Should I RP My Character as A Professor at the University?

[Paragon Vanguard]

Long title, but pretty much says it all. In my own head canon I think of Paragon Vanguard, or more importantly Michael Summers (his real name) as a professor at the university. I never really considered it, since it is my own head canon, but should I assume it to be okay to make him such? Certainly in rp that only effects me, which is the 99.999999% of what I do these days, it can't be a factor. However, were I to branch out to actual rp with others again, would that be a little too presumptuous? The rp topic of the university is what brought this to mind, and I did not wish to ask an ooc question on an rp post. 
Appreciate anyone else's thoughts on this... 🙂

[TorrentYed]

I'd say go for it! A position of professor at the university doesn't, I don't think, step on any particular toes, because universities can have hundreds. And certainly there's plenty of roleplaying precedent to having members of canon organizations. I've seen members of Vanguard, Hero Corps, Portal Corp, Longbow, and in fact I've seen others playing Paragon University professors. And if anything, certainly the existence VEATs demonstrates that the notion got the greenlight through gameplay options themselves.

 

I think where folks might raise an eyebrow is if the character were, say, the president of Paragon University, because then it'd be taking claim of singular position that would also be presumed able to leverage a greater degree of power over anyone else playing a university-employed character. And that latter point is why sometimes people are wary about player character Arbiters or player character mayors.

 

Since that's doesn't sound like it's the case for you though, by all means.

[VioLight]

We have plenty of people playing students there, I don't see why being one of many professors there on its own would cause anyone any heartache. 

[Magairlín]

I'm not sure why it wouldn't be ok. Unless he's such a singular expert in a topic that he could break a storyline, but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

[DrunkFlux]

Can totally work, just don't make said professor the only one teaching what they teach :).  It's the same as anything, make sure your character is balanced out well enough they don't break stories ect they can work well with others.

 

Edit: I'll elaborate a little since I feel I was just a parrot just now.

 

One of my characters was a professor(just not ended her career to persue other things), a chaos mage who specialized in forms of chaos magic.  Was she the only person on the topic?  Not really, but she was balanced enough that I could include her in quite a few stories if I chose to do so.  Some people like bringing her into plots quite often, even if a minor role.  Her praetorian counterpart just got involved in a bigger plot and she to is a professor(with different personality, course, more chill/cheerful than the primal).

 

It's true of all characters of any background, as long as they are not mary sues(or part of a mary suetopia) that will practically one-shot someones plot or problem, they can work fine.

Edited October 18, 2022 by DrunkFlux

[TwoDee]

2 hours ago, TorrentYed said:

I think where folks might raise an eyebrow is if the character were, say, the president of Paragon University, because then it'd be taking claim of singular position that would also be presumed able to leverage a greater degree of power over anyone else playing a university-employed character. And that latter point is why sometimes people are wary about player character Arbiters or player character mayors.

 

100% agree with @TorrentYed here, so I'm going to add to the 'echo, echo' effect.  I'll lend my own spin to the four Very Correct posters above in my typical way: with a massive screed of overly granular best-practices opinions.

 

This is a little cynical to voice so directly, but generally speaking, roleplayers like to showcase their character first, and learn about other people's characters second (if at all).  Roleplayers want their characters to be perceived as credible and competent experts in whatever large or small thing it is that they do -- superscience, magic, lepidopterology, extrajudicially murdering Skulls -- and they want other players to react to them in a way that upsells that character concept.  So, without a player's permission or explicitly-stated buy-in, situating oneself in a position that would dictate elements of another player's character is a quick way onto the shit list.

 

If you're a cop from Brickstown, that's fine.  If you're a police Captain, that's fine.  If you're the Precinct Captain in charge of Brickstown, that implicitly forces you into the backstory of every other theoretical player playing a cop from Brickstown.  If you're a professor, that's fine.  If you're faculty at the Salamanca campus, that's fine.  If you're the department chair of the magical studies department at Paragon University Salamanca, that shoehorns you intrusively into the character concept of every character who says they study magic in Salamanca (and there's a lot of them).

 

This doesn't mean that these 'hierarchal/authority' concepts are unplayable, merely that they won't survive contact with 'pick up' roleplayers who feel like you're intruding on the headcanon that contextualizes their character.  Making up your own esoteric or experimental subdivision of a canon group is one way around this: "I'm the decorated admiral in charge of Vanguard's mages an experimental thaumaturgical-warfare unit within Vanguard."  Super Groups are another great way to build up stories that are more collaborative by nature and thus more willing to accommodate "laying claim" to broad swaths of canon, provided that you don't expect the RP community at-large to show quite the same deference.

 

More than anything, though, and to return to the great points above me, a lot of it just depends on how you treat your character's presumptive in-universe authority.  If you use it constructively to lend credence to the shared world and upsell other players' concepts, they'll let you get away with calling yourself the chief finance officer of MediCorp, or whatever.  If you treat authority like a blunt instrument and perniciously nettle other players about deferring to you, you'll eat away at the good will necessary to play that concept.

[MistressOhm]

Keep in mind, also, that professors may or may not actually teach classes (or ONLY teach classes).  Quite often, they are in charge of research projects, ones that could possibly result in Science or Magic based characters.  Whether they're financed by the university endowment, or by external forces (Sponsored By Crey Biotech!) is of course more flavor text for the roleplay.

 

I've a few characters that were selected members of various organizations.  Code Three is a PCFD firefighter in a mecha suit, Operative Ramirez is testing a Crey-built energy armor for Freedom Corps, and Dame Demolition WAS a robotics/cybernetics egghead working on reverse-engineering Rikti portal tech for man-portable use, when things went Horribly Wrong.  I have cops, ex cops, ex gang members, and yes, at least one Paragon University professor.

 

None of them are in charge of their departments, or even their battalions, though.

[Paragon Vanguard]

Very good advice from everyone. I dont play him as head of anything, I don't even write very much about the university outside of him being a professor. It's more of when you dont see him, he is probably home or at the university. Thank you all for the replies,  and good advice. 😀

[American Valor]

Go for it the University is and excellent RP hook and weather you want to write in the forums in that thread or your own story I think it would be cool. I myself have been known to make anouncements in pocket d "Message sent out in C-harmony; College student looking for a group to go to the movies ((SBB lf3 Pocket D))" 

 

Have fun with it and if you want to RP in the forums feel free to join in. and thats goes for everyone

 

Thanks 

AV

[Greycat]

40 minutes ago, American Valor said:

Go for it the University is and excellent RP hook

 

 

No, no, they want a professor, not a hooker.

 

;)