Make your character as clueless about the rest as you are.

>The DM plans to design the campaign around all our characters, and hasn't told me anything.

There's like a 1/10 chance of this campaign actually going anywhere past the first session then. That's code for "this sounds like a cool idea but I have no idea what I'm doing", unless the DM has pulled off a similar campaign before.

Just make a backstory that involves characters with simple traits that can be molded into whatever the players are playing. You're a monk, so you're used to having some sort of mentor. You latch onto whoever seems to be the "leader" of the group and assume they're right, even if you don't agree with them at first. Maybe you've been isolated for a while, so learning about nature from the druid/ranger is really cool.

They're new players, so be the guy who singles out the player who should be the best at X thing and tell them to do it.
>Cleric, could you identify this shrine/magical item?
>Ranger, could you try to track down this thing?
>Druid, could you turn into an animal and scout ahead?
>Fighter, could you go get hit in the face a lot?

>>50814255
It's also a code for "we are going to spend a lot of time spinning our wheels while I try to cobble together a storyline involving your characters".

I had a DM do this very thing.

>>50814181
Hmm, that might be an option.
I'm sort of considering the monk being on a pilgrimage without a specific destination.
>>50814255
>>50814281
Yeah, that's sort of what I feared. Anything else I can do to improve this campaign's chances?

>>50815398
>>50813524
The best thing I've learned as a GM is if you're not sure about how things are going to turn out, fudge things.

Show up with no backstory and just your character sheet, don't fill out alignment.

Only create your backstory once you've met the other player characters and make it work with theirs.

It doesn't exist until it's seen, remember!

Unless the GM demands it, in which case tell him the minimum necessary and fill it out more in play.

Cute scarf or hood or whatever that is!

Oh, so I just learned we're using Lost Mines of Phandelver, so that'll probably help a lot.

I'm the ranger in this campaign and I'm equally worried. I have a relatively fleshed out backstory but the smaller details like this seem kind of problematic right now, I'm not to sure how it's gonna turn out.

>>50813524
>Seems a lot of us will be elves.
Might I suggest a suicide bomber

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>>50820161
You do realize that elves have been the second most popular player race since day one, right?

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>>50820707
>second

>>50820707
And how does that make them better?

>>50820707
Just makes them all the more expendable since there's so many

>>50820712
That's including games that don't include elves. Since humans are a playable race in 99% of games, they're firmly at the top.

>>50816215
It's a robe.

Guys. I'm a GM who has run games like these. Think of it in the vein of kingmaker. Think of something that you REALLY wanna do. That can be anything from running a trade empire to looking for mystical monk artifacts to help you achieve enlightenment. You may have your character's past all written out, but you need to have their future plans done as well. Give them ambitions other than just "I want loot and levels".
Have fun with it. Do something crazy. Ambitions will definitely help the GM and the rest of the party.

>>50824157
Well, yeah, but what if what everyone really wants to do is wildly out of sync with each other, such that there is no IC reason the party would ever hold together past the first dungeon? That's what ultimately leads these sorts of games to ruin.

this is my one and only bump of this thread.

>>50813524
>I'm playing a Monk.
Monk's are the easiest class for going into a campaign you know nothing about, and you're afraid might fall apart in the first few sessions.
You've spent most of your life up till this point in a temple inspired by various eastern aesthetics and beliefs.
You left because you master felt it was time for you to learn more about the world.
If the campaign makes it past the first few sessions, you can flesh out the beliefs and structure of your temple, and what happened on your journey between leaving the temple and meeting the party, based on what you've learned about the world and your party, and what you think would be an interesting to both.

>>50827095
>an interesting to both.
an interesting ADDITION to both

>>50813524
you did a good job, elf-chan

>>50827095
Hmm, it seems we already have a hermit and an acolyte, so I wasn't too sure about picking either. But yeah, I think I'll do that.

I was thinking about doing a Catholic(esque) monk instead (whose monastery also practices martial arts). Does that sound viable or just like a silly gimmick?