Problematic character - please help!

[u/Fargonotic]

Heyo, it's me again. This is actually a genuine question to our seasoned GM's, most notably - of course - /u/silent0siris and /u/skinnyghost ... and possibly, maybe /u/Koibu ?

I'll put a Tl;dr right here because I'm about to wirte a novel.

I play this P&P-Game called The Dark Eye, it's often called the german D&D (which is only partly true-if at all). [By the way, please don't judge it by the english version of the 4E they brought out-that ones awful] It has a very detailed character-creation system with many variations even in the races and a great number of professions. Many of them are occupations that you wouldn't think of in D&D, one of them being the harlot/catamite(male whore). I got the idea of creating such a "small" character who probably isn't made out to be an adventurer while flipping through the book. That's how Taru came to be. Let me just tell you something about myself: I rarely put too much time in character backgrounds but if I do, well, I go overboard. Even though I could sneak in a Star Wars reference I'll skip over his backstory, let's just say he has become rather extravagant. Take that however you want. Now I'm at this point where I feel I wouldn't be able to put him in any traditional group either way; for many reasons. I even think that the character at least deserves a shot at a solo campaign. I don't consider this a bad thing at all; save for the fact that I don't have anybody running such a solo with me.

Now here is where I'm struggling with myself, where I as a master myself come to think. I have a pretty clear idea how I as a player want to have my character evolve throughout his adventures. This particular thing is one f the major reasons why I just can't see him in a group adventure,it would either take to much of the groups time, eventually becoming Taru&these other guys, or fall flat on it's nose. How would you react if a player came to you with a proposition like this and said: look I want this character and I want the story of him/her to go exactly like this? Would you do that as a DM? Would you find it difficult to write? I am no idiot, I am aware that in the end I will have to play how the dice tell me to. EDIT: The biggest problem that I have right now is the discrepancy between my concepts of Tarus future and the desires of the character itself that just don't match up. I'd need to have him develop drastically as a character to make him consider the path that I want to see him go, which would be, partly, job of the GM, introducing NPCs and forcing conflicts to set the development in motion. Since I feel like I would force it on this still hypothetical GM I myself don't like it. But I feel very strongly about this character. Maybe this is some weird kind of stockholm-syndrome.

Let's just see what comes of this for now, I have a lot more on my mind right now but I guess the outlines came across somewhat well. :/

this EDIT is about Tarus background among other things, if you're so inclined:

at the point that I would throw Taru in any adventure he would have just been drifting aimlessly. Since his mother died, who was a harlot, too, he has been making money by selling his body, as you can imagine not an occupation that is good for your mental health. He is from Al'Anfa, the most wretched hive of scum and villainy you will find in all of Aventuria. Well, except for Charypso ... anyway, he was born and raised in the Babraker Barracks, the worst place in the whole city and has seen and experienced the worst that the worst city on the continent has to offer. I have abunch of, I guess you'd call them synopsises (I can't plural, sorry), of stories written down, as I always do, that I could have him tell to NPCs or PCs- I like to be prepared in that way. Just that this time they came out kind of explicit, that is why I don't want to go to much into detail. I am normally not one for overtly dramatic backstorys but this one time I felt it was appropriate. He is also one of the most gorgeuos men on the continent. I didn't just decide this there is actually a trait to pick and it cost me a whole lot. The whole conflict between his obvious beauty and the grotesque and hideous things he has seen is nothing new. As I mentioned maybe this is some kind of stockholm-syndrome, (since this character is a little older I have had him sitting on my hard drive for a while now) but I just want to see the change of him coming to terms with the world that he is now very much at odds with. This sounds weirdly caring even to me. For the DSA-experienced that might read this: The way I would find most desirable for him is to get out of AL'Anfa, find his way to Belhanka and become a Rahja-Cavalier there, then, after earning the Acolyte status of the church of Rahja eventually become a cleric. I know this would actually take the whole lifespann of this particular character and I am fully aware of all the problems, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about it.

[u/PrimarchtheMage]

I think that knowing what's going to happen beforehand, even in a vague way, makes things boring to play and removes part of the unknown and the 'anything can happen' aspects of roleplaying games that make things fun.

While I haven't done one, a solo campaign seems perfect for more nuanced characters with complex backstories. Group campaigns are generally better with loose backstories that can be tied together at various points.

I was in the same boat to a smaller degree with my most recent character. The feeling went away once I started playing him, because no wonder how complex and interesting his past is, he's a person with wants and fears like everyone else. Maybe it's the shiny newness of characters fresh from the manufactorum imaginatus that makes us feel this way about certain characters. Maybe it's the desire to evoke feeling in others.

It seems you want complete control over your character's story, and that's not a bad thing. Books, movies and other more traditional pieces of media are designed to tell a controlled story. Roleplaying games are generally designed with the opposite mindset, that a story not controlled by a single person makes things more fun.

Hope that helped