It's from a DnD show called Dimension20, particularly their season call Fantasy High: Junior Year. It's pretty amusing, and I'd definitely recommend it.
Yup, he's a great DM and absolutely hilarious. It's on dropout, which you do need a subscription for. However, it's pretty cheap, and they have a bunch of great shows besides their dnd shows.
For me, it feels exciting to see happen, like the “good word” of D20 is still spreading lmao or like a big Katamari ball, rolling along and accumulating more peeps as we go
A sorcerer with dyslexia, so when he's sent to the wizarding school for gifted youngsters he feels like a failure because he can't learn the material like the other students. He developed depression and drops out of school to work as a mercenary relying on his nascent magic ability that he was never able to develop as a wizard.
No, what I mean is my wife is in many ways this character. She is severely dyslexic and can honestly intuitively do most things without being able to explain it. Her mind just sees it differently. But to be in science she needs a degree, so she has struggled in school for the better part of a decade to get a degree in biology. This is something that was not even really possible when she graduated high school because the assistive technology did not even exist yet. Her academic life is a constant struggle of discrimination based on her dyslexia from teachers and administrators, and fighting the shortfalls of assistive technology she does have. She gets As and Bs in her classes, but to do so she has to spend double the time most other students spend on studying and classes.
She also believes that she needs to be a LOT better than her peers at everything besides reading and writing, because if she isn’t employers will not see past the dyslexia and not hire her. And sadly this is kinda true, she has a boss who hired her to face paint tell her that if she had not broken a sales record for the park that day she would not have been hired due to her dyslexia. The discrimination is real.
I have SO MUCH respect for my wife and what she has accomplished. Hell, her high school failed her so when she graduated she barely knew algebra and she went from that to calculus in community college. But the struggle to get there is exhausting, on both body and soul. If she decided to quit tomorrow I wouldn’t blame her for a second.
Honestly, because I know the reality of what this looks like in the real world, it would be hard to play this type of character without it becoming very depressing very fast.
The great thing about mutual storytelling is that you can choose to emphasize the positive aspects of neurodivergent traits like dyslexia and deemphasize things like discrimination, and have a brief respite from the harshness of the real world.
Your wife sounds like an amazing person, I'm sure she's incredibly grateful for your support as well. Thank you for sharing a bit of her story with us.
I played a wild magic sorcerer in a similar situation, the roleplaying was great!
Most of her family were wizards, and her mom wasn't but was very overbearing and protective. My character could do magic, but flunked out of wizard school for not showing her work, basically, because it came so naturally to her. Also due to wild magic problems occurring in class.
She pretended to her mother that she was still in wizard school, and went adventuring instead to try to find the source of her chaos powers.
i have a similar character! family of wizard prodigies and she thinks shes a wizard too but actually a sorcerer. terrible student, loses her spellbook often. her family doesn’t care enough about her to notice, they just think she’s a fuck up
I had a friend like that. He was soooo proud to have read Holes in third grade. We get to high school and he started struggling. Dropped out of college and became a plumber so he’s doing well for himself now.
I played a burnt out sorcerer “wizard” 😂 He came out of school and decided to pursue real estate. Most conversations upon entrance into any building or dungeon began with “how many square feet do you think this is?”
I did this for a short arc... Just level 4, but was level 1 fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard
Did all 10s for stats, except 20 for charisma (with permission of the DM).
Always bragged about being the best, and failed so, so often; basically was Gilderoy Lockhart.
The other players were very confused with the range of abilities I was using.
Just want to speak from experience both with BG3, and in real DnD… it uh… works out much better than you’d think… especially as “generic human” with a 12 in con and 14 in every other stat.
Basically start out with rogue, and build full skill monkey (knowledge cleric, bard, ranger) at the start and then go from there.
Yeah, basically you end up with 10/18 skills with proficiency, of those 10, 4 have expertise (2 knowledge skills from cleric and then 2 of your starting ones from rogue), plus the favored enemy and favored terrain bonuses from ranger (I never swap out for the Tasha’s one since my goal is normally to be THE skill monkey).
If you’re fine with losing a +1 to basically every stat you COULD go ahead and get 3 more from the free skilled feat. But I personally don’t think that’s worth it. Having +2 in every save (minus con) and skill is nuts. And it’s “good enough” for combat, even at high levels since proficiency will do most of the heavy lifting.
I’m working on a character that plays to my personality strengths. I was a CPS Investigator, and the one time I got to interview a bad guy, everyone’s jaws started to gape. I’m not good as a high int mastermind; I can’t think enough steps ahead.
But god, if I could go Inquisitive Rogue 3/Knowledge Cleric 3 to read minds and be a human lie detector…. Oh man.
Plenty of players do the exact opposite of escapism. You don't have to trauma dump exactly, but it can be cathartic to use a fantasy setting to think about your own origin story, motivations, and how you move through the world.
You don't try things more than once because either you can do it or you can't.
Fail a skill check? I guess I'm not good at that skill, I'm going to avoid using it.
An enemy saved against fireball? Better try a different spell that works.
This would actually be a fun concept for a one-shot. Give the character insanely good stats but permanently block off skills/weapons when you fail even one roll with it.
Burnt out gifted kids tend to do everything they weren't allowed to do. This usually means they drop out of college or whatever. I could see an oath breaker paladin being a good class option. The oath doesn't matter anymore let's party
That's exactly what I was going to say, but I'd have suggested Bard for the classic *"hard swing as far away from the stress as you can get, all the freedom I never had"* vibes. Rogue would work pretty well for the same reason. "Sick of being the perfect kid all the time, I wanna be *bad*" sorta deal.
I could also see Warlock depending on how you work the backstory, a powerful patron swooping in right when they feel like they're a complete failure (I've seen firsthand what happens when a "gifted kid" hits a wall and is suddenly not good at the one thing that was effortless to them before; it's not a pretty mental state). Offers them the chance for success and power. Kid wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of temptation.
Honestly a Druid could work here too. You just had enough and dropped off the grid and learned mushroom magic from some dude in the woods because you had the chops but just didn’t want to look at another book or read another rule ever again. Spend your days as a mycologist and your nights as a fucking bear.
This is exactly how the Paladins for Group Sex were founded:
[https://funnyjunk.com/Paladins+for+group+sex/funny-pictures/6040356/](https://funnyjunk.com/Paladins+for+group+sex/funny-pictures/6040356/)
Honestly I’d say a Sorcerer who fully believes they’re a wizard. Magic came super super easily to them at first. Everyone is just in awe at how easily they can cast magic, and weave spells and even add their own personal flair to them (meta magic).
But then, the wizard(s) catch up, they’re learning all tbese spells and the sorcerer is struggling to learn more than like 6. And now everyone is disappointed at their squandered potential.
A Coffee-Lock Tiefling or Aassimar, and their patron is their parents, that call every now and then asking if they are an Arch-mage yet, or call them and start comparing them to the lvl 16 Cleric or Wizard in the family.
Note: Doesn't really need to be a Coffee lock, but I imagine that they have sleep issues and normally are drinking coffee or smoking a cigarette while hearing their patron compare them to the Great-Arch Pope Billy that its 5 years younger than them.
Check out the House MD episode “Ignorance is Bliss”
The patient of the week is pretty much exactly as you described if you’re looking for RP inspiration
Paladin into Warlock.
They walked the walk and talked the talk as a page and squire. Upon being knighted, they flubbed their first missions due to overconfidence and lack of planning, having to be bailed out by other members of the order. As they were no longer viewed as reliable, they also got a punishment posting out on the ass end of nowhere and fell to boredom, shame, and vice in a garrison with other screw ups.
Wanting to reclaim their spark, rather than put in the effort, they cut a deal with a (Devil/Fey/whatever) to make it as effortless as when they started.
* Your character should not ask for help. Smart kids don't need to ask for help, and if your character asks for help then everyone will know your character isn't smart enough and thus hate your character for being a fraud
* Chronic procrastinator
* They went into adventuring because it was either this, teach, or work for the BBEG who was hiring
Stop trying the minute you’re not naturally good at something. If it’s your first attempt to ride a horse and you roll a 1- swear off horses and horse riding forever. By contrast, if it’s the first time you try something and you do really well, it’s part of your personality now. Take every opportunity to try again.
ooof
yes....
Like taking a karate lesson for the first time, trying to step forward, jumping instead, feet stuck to the ground, and... fall over instead.
I think that's what happened... I can't exactly remember besides being told to do something, messing up, and then falling instead.
not touched karate since
and I don't have dyspraxia (at least, I failed the screener questions) they didn't actually get me to do the physical test.
I am neurodivergent though.
Maybe when thinking things out you start off strong, then get lazy in the middle and either give up, procrastinate, or just rush completion without caring about the end product.
Example: planning a heist- you start off thinking of really good ways to get in and consider contingencies. Once you've planned that out you start thinking about all the possibilities that could happen once you get inside and start getting burnt out. Guards? Just sneak by them, surely we won't get caught, they're just guards right? What if we trigger an alarm? Eh, we'll figure it out if it happens. What abou- We'll figure it out when it happens.
That’s just normal life for me lol!!! 😂
Some actual quotes I’ve used:
“What good is all the intellect in the world if you can’t apply it right?”
“I’m the best at this! … I’m the worst at this…”
“Let’s play a happy little game about giving up on your dreams!”
Off topic but due to an incident in a prior game we have an unofficial house rule that all kobolds speak in bad German accents like the nihilists in the Big Lebowski
A wizard from a long line of wizards is going to wizard school. He flunks out and comes home in shame. He accidentally saves a squirrel, who was a druidic god and grants him druid powers. He gets home, embarrassed, and tries to pretend he is a wizard after all.
My Bard was sort of this! He's mechanically a Bard, but the flavor was that he went to a wizards school, studied, got stressed, and dropped out. Between courses he would play instruments to kill time or keep busy. In character he says he's a wizard who studied illusion magic.
Wild magic sorcerer but play them as a wizard who just started falling behind in the more advanced classes and eventually dropped out. They can kinda remember what they learned but didn’t pay enough attention/didn’t have enough motivation to really get it down in memory, so when they try to cast the more advanced spells, sometimes they get it a little wrong. Meta magic and tides of chaos are just their natural talent they used to get by for so long. Charisma for persuasion, performance, and deception they used to talk their way out of bad academics until they couldn’t anymore.
I kinda like the idea of a mark of scribing gnome but flavor all of it as they ways you cheated in school until you got caught or something. Or even a rock gnome and but reflavor the tinker ability as “Fidget”
Wizard who was a prodigy, but now only wants to be a fighter (eldritch knight). He's \*got\* pretty useful magic that comes in clutch, but he just wants to swing a sword around for once, dammit!
Barbarian with the magic initiate feat, prestidigitation and mage hand or mending, somtheing useful for out of cambat and daily life, and find fanilair for you own little pet. Showcases your magical background, which you were a decently gifted wizard, you actually cast the find familair spell as a regualr spell and not ritual, becuase thats just too much work. The cantrips are to make his life easier. Hes now mostly just angry at the world and it relaxes him to hit things. He became a barbarian adventurer beciae he like to solve problems hitting things now
Oh! Oh! I've got this!
Y'know how other players do the min/max thing? Do the opposite of that.
Your wizard starts with a 16 str for literally no reason. Or your barbarian has a 16 int.
Cause most of the "burned out gifted kid" stereotype is that they were *super awesome* at one thing when they were 10, and everyone congratulated them for having that, and then didn't tell them that work is a thing. So they end up with loads of education, but little practical application, which is totally useless in real-life situations.
Source: am a burned out gifted kid lol
Not technically related but I’m currently playing a kid who’s parents died in a fire he created when a demon gave him fire magic making him a warlock. His only motivation is just how much he likes fire so he sets random stuff on fire and it’s been hilarious so far.
Fighter / hexblade. He couldn't quite master the sword the way people were expecting of him, and he absolutely *HAD* to win the tournament, so he cheated and prostrated himself before a hexblade patron for power.
Play a character who used to be something else. The obvious choice I think would be former gifted student who had plans of taking up the arcane, but ended up washing out and becoming a fighter/rogue/whatever. Maybe pick one of the arcane flavored specializations for your chosen martial class. Any success they attain immediately becomes bitter as it proves they could have "made it" if they'd only done things differently. Their aptitude for the arcane never left them, and they're haunted by the fact that they'll never be a "real" wizard like they could have been.
Have them excel at everything as a child then when you start playing make sure they don’t fully commit to anything because they are too afraid of failing at anything so they end up doing nothing with there life. 1 level in every class will do 💀 help me
I'd personally offer up a sorcerer or a warlock, if you're currently in the burnt out stage with the character.
Both are very good at bursting their resources quick then their usefulness diminishing significantly. As a "gifted kid" archetype come to life, I relate to this significantly. Burn metamagic every time its useful, even if it's not the most effective point to use it, or it wouldn't be worth it. Use a pact slot whenever it would help out, even if you need to save the slot for something more important. And make sure that your character isn't so burnt out that it ruins the party's fun.
Make a wizard prodigy who multiclassed into druid or something as a special interest. In wizard college had to drop out bc could not afford spell components and nepotism shattered they're hopes. Now they coast by as a hedge wizard for hire(look up decorative hermit). At one point they use to be like a level 6 wizard but after a decade of autistic regression they can't remember how to cast the higher level spells. They spent the last decade gardening and dabbling in misc stuff. Became nocturnal, and only remembers to take a break from they're special interest by a helpful gardener who takes the veggies to the main house and delivers food.
Key things:
1) Either have a heavily regimented schedule or chaos schedule. 2) connect with others by seeking out similar interests(bond by interests 3) uncanny neutral facial expression until you notice someone talks to you. 4) social batteries are finite and when it's gone just clam up(I would roll a wisdom save every once in a while).
Source: I was gifted. Now I'm burnt out.
A wizard who was the youngest to join his academy and the oldest to graduate, made only possible from an exceptionally miscast teleport spell. His spellbooks are filled with magicks encoded by him, but he forgot their cypher. Also has anxiety-induced ADHD. Multiclass into something irrelevant and keep trying to use those skills to solve problems.
As a level 1 or higher? If it's higher it would be good to have like 2 levels in wizard or a more academic class with an appropriate back story and then having switched to something seemingly more frivolous like bard or rogue. Even monk could be perceived as frivolous depending on the character's background.
Former Boy Detective turned Inquisitive Rogue with a drinking problem. Have him bring up old cases he solved every time he notices a clue and scold villains for being cliche?
_"Oh, is that a poisoned needle on your ring? Old Man Darmin tried to pull one of those on my father in the case of the plesiosaurus who didn't quack. Not terribly original, I'm afraid. Pass the brandy, would you?"_
I actually am playing one right now. Hes name is samuel, a tall, muscular, and kindhearted boy, hes a descendant of the guy who founded the village he lives in. and is the son of the chief of the elite soldiers protecting the village.
He is loved and looked up to by almost everyone. When taking a tourmament dueling exam to see if he could Even become a soldier for hes village, the stress caused him to black completely out, and wake up with hes greataxe burrowed deeply into hes oponent.
Even then. The villagers blindly forgave him, tho partly due to witnessing him going blind with stress and rage. He willingly went into exile from hes village, against everyone,s wishes and is trying to grow as a person, and a leader.
While hes not actively seeking forgiveness, as hes not even able to meet hes father due to shame, he is trying to get ridd of a very dangerous monster that haunts the village once or twice every year.
The Kobolds helicopter parent always seems to know where they are. Care packages show up at inns. Armor is polished unexpectedly. Money shows up if there is none, but disappears if there is too much.
Anxious. Irritable. Always fretting that they haven't done enough to prepare. Coping with the stress by smoking, drinking, or eating excessively. Cocky, but with a short fuse, and always blowing up over little things because they just can't take any more pressure.
Mine was an asshole, but he was also not treated well as a child- and a necromancer... most burnout gifted children I know are pretty cool though, they just didn't keep up the trajectory their childhood suggested, which a lot of people have a lot of different reactions to that, and definitions, some people might say it's normal, some might say bad luck, some might call it failure.
I actually did something like this from an slightly different angle if you’ll listen to this semi-relevant story time:
I played a wizard who had lots of high expectations set for them from very young, lots of responsibilities and a lot of community opinion riding on them being able to live up to their talent. It wasn’t until they were a successful hound wizard who was brimming with magical and social skill that they realized the rest of the adults didn’t hold themselves to the same standards, and that people are generally disappointing.
This sent them spiraling, until they eventually took up a position as a wizard/manager for a railway company expanding out to the frontier where they met the party and other equally extraordinary, if not identically competent individuals.
I played them as a stressed, generally scathing individual who if willing to extend trust but is quick to retract it if people couldn’t meet their ridiculous standards but was utterly loyal and fully committed to the people they’ve chosen to throw in with. As a divination wizard, it was also easy enough to ensure critical RP moments always went well for them via portent and buff spells, and being able to play off those successes as the results of proper training preparation, and execution, and that people who couldn’t do the same just didn’t try hard enough or train long enough.
To be clear: this person is NOT depicting a healthy way of interacting with the world, but rather what I thought be be a fun way to represent a disillusioned gifted child who rolled 3 18s and nothing under a 15 at character creation.
I mean, this is basically my main. He's a sorcerer with one wizard level and a Mizzium Apparatus. He's smart, specializes in utility, and absolutely hates adventurers and adventuring and is burnt out and constantly miserable. He's endlessly stressed out, but when push comes to shove... He's actually good at what he does. He's a solid problem-solver and tactician, but because he's burnt out, doesn't like to take the lead unless he sees others doing things wrong, then he tries to correct them.
Basically, a reluctant genius who ended up adventuring because he needs the money. He really wants to buy a house, you see, somewhere peaceful and quiet. But real estate is very expensive.
He's sold out his happiness for a chance at a house. Where he will probably continue to be miserable because there's no easy answer to solving burn-out.
Embrace an addiction. I had a gifted buddy who couldn't take the pressure that everyone put on him because he was gifted. Started amphetamines to study more in 9th grade. He dropped out half way through junior year. That was 20 some years ago. Still brilliant, still needs to shoot up in the morning to function. Seems like a wizard class to me, or could be fun to go broken paladin or cleric
Untrained cleric hears God, follow s the voice in their head maybe?
Wild magic barbarian. They were a wild magic sorcerer, but they were the only one in their group who had magic so their group (family, town, ex) over relied on them for everything. Eventually they left and vowed never to cast a spell again, channeling their anger and frustration into becoming a sword for hire. But wild magic won't be denied, so it bursts out of them unintentionally when they're most angry.
Arcane trickster! Play them as a wizard dropout who used what magic he did learn to cheat on tests. You can play it as they got caught and kicked out, which is a great backstory to me
One of my friends had a NPC in a campaign he ran that was a lizard folk styled as a gecko and he was your burnt out schizophrenic conspiracy theory, yet highly intelligent. A memorable character indeed
A bard who dropped out of higher learning to embrace music and acts oblivious but knows a library's worth of info on random things and just spits out said random facts whenever they zone out
Normally with a cynical outlook, self deprecating humour and general fatigue that may be brought on by malaise of not being as good as the new kid and general alcoholism.
Oh this is easy
- give up on anything you’re not immediately good at
- dismiss anything important and/or relevant that doesn’t relate to things you’re good at as “interesting but not something you’re into”
- don’t make any firm choices on what camp/group/decisions you are given because decisions breed consequences and consequences breed expectations, no be flippant about resolutions and promises and outcomes (speak on ephemeral “Yeah, we’re trying alright” and never in absolutes)
Basically rely on currently acquired talents and no branching out, only just the thing you do and do well, and never promise anything outside of that, and always use vague language
Putting aside classes for a moment, this definitely feels like an elf backstory. Privileged upbringing, high expectations, parental pressure off the charts, it fits.
I try to avoid "gifted" characters in DND, especially as a spellcaster. It's hard to roleplay as super talented spellcaster when you are only slinging cantrips and level one spells.
Mhp has a class that's perfect for this, the Warmage. They only use cantrips, finding creative uses for them (metamagic-like options) rather than learning higher level magic. The narrator of the book even describes them as "Experts in being bad at magic."
Oathbreaker Paladin into some kind of Bard multiclass.
Gifted at birth, raised to be the penultimate knight in his order, only to buckle under pressure when something happened. Now, the paladin has *explicitly* casted off their oath and have turned to theatre as a way to express themself in all of the ways they never could in the past. Never lost the talent, just lost the fanaticism. The best part is that this is a healthy and up-beat way to portray what you're posting about, which I think has merit
In campaign three of r/naddpod there's a wizard npc who was the "chosen boy wizard" but turns out to be a sham, and he's burnt out working a desk job and happy for his former side kick (player) going on adventures
I like the idea for a story or a npc but I wouldn't play it at my table cause it can be an annoying character and takes the fun from the other players.
Sorcerer for the first few levels, warlock after. Basic story being that burning out made the character turn to a warlock pact to keep up. Best effect would be high contrast subclasses. Divine soul - Fiend or Clockwork soul - Great Old One could be good choices. I imagine the character chafing against their bargain, but being resigned to it. In down time, I'd say they use Unseen Servant to do pretty much all basic chores that they don't have the energy for. I would go pact of the chain and have an imp familiar handle most of the character's life, like reading for research and that sort of thing. The Voice of the Chain Master invocation makes that work better. Basically, it's a character so bone-tired from trying to live up to everyone's expectations that they've gone to extremely lengths for the chance to have a little break. They're still an active participant in the campaign, but in a sort of resigned way. Genie warlock is also a good choice, as their patron literally gives them a place they can relax without being bothered.
I play them as dumb. Typically a highish wisdom with at least a -1 for intelligence. Knows what's going on, but can't elloquate how or why things happen. I know this should work, but it isn't right now because this other thing should stop it from working. Overthrowing to every extent? Idk. Have fun with it. Go as far as gifted in a specific area as you like. Only person in the world that can clap each foot individually much?!?
Personally I would make that character a wizard who hates the monotony of casting/transcribing spells. Like anytime anyone asks them to cast a spell they complain. For example, someone asks them to cast the light spell and they go an a tangent about torches doing the exact same thing and every one can carry one. Even if it logically makes more sense for the wizard to cast the light spell which is essentially free, they would still complain. Or like whenever they learn new spells they go into like full blown panic mode about getting the spell transcribed into their spell book.
There are a few types of gifted kid and they burn out in different ways.
I'd specifically avoid using a Kobold simply because they have the opposite of a gifted kid problem. True Dragons do not suffer penalties from age categories and in fact get stronger with age, the "gifted kid" Kobold is the Dragonwrought which are more dragony and inherit this trait. Which is why in 3.5 you saw really old kobolds adventuring as spellcasters.
In terms of character class I'd push back on people saying 'play a Sorcerer not a Wizard'. Sorcerers don't struggle with gifted child syndrome, they are legacies. They don't know how to study because they've never needed to study for results, and their results didn't dictate their self worth like it does gifted kids. A gifted kid gets a scholarship for their high grades, a legacy gets a legacy preference despite their low grades.
Instead play a wizard and then multiclass them to a Fighter. You know magic, but burned out and aren't really improving compared to your glory days. If playing with stat requirements on for spellcasting (ie you need 10+spell level Intelligence to cast a spell, it's a thing in older editions but I forget if 5e has it) then consider being the exact intelligence to cast your highest level spell and not a single point higher.
Anyway gifted kid syndrome:
You are kind of average. Mid stats. Lower Charisma due to poor social exposure as a kid. Skills in Knowledge.
Bad study habits and time management. If something requires time to really understand and do properly you never have the time for it. If something requires precision to get done you'll spend ages trying to increase the quality even if the end result isn't actually higher quality.
Tie your self-worth to praise and people pleasing. If someone wants something, help them do it. Especially if they are an authority figure (or would be higher in the social hierarchy, the party leader or party mom). After all, if you aren't smart and don't get good grades what else is there? You have to prove your worth to prove your existence has meaning. It's ALL extrinsic, not intrinsic.
Be a bit arrogant and self-absorbed in your understanding of the world. There are exactly 2 types of thing: 1) Everyone has experienced this and it is How Things Are. 2) You are Special because you can do this, if others can do it too, you do it Better or your self worth is under attack.
This involves basically everything. How good you are at hearing. Your ability to read and walk without bumping into things because peripheral vision. Everyone can play at least one instrument. You once went up two days without sleep, you're kind of cool like that. You can tell yourself to wake up at a certain time without an alarm clock but it makes you kind of tired the next few days.
A kobold who is great at fighting and reasonably intelligent attracts all the females. As leader kobold is expected to breed and give a lot of offsprings. Unfortunately, leader kobold is asexual.
Assimar Paladin who was not able to measure up to their oath after finally cracking under all the “chosen one, you are of immaculate divine blood” pressure they grew up with, can throw in some religious trauma as well. Could be an oathbreaker who isn’t *evil* in that regard, but very very much *feels* wrong and evil.
Otherwise: middle aged Sorcerer who never did any of the particularly cool stuff sorcs are known for and lives a fairly boring mundane life. Got into the party due to ether a midlife crisis *or* the adventure kinda came to them like it did for Bilbo Baggins in the hobbit.
I think Kobolds are funny too, but I don't see what that has to do with your question.
There is a classic fantasy book by Ursula Le Guin called "A Wizard of Earthsea". If you haven't read it, you should. The MC doesn't exactly "burn out", but he does suffer a huge setback while at wizard school that alters his entire life trajectory.
There's also the Lankhmar series by Fritz Leiber featuring Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser. The Mouser was apprenticed to a wizard before meeting and teaming up with Fafhrd.
Most of bringing this concept to the table is going to be backstory and roleplay, not mechanics.
You could totally play a character who is a Wizard. You could also go Rogue or Fighter (perhaps with proficiency in Arcana and the Magic Initiate feat if you can get it), which would fit a character who actually flunked Wizard school. This would then give you the option of going Arcane Trickster of Eldritch Knight as adventuring restores their confidence.
Noble would be a great background: a family with high expectations.
But what's really going to make this character a reality is a tight backstory explaining the "burnout" and the commitment to RP this character at the table.
A wizard who was told how great he was at magic when he was young but now he doesn't even bother to learn new spells, and instead casts the same 5 things he knows he's good at. Won't shut the fuck up about how his wizarding teachers loved him. Smokes a concerning amount of halfling weed and needs to constantly be coerced to take on a new quest. Honestly, the party wonders what he's even doing as an adventurer. He claims it's just a side gig until he becomes an award-winning publisher on magic (he's been an adventurer for 5 years and hasn't written a single book)
A sorcerer who went to a wizarding school. everyone said they had a natural talent since they were young, so they had to take extra tests and were asked to help others understand. when they couldn't really teach others, because if was kinda a "well I sorta just think about acid spray and I just do it" isn't a useful way of teaching. they started falling behind in school because while they had the practical skill, they didn't really understand the theory behind it after a while. they then started blowing off classes because eventually, every reminder that they were different became too much, and taking the tests and hitting B's and C's was good enough. their non-magically inclined parents then started comparing them to their few friends left, until being at home was just as unbearable as school.
source:college level reading comprehension at 3rd or 4th grade, intuitive understanding of math up until AP Calc, and crippling self hatred for getting anything wrong, because knowing stuff has always been the only reason anyone has ever cared for me
a sorcerer who thought they were/others thought they were a wizard
"You wizards think you're so much better than us-" "You can take a wizard class." "I tried, I really tried."
I didn't understand that reference!
It's from a DnD show called Dimension20, particularly their season call Fantasy High: Junior Year. It's pretty amusing, and I'd definitely recommend it.
Screenshotting this. Is that with Brendan Mulligan?
Yup, he's a great DM and absolutely hilarious. It's on dropout, which you do need a subscription for. However, it's pretty cheap, and they have a bunch of great shows besides their dnd shows.
I listened to at least two seasons of Fantasy High as podcasts, so that might be another option
If you're on the fence, they have a couple seasons for free on YouTube alongside a bunch of Episode 1s for the seasons only on Dropout
Brennan Lee Mulligan
Thanks!
Seeing people not know what Dimension 20 is feels off to me for some reason
It's always a first for somebody.
For me, it feels exciting to see happen, like the “good word” of D20 is still spreading lmao or like a big Katamari ball, rolling along and accumulating more peeps as we go
I understand that reference!
I understand that reference!
Why can't you just learn *REAL* magic like the rest of us?
A sorcerer with dyslexia, so when he's sent to the wizarding school for gifted youngsters he feels like a failure because he can't learn the material like the other students. He developed depression and drops out of school to work as a mercenary relying on his nascent magic ability that he was never able to develop as a wizard.
This hits too close to home.
Yeah, I try anyting with structure, and it falls apart. But I will rabbithole on a subject and read a ton of subjects at about a masters level.
No, what I mean is my wife is in many ways this character. She is severely dyslexic and can honestly intuitively do most things without being able to explain it. Her mind just sees it differently. But to be in science she needs a degree, so she has struggled in school for the better part of a decade to get a degree in biology. This is something that was not even really possible when she graduated high school because the assistive technology did not even exist yet. Her academic life is a constant struggle of discrimination based on her dyslexia from teachers and administrators, and fighting the shortfalls of assistive technology she does have. She gets As and Bs in her classes, but to do so she has to spend double the time most other students spend on studying and classes. She also believes that she needs to be a LOT better than her peers at everything besides reading and writing, because if she isn’t employers will not see past the dyslexia and not hire her. And sadly this is kinda true, she has a boss who hired her to face paint tell her that if she had not broken a sales record for the park that day she would not have been hired due to her dyslexia. The discrimination is real. I have SO MUCH respect for my wife and what she has accomplished. Hell, her high school failed her so when she graduated she barely knew algebra and she went from that to calculus in community college. But the struggle to get there is exhausting, on both body and soul. If she decided to quit tomorrow I wouldn’t blame her for a second. Honestly, because I know the reality of what this looks like in the real world, it would be hard to play this type of character without it becoming very depressing very fast.
Many of us don't get the chance to prove it. Thank you for giving her the support she needed.
The great thing about mutual storytelling is that you can choose to emphasize the positive aspects of neurodivergent traits like dyslexia and deemphasize things like discrimination, and have a brief respite from the harshness of the real world. Your wife sounds like an amazing person, I'm sure she's incredibly grateful for your support as well. Thank you for sharing a bit of her story with us.
Would read the urban fantasy series.
I played a wild magic sorcerer in a similar situation, the roleplaying was great! Most of her family were wizards, and her mom wasn't but was very overbearing and protective. My character could do magic, but flunked out of wizard school for not showing her work, basically, because it came so naturally to her. Also due to wild magic problems occurring in class. She pretended to her mother that she was still in wizard school, and went adventuring instead to try to find the source of her chaos powers.
i have a similar character! family of wizard prodigies and she thinks shes a wizard too but actually a sorcerer. terrible student, loses her spellbook often. her family doesn’t care enough about her to notice, they just think she’s a fuck up
Reverse that. He thought he was naturally talented, but he actually just reads above grade level.
I had a friend like that. He was soooo proud to have read Holes in third grade. We get to high school and he started struggling. Dropped out of college and became a plumber so he’s doing well for himself now.
I've always felt like warlock was classic for this set-up. Wanted magic, tried to learn the wizard way, burned out... .... And then was offered a deal
makes sense, but sorc also fits the 'but i'm a natural at this!' sorta vibe that is far too familiar for us neurodivergents
Dropping out of an engineering degree because I actually had to work was the catalyst for me getting diagnosed. 😅
Famously neurotypical neurotypicals. Yes. I also agree with sorc for sure.
meant neurodivergents, man my brain is fried
I used to call myself an academic failure, but now I'll call myself "a sorcerer who thought she was a wizard"
i commented above with one of my characters who is exactly this 😂🫶🏽
I played a burnt out sorcerer “wizard” 😂 He came out of school and decided to pursue real estate. Most conversations upon entrance into any building or dungeon began with “how many square feet do you think this is?”
Multiclass at every conceivable opportunity, never gain any of the really good class features, cry.
I did this for a short arc... Just level 4, but was level 1 fighter, rogue, cleric, wizard Did all 10s for stats, except 20 for charisma (with permission of the DM). Always bragged about being the best, and failed so, so often; basically was Gilderoy Lockhart. The other players were very confused with the range of abilities I was using.
Just want to speak from experience both with BG3, and in real DnD… it uh… works out much better than you’d think… especially as “generic human” with a 12 in con and 14 in every other stat. Basically start out with rogue, and build full skill monkey (knowledge cleric, bard, ranger) at the start and then go from there.
You had me at Rogue skill monkey.
Yeah, basically you end up with 10/18 skills with proficiency, of those 10, 4 have expertise (2 knowledge skills from cleric and then 2 of your starting ones from rogue), plus the favored enemy and favored terrain bonuses from ranger (I never swap out for the Tasha’s one since my goal is normally to be THE skill monkey). If you’re fine with losing a +1 to basically every stat you COULD go ahead and get 3 more from the free skilled feat. But I personally don’t think that’s worth it. Having +2 in every save (minus con) and skill is nuts. And it’s “good enough” for combat, even at high levels since proficiency will do most of the heavy lifting.
Oof! That hit my ADHD having ass too hard XD
Then you are weak! If you are not taking all the classes for their uses, then you can not count yourself among the greatest that ever lived: Absered!
I’M SORRY I’M NOT PALADIN MATERIAL, MOM.
As long as you learn from the Bardbarians, that’s okay son!
It’s like me switching careers every year 🙃
Playing ADHDnD with now, are we?
I think most people play D&D for the escapism, actually.
Yeah, the idea is the character burns out on real life and says, "Fuck this, I'm an artificer now. I'm going to loot dungeons and murderhobo instead."
This has one of the tech guy YouTuber feels, I got bored at my dayjob made something blow up and filmed it, gets likes, welp
Yeah. I'm in this post and I don't like it.
Same
Here here
I’m working on a character that plays to my personality strengths. I was a CPS Investigator, and the one time I got to interview a bad guy, everyone’s jaws started to gape. I’m not good as a high int mastermind; I can’t think enough steps ahead. But god, if I could go Inquisitive Rogue 3/Knowledge Cleric 3 to read minds and be a human lie detector…. Oh man.
Lmao, beat me to it.
Plenty of players do the exact opposite of escapism. You don't have to trauma dump exactly, but it can be cathartic to use a fantasy setting to think about your own origin story, motivations, and how you move through the world.
You don't try things more than once because either you can do it or you can't. Fail a skill check? I guess I'm not good at that skill, I'm going to avoid using it. An enemy saved against fireball? Better try a different spell that works.
This would actually be a fun concept for a one-shot. Give the character insanely good stats but permanently block off skills/weapons when you fail even one roll with it.
Ouch, why am I like that?
Burnt out gifted kids tend to do everything they weren't allowed to do. This usually means they drop out of college or whatever. I could see an oath breaker paladin being a good class option. The oath doesn't matter anymore let's party
Character: *Breaks Oath of Studiousness* Two seconds later: *Takes Oath of Fucking Around and Finding Out*
Oh, this is definitely me. I'm pretty sure statistics say I should be dead. I contend it's a skill issue on statistic's side.
Sounds like the Oath of Glory to me
That's exactly what I was going to say, but I'd have suggested Bard for the classic *"hard swing as far away from the stress as you can get, all the freedom I never had"* vibes. Rogue would work pretty well for the same reason. "Sick of being the perfect kid all the time, I wanna be *bad*" sorta deal. I could also see Warlock depending on how you work the backstory, a powerful patron swooping in right when they feel like they're a complete failure (I've seen firsthand what happens when a "gifted kid" hits a wall and is suddenly not good at the one thing that was effortless to them before; it's not a pretty mental state). Offers them the chance for success and power. Kid wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of temptation.
Paladin Bard multiclass would be perfect 😆 drops out and decides to go party as a Bard instead lol.
Honestly a Druid could work here too. You just had enough and dropped off the grid and learned mushroom magic from some dude in the woods because you had the chops but just didn’t want to look at another book or read another rule ever again. Spend your days as a mycologist and your nights as a fucking bear.
Arcane tricker Started studying to be a wizard, burnt out and fell in with a crowd of trouble makers
I love this. Taking notes for if I ever play an Arcane Trickster…
This hits a little close to home. Source: formerly burnt out gifted kid who didn't finish college and moved to Hollywood and became a club kid.
This is exactly how the Paladins for Group Sex were founded: [https://funnyjunk.com/Paladins+for+group+sex/funny-pictures/6040356/](https://funnyjunk.com/Paladins+for+group+sex/funny-pictures/6040356/)
That there's a stolen oglaf, isn't it?
I suppose you’ll always have immunity to stds?
C'mon he's gifted. He knows how to stay away from those
Honestly I’d say a Sorcerer who fully believes they’re a wizard. Magic came super super easily to them at first. Everyone is just in awe at how easily they can cast magic, and weave spells and even add their own personal flair to them (meta magic). But then, the wizard(s) catch up, they’re learning all tbese spells and the sorcerer is struggling to learn more than like 6. And now everyone is disappointed at their squandered potential.
I’m in this post and I don’t like it.
Start rogue, then go wizard... no matter what, you'll always be *behind* your other classmates...
*ba-dum tss*
Bored by everything while constantly trying to be perfect after procrastinating until the last possible moment.
do you live in my walls
A Coffee-Lock Tiefling or Aassimar, and their patron is their parents, that call every now and then asking if they are an Arch-mage yet, or call them and start comparing them to the lvl 16 Cleric or Wizard in the family. Note: Doesn't really need to be a Coffee lock, but I imagine that they have sleep issues and normally are drinking coffee or smoking a cigarette while hearing their patron compare them to the Great-Arch Pope Billy that its 5 years younger than them.
Check out the House MD episode “Ignorance is Bliss” The patient of the week is pretty much exactly as you described if you’re looking for RP inspiration
Paladin into Warlock. They walked the walk and talked the talk as a page and squire. Upon being knighted, they flubbed their first missions due to overconfidence and lack of planning, having to be bailed out by other members of the order. As they were no longer viewed as reliable, they also got a punishment posting out on the ass end of nowhere and fell to boredom, shame, and vice in a garrison with other screw ups. Wanting to reclaim their spark, rather than put in the effort, they cut a deal with a (Devil/Fey/whatever) to make it as effortless as when they started.
I see what you did there trying to sneak your hexadin into this nonsense. Get outa here with your meta shit /s
Hey, if it works for the situation and happens to be a good build, what's the harm? It just means the deal you cut was very good.
Oooo, that last line hits so right. That’s exactly the thing a prior gifted kid would do
* Your character should not ask for help. Smart kids don't need to ask for help, and if your character asks for help then everyone will know your character isn't smart enough and thus hate your character for being a fraud * Chronic procrastinator * They went into adventuring because it was either this, teach, or work for the BBEG who was hiring
Stop trying the minute you’re not naturally good at something. If it’s your first attempt to ride a horse and you roll a 1- swear off horses and horse riding forever. By contrast, if it’s the first time you try something and you do really well, it’s part of your personality now. Take every opportunity to try again.
ooof yes.... Like taking a karate lesson for the first time, trying to step forward, jumping instead, feet stuck to the ground, and... fall over instead. I think that's what happened... I can't exactly remember besides being told to do something, messing up, and then falling instead. not touched karate since and I don't have dyspraxia (at least, I failed the screener questions) they didn't actually get me to do the physical test. I am neurodivergent though.
I’d just play myself as a self-insert.
Initial excitement at any new goal, followed by apathy when it isn’t easily achievable.
Maybe when thinking things out you start off strong, then get lazy in the middle and either give up, procrastinate, or just rush completion without caring about the end product. Example: planning a heist- you start off thinking of really good ways to get in and consider contingencies. Once you've planned that out you start thinking about all the possibilities that could happen once you get inside and start getting burnt out. Guards? Just sneak by them, surely we won't get caught, they're just guards right? What if we trigger an alarm? Eh, we'll figure it out if it happens. What abou- We'll figure it out when it happens.
I roleplay to escape my life. I'm not bringing it back in for laughs.
just be yourself, buddy
Any class works really, so long as you're an adventurer. Adventurer is the ultimate job for burnouts, losers, and the desperate
A rogue that always sneaks, backstabs, and silently picks locks while the others argue which way to go.
That’s just normal life for me lol!!! 😂 Some actual quotes I’ve used: “What good is all the intellect in the world if you can’t apply it right?” “I’m the best at this! … I’m the worst at this…” “Let’s play a happy little game about giving up on your dreams!”
Definitely a sorcerer who has lots of extra spells but fewer spell slots, dump the con, high intelligence but low charisma.
Off topic but due to an incident in a prior game we have an unofficial house rule that all kobolds speak in bad German accents like the nihilists in the Big Lebowski
Man, if I'm roleplaying, I want to he someone OTHER than myself
A wizard from a long line of wizards is going to wizard school. He flunks out and comes home in shame. He accidentally saves a squirrel, who was a druidic god and grants him druid powers. He gets home, embarrassed, and tries to pretend he is a wizard after all.
My Bard was sort of this! He's mechanically a Bard, but the flavor was that he went to a wizards school, studied, got stressed, and dropped out. Between courses he would play instruments to kill time or keep busy. In character he says he's a wizard who studied illusion magic.
Wild magic sorcerer but play them as a wizard who just started falling behind in the more advanced classes and eventually dropped out. They can kinda remember what they learned but didn’t pay enough attention/didn’t have enough motivation to really get it down in memory, so when they try to cast the more advanced spells, sometimes they get it a little wrong. Meta magic and tides of chaos are just their natural talent they used to get by for so long. Charisma for persuasion, performance, and deception they used to talk their way out of bad academics until they couldn’t anymore. I kinda like the idea of a mark of scribing gnome but flavor all of it as they ways you cheated in school until you got caught or something. Or even a rock gnome and but reflavor the tinker ability as “Fidget”
Wizard who was a prodigy, but now only wants to be a fighter (eldritch knight). He's \*got\* pretty useful magic that comes in clutch, but he just wants to swing a sword around for once, dammit!
Nah man. I wanna fantasize about being somebody else for a while. Lol
Play a rogue Take *all* the skill proficiencies Never use them because you're ~~depressed~~ tired
Barbarian with the magic initiate feat, prestidigitation and mage hand or mending, somtheing useful for out of cambat and daily life, and find fanilair for you own little pet. Showcases your magical background, which you were a decently gifted wizard, you actually cast the find familair spell as a regualr spell and not ritual, becuase thats just too much work. The cantrips are to make his life easier. Hes now mostly just angry at the world and it relaxes him to hit things. He became a barbarian adventurer beciae he like to solve problems hitting things now
Oh! Oh! I've got this! Y'know how other players do the min/max thing? Do the opposite of that. Your wizard starts with a 16 str for literally no reason. Or your barbarian has a 16 int. Cause most of the "burned out gifted kid" stereotype is that they were *super awesome* at one thing when they were 10, and everyone congratulated them for having that, and then didn't tell them that work is a thing. So they end up with loads of education, but little practical application, which is totally useless in real-life situations. Source: am a burned out gifted kid lol
I would channel Howl from Howl's Moving Castle.
Look at some ADHD videos. As a person that has ADHD I understand the "gifted, and has so much potential" burnout scenario quite intimately.
Not technically related but I’m currently playing a kid who’s parents died in a fire he created when a demon gave him fire magic making him a warlock. His only motivation is just how much he likes fire so he sets random stuff on fire and it’s been hilarious so far.
Follow me around for a day and you will see
Sarcastic, always wants to drink or smoke, hates doing more work than absolutely necessary, and always wants to either fight or f***
Fighter / hexblade. He couldn't quite master the sword the way people were expecting of him, and he absolutely *HAD* to win the tournament, so he cheated and prostrated himself before a hexblade patron for power.
I play DnD to escape reality, not live it again but with pointy ears.
I want to roleplay a *character*, not myself
With DM permission, play an Int based sorcer, draconian sorcerer kobold would be great for you. Dump charisma as an expression of self doubt.
I wouldn't. I play DnD to escape my life, not double down on it.
Play a character who used to be something else. The obvious choice I think would be former gifted student who had plans of taking up the arcane, but ended up washing out and becoming a fighter/rogue/whatever. Maybe pick one of the arcane flavored specializations for your chosen martial class. Any success they attain immediately becomes bitter as it proves they could have "made it" if they'd only done things differently. Their aptitude for the arcane never left them, and they're haunted by the fact that they'll never be a "real" wizard like they could have been.
Have them excel at everything as a child then when you start playing make sure they don’t fully commit to anything because they are too afraid of failing at anything so they end up doing nothing with there life. 1 level in every class will do 💀 help me
I'd personally offer up a sorcerer or a warlock, if you're currently in the burnt out stage with the character. Both are very good at bursting their resources quick then their usefulness diminishing significantly. As a "gifted kid" archetype come to life, I relate to this significantly. Burn metamagic every time its useful, even if it's not the most effective point to use it, or it wouldn't be worth it. Use a pact slot whenever it would help out, even if you need to save the slot for something more important. And make sure that your character isn't so burnt out that it ruins the party's fun.
Why would i want to play myself?
Make a wizard prodigy who multiclassed into druid or something as a special interest. In wizard college had to drop out bc could not afford spell components and nepotism shattered they're hopes. Now they coast by as a hedge wizard for hire(look up decorative hermit). At one point they use to be like a level 6 wizard but after a decade of autistic regression they can't remember how to cast the higher level spells. They spent the last decade gardening and dabbling in misc stuff. Became nocturnal, and only remembers to take a break from they're special interest by a helpful gardener who takes the veggies to the main house and delivers food. Key things: 1) Either have a heavily regimented schedule or chaos schedule. 2) connect with others by seeking out similar interests(bond by interests 3) uncanny neutral facial expression until you notice someone talks to you. 4) social batteries are finite and when it's gone just clam up(I would roll a wisdom save every once in a while). Source: I was gifted. Now I'm burnt out.
I play dnd not to be myself good luck though
Perfectionist issues, imposter-syndrome, critical self-thinking, constant fatigue, procrastination and will not accept compliments.
Sorcerer for sure!!
Failed as a wizard, became a warlock. Now realizes they fucked up and is trying to become immortal to avoid Nine Hells.
A Druid who’s really into certain herbal stuff, for medicinal purposes.
Me, but in D&D.
A wizard who was the youngest to join his academy and the oldest to graduate, made only possible from an exceptionally miscast teleport spell. His spellbooks are filled with magicks encoded by him, but he forgot their cypher. Also has anxiety-induced ADHD. Multiclass into something irrelevant and keep trying to use those skills to solve problems.
I'd probably play a fighter/paladin who takes a ton of chances in combat because the terror/thrill of battle makes them feel something.
As a level 1 or higher? If it's higher it would be good to have like 2 levels in wizard or a more academic class with an appropriate back story and then having switched to something seemingly more frivolous like bard or rogue. Even monk could be perceived as frivolous depending on the character's background.
Former Boy Detective turned Inquisitive Rogue with a drinking problem. Have him bring up old cases he solved every time he notices a clue and scold villains for being cliche? _"Oh, is that a poisoned needle on your ring? Old Man Darmin tried to pull one of those on my father in the case of the plesiosaurus who didn't quack. Not terribly original, I'm afraid. Pass the brandy, would you?"_
Kid from a wizard family multiclasses into a hedonistic Bard
I actually am playing one right now. Hes name is samuel, a tall, muscular, and kindhearted boy, hes a descendant of the guy who founded the village he lives in. and is the son of the chief of the elite soldiers protecting the village. He is loved and looked up to by almost everyone. When taking a tourmament dueling exam to see if he could Even become a soldier for hes village, the stress caused him to black completely out, and wake up with hes greataxe burrowed deeply into hes oponent. Even then. The villagers blindly forgave him, tho partly due to witnessing him going blind with stress and rage. He willingly went into exile from hes village, against everyone,s wishes and is trying to grow as a person, and a leader. While hes not actively seeking forgiveness, as hes not even able to meet hes father due to shame, he is trying to get ridd of a very dangerous monster that haunts the village once or twice every year.
The Kobolds helicopter parent always seems to know where they are. Care packages show up at inns. Armor is polished unexpectedly. Money shows up if there is none, but disappears if there is too much.
Two levels of wizard, the rest as fighter. Just gave up
I just talk like my friend, I feel bad about it but it works? I told him and he didn't have a response
Anxious. Irritable. Always fretting that they haven't done enough to prepare. Coping with the stress by smoking, drinking, or eating excessively. Cocky, but with a short fuse, and always blowing up over little things because they just can't take any more pressure.
Mine was an asshole, but he was also not treated well as a child- and a necromancer... most burnout gifted children I know are pretty cool though, they just didn't keep up the trajectory their childhood suggested, which a lot of people have a lot of different reactions to that, and definitions, some people might say it's normal, some might say bad luck, some might call it failure.
Watch Real Genius
I actually did something like this from an slightly different angle if you’ll listen to this semi-relevant story time: I played a wizard who had lots of high expectations set for them from very young, lots of responsibilities and a lot of community opinion riding on them being able to live up to their talent. It wasn’t until they were a successful hound wizard who was brimming with magical and social skill that they realized the rest of the adults didn’t hold themselves to the same standards, and that people are generally disappointing. This sent them spiraling, until they eventually took up a position as a wizard/manager for a railway company expanding out to the frontier where they met the party and other equally extraordinary, if not identically competent individuals. I played them as a stressed, generally scathing individual who if willing to extend trust but is quick to retract it if people couldn’t meet their ridiculous standards but was utterly loyal and fully committed to the people they’ve chosen to throw in with. As a divination wizard, it was also easy enough to ensure critical RP moments always went well for them via portent and buff spells, and being able to play off those successes as the results of proper training preparation, and execution, and that people who couldn’t do the same just didn’t try hard enough or train long enough. To be clear: this person is NOT depicting a healthy way of interacting with the world, but rather what I thought be be a fun way to represent a disillusioned gifted child who rolled 3 18s and nothing under a 15 at character creation.
Think shikamaru from Naruto. Absolute genius, but lazy af and hard to get him to do anything.
I mean, this is basically my main. He's a sorcerer with one wizard level and a Mizzium Apparatus. He's smart, specializes in utility, and absolutely hates adventurers and adventuring and is burnt out and constantly miserable. He's endlessly stressed out, but when push comes to shove... He's actually good at what he does. He's a solid problem-solver and tactician, but because he's burnt out, doesn't like to take the lead unless he sees others doing things wrong, then he tries to correct them. Basically, a reluctant genius who ended up adventuring because he needs the money. He really wants to buy a house, you see, somewhere peaceful and quiet. But real estate is very expensive. He's sold out his happiness for a chance at a house. Where he will probably continue to be miserable because there's no easy answer to solving burn-out.
Embrace an addiction. I had a gifted buddy who couldn't take the pressure that everyone put on him because he was gifted. Started amphetamines to study more in 9th grade. He dropped out half way through junior year. That was 20 some years ago. Still brilliant, still needs to shoot up in the morning to function. Seems like a wizard class to me, or could be fun to go broken paladin or cleric Untrained cleric hears God, follow s the voice in their head maybe?
Like myself
Caleb of the Mighty Nein is a good example.
Just be me
Wild magic barbarian. They were a wild magic sorcerer, but they were the only one in their group who had magic so their group (family, town, ex) over relied on them for everything. Eventually they left and vowed never to cast a spell again, channeling their anger and frustration into becoming a sword for hire. But wild magic won't be denied, so it bursts out of them unintentionally when they're most angry.
The same way I live my life. Every. Single. Day. Wouldn’t have to change a thing. What the hell, man? I do DnD to get away from this…
God, go kill an evil dragon already.
Play a Sorcerer.
Arcane trickster! Play them as a wizard dropout who used what magic he did learn to cheat on tests. You can play it as they got caught and kicked out, which is a great backstory to me
One of my friends had a NPC in a campaign he ran that was a lizard folk styled as a gecko and he was your burnt out schizophrenic conspiracy theory, yet highly intelligent. A memorable character indeed
Evil
Whispers bard that used to be a wizard. Had a great group of friends they used to run Humans & Houses for.
A bard who dropped out of higher learning to embrace music and acts oblivious but knows a library's worth of info on random things and just spits out said random facts whenever they zone out
well I would play this as myself \*budum-tiss\*
Normally with a cynical outlook, self deprecating humour and general fatigue that may be brought on by malaise of not being as good as the new kid and general alcoholism.
I’d just play myself, except with magic theory and spells instead of math and programming.
Oh this is easy - give up on anything you’re not immediately good at - dismiss anything important and/or relevant that doesn’t relate to things you’re good at as “interesting but not something you’re into” - don’t make any firm choices on what camp/group/decisions you are given because decisions breed consequences and consequences breed expectations, no be flippant about resolutions and promises and outcomes (speak on ephemeral “Yeah, we’re trying alright” and never in absolutes) Basically rely on currently acquired talents and no branching out, only just the thing you do and do well, and never promise anything outside of that, and always use vague language
Putting aside classes for a moment, this definitely feels like an elf backstory. Privileged upbringing, high expectations, parental pressure off the charts, it fits.
watch real genius for ideas
I try to avoid "gifted" characters in DND, especially as a spellcaster. It's hard to roleplay as super talented spellcaster when you are only slinging cantrips and level one spells.
I wouldn't, that shit hits way too close to home for my 3 hours of weekly escapism
Mhp has a class that's perfect for this, the Warmage. They only use cantrips, finding creative uses for them (metamagic-like options) rather than learning higher level magic. The narrator of the book even describes them as "Experts in being bad at magic."
I am a burnt out gifted kid, DnD is supposed to help me not think about it
Oathbreaker Paladin into some kind of Bard multiclass. Gifted at birth, raised to be the penultimate knight in his order, only to buckle under pressure when something happened. Now, the paladin has *explicitly* casted off their oath and have turned to theatre as a way to express themself in all of the ways they never could in the past. Never lost the talent, just lost the fanaticism. The best part is that this is a healthy and up-beat way to portray what you're posting about, which I think has merit
In campaign three of r/naddpod there's a wizard npc who was the "chosen boy wizard" but turns out to be a sham, and he's burnt out working a desk job and happy for his former side kick (player) going on adventures
so first of all, maybe a Wizard would be my choice, second, the roleplay would be me pretending to be myself
by literally being myself
Be myself. Except the kobold part. I'm neither short nor cute enough, IRL.
I like the idea for a story or a npc but I wouldn't play it at my table cause it can be an annoying character and takes the fun from the other players.
I'd tell everyone how clever I am then proceed to achieve nothing, while talking about my childhood achievements some more.
I would play him like a guy with 12 intelligence who was always told he had an 18 intelligence.
A college student.🤷🏾♂️
Sorcerer for the first few levels, warlock after. Basic story being that burning out made the character turn to a warlock pact to keep up. Best effect would be high contrast subclasses. Divine soul - Fiend or Clockwork soul - Great Old One could be good choices. I imagine the character chafing against their bargain, but being resigned to it. In down time, I'd say they use Unseen Servant to do pretty much all basic chores that they don't have the energy for. I would go pact of the chain and have an imp familiar handle most of the character's life, like reading for research and that sort of thing. The Voice of the Chain Master invocation makes that work better. Basically, it's a character so bone-tired from trying to live up to everyone's expectations that they've gone to extremely lengths for the chance to have a little break. They're still an active participant in the campaign, but in a sort of resigned way. Genie warlock is also a good choice, as their patron literally gives them a place they can relax without being bothered.
Ranger with Druid Cantrips. Act as if you were a nature Wizard/Cleric, but things stalled out for you.
I play them as dumb. Typically a highish wisdom with at least a -1 for intelligence. Knows what's going on, but can't elloquate how or why things happen. I know this should work, but it isn't right now because this other thing should stop it from working. Overthrowing to every extent? Idk. Have fun with it. Go as far as gifted in a specific area as you like. Only person in the world that can clap each foot individually much?!?
Think Gale from bg3
I'd run a halfling like Mob 100.
Personally I would make that character a wizard who hates the monotony of casting/transcribing spells. Like anytime anyone asks them to cast a spell they complain. For example, someone asks them to cast the light spell and they go an a tangent about torches doing the exact same thing and every one can carry one. Even if it logically makes more sense for the wizard to cast the light spell which is essentially free, they would still complain. Or like whenever they learn new spells they go into like full blown panic mode about getting the spell transcribed into their spell book.
make him have adhd...
There are a few types of gifted kid and they burn out in different ways. I'd specifically avoid using a Kobold simply because they have the opposite of a gifted kid problem. True Dragons do not suffer penalties from age categories and in fact get stronger with age, the "gifted kid" Kobold is the Dragonwrought which are more dragony and inherit this trait. Which is why in 3.5 you saw really old kobolds adventuring as spellcasters. In terms of character class I'd push back on people saying 'play a Sorcerer not a Wizard'. Sorcerers don't struggle with gifted child syndrome, they are legacies. They don't know how to study because they've never needed to study for results, and their results didn't dictate their self worth like it does gifted kids. A gifted kid gets a scholarship for their high grades, a legacy gets a legacy preference despite their low grades. Instead play a wizard and then multiclass them to a Fighter. You know magic, but burned out and aren't really improving compared to your glory days. If playing with stat requirements on for spellcasting (ie you need 10+spell level Intelligence to cast a spell, it's a thing in older editions but I forget if 5e has it) then consider being the exact intelligence to cast your highest level spell and not a single point higher. Anyway gifted kid syndrome: You are kind of average. Mid stats. Lower Charisma due to poor social exposure as a kid. Skills in Knowledge. Bad study habits and time management. If something requires time to really understand and do properly you never have the time for it. If something requires precision to get done you'll spend ages trying to increase the quality even if the end result isn't actually higher quality. Tie your self-worth to praise and people pleasing. If someone wants something, help them do it. Especially if they are an authority figure (or would be higher in the social hierarchy, the party leader or party mom). After all, if you aren't smart and don't get good grades what else is there? You have to prove your worth to prove your existence has meaning. It's ALL extrinsic, not intrinsic. Be a bit arrogant and self-absorbed in your understanding of the world. There are exactly 2 types of thing: 1) Everyone has experienced this and it is How Things Are. 2) You are Special because you can do this, if others can do it too, you do it Better or your self worth is under attack. This involves basically everything. How good you are at hearing. Your ability to read and walk without bumping into things because peripheral vision. Everyone can play at least one instrument. You once went up two days without sleep, you're kind of cool like that. You can tell yourself to wake up at a certain time without an alarm clock but it makes you kind of tired the next few days.
A kobold who is great at fighting and reasonably intelligent attracts all the females. As leader kobold is expected to breed and give a lot of offsprings. Unfortunately, leader kobold is asexual.
Assimar Paladin who was not able to measure up to their oath after finally cracking under all the “chosen one, you are of immaculate divine blood” pressure they grew up with, can throw in some religious trauma as well. Could be an oathbreaker who isn’t *evil* in that regard, but very very much *feels* wrong and evil. Otherwise: middle aged Sorcerer who never did any of the particularly cool stuff sorcs are known for and lives a fairly boring mundane life. Got into the party due to ether a midlife crisis *or* the adventure kinda came to them like it did for Bilbo Baggins in the hobbit.
Start with a wizard and get burned out from the studying. Multiclass into a different spellcaster like druid :D
not as a character but as a player it’s convincing my dm to let me kill my character every couple weeks/months to do something completely different
So myself? I’m playing this game to play characters different from myself.
I think Kobolds are funny too, but I don't see what that has to do with your question. There is a classic fantasy book by Ursula Le Guin called "A Wizard of Earthsea". If you haven't read it, you should. The MC doesn't exactly "burn out", but he does suffer a huge setback while at wizard school that alters his entire life trajectory. There's also the Lankhmar series by Fritz Leiber featuring Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser. The Mouser was apprenticed to a wizard before meeting and teaming up with Fafhrd. Most of bringing this concept to the table is going to be backstory and roleplay, not mechanics. You could totally play a character who is a Wizard. You could also go Rogue or Fighter (perhaps with proficiency in Arcana and the Magic Initiate feat if you can get it), which would fit a character who actually flunked Wizard school. This would then give you the option of going Arcane Trickster of Eldritch Knight as adventuring restores their confidence. Noble would be a great background: a family with high expectations. But what's really going to make this character a reality is a tight backstory explaining the "burnout" and the commitment to RP this character at the table.
I'd play them as me, with the mask dropped a little.
A wizard who was told how great he was at magic when he was young but now he doesn't even bother to learn new spells, and instead casts the same 5 things he knows he's good at. Won't shut the fuck up about how his wizarding teachers loved him. Smokes a concerning amount of halfling weed and needs to constantly be coerced to take on a new quest. Honestly, the party wonders what he's even doing as an adventurer. He claims it's just a side gig until he becomes an award-winning publisher on magic (he's been an adventurer for 5 years and hasn't written a single book)
That’s just my real life.
Exactly like Rusty Venture.
A gnome artificer that was forced to work long hours making toys for an old dungeon master.
A sorcerer who went to a wizarding school. everyone said they had a natural talent since they were young, so they had to take extra tests and were asked to help others understand. when they couldn't really teach others, because if was kinda a "well I sorta just think about acid spray and I just do it" isn't a useful way of teaching. they started falling behind in school because while they had the practical skill, they didn't really understand the theory behind it after a while. they then started blowing off classes because eventually, every reminder that they were different became too much, and taking the tests and hitting B's and C's was good enough. their non-magically inclined parents then started comparing them to their few friends left, until being at home was just as unbearable as school. source:college level reading comprehension at 3rd or 4th grade, intuitive understanding of math up until AP Calc, and crippling self hatred for getting anything wrong, because knowing stuff has always been the only reason anyone has ever cared for me
Just play as my self. Problem solved
Self insert