Sigh... i knew this would turn out badly : /

With the hocus I stopped playing the 3rd becuse at the end of the next session i had no allies left at the table and i dident want to play a villian for the entire group.

As far as the comment about "trying to spam Artful and Gracious" i only started that after the chopper started using the skill with almost every npc interaction since he picked it up.

And as using only highlited stats, everyone at the table does that. Heck the angel lept from a car needlessly just for the exp bubble. I dont see how i am "min/maxing" if i want to try to get more options by leveling up.

With the aggressive comment, i admit the battlebabe was viloent, but not much more than other characters. The driver plows though everthing. The gunlugger blows up everthing. The chopper wants to rule it all. The only time the hocus ever pulled a gun is when he was staring down fruitlessly by 2 player character tanks. ive been trying to play the skinner more passivly simply becuse my more "aggressive " characters ended up getting shredded.

As far as the entrence into town by the battlebabe this is how it happened (as i remember it). I go into town and the guard isint being any help suggesting work. So i then ask if there is anyone else there. There are a bunch of sick peaple in the streets. i try to talk to one and he tried to vomit on me. So i stopped him (yes by killing him since i was playing an assassin) and went back to the guard. He still wasent telling me where to go and i used "go argo". the guard, when pressed with a blade to his neck still wouldent tell me where to go chose to suck it up.

It is then when i did attack him. I dealt 2 damage after my swing and he was on the ground. however when i swung he got a shot off wildly which alerted the sniper tower. then i try to finish him off while being shot by the tower. thats when the group of guards came out of nowhere (since they where not in sight a few moments ago when i was looking for someone to talk to). So now i rolled sharp, to try to find a way out and fail, getting shot to heck and knocked out. And when i attempted to break free i was knocked out, to wake up already tied up and hanging.

But ultimatly i understand why the battlebabe got killed. i tried to be to agressive without any backup. I mean since then the players have basically started a war with that hardholder killing many guards, though they havent got the resistance i encountered as the assassin.

I understand the hocus had problems becuse he put his followers before the group. So know im trying not to be aggressive and not to hurt another player so they wont gang up and kill me.

I dont want to leave the group, nor do i belive it's a bad game. its ... just i know am frustrated becuse i feel that i am falling behind the other characters. And when it does come to my actions i cant think of anything to do when it happens or that something horrible is going to happen if i try to reach out and do something.

I know at least two members of my group look at these boards, so I hope I won’t get flak for posting, but I’m really looking for suggestions. Basically I am dissatisfied and not sure how to proceed.

A little background is in order. My first character I really did like. He was a slightly vindictive, but very overprotective of his followers, Hocus. I came primarily in conflict with one member of the group because he had threatened me and hurt one of my followers over something trivial. Ultimately after another threat to the Hocus’s followers the hocus freaked that character out (using weird), and his companion, which caused them to retaliate and kill him and his followers.

Next character was very short since it was a Battlebabe who unlike the Hocus was very violent. After dealing with an uppity guard and looking for anyone else to talk to (which there wasn’t anyone who wasn’t dying of a plague) he threatened the guard to get some information. The guard told him he wouldn’t tell him who was in charge and the battle babe attacked. Only to be immediately jumped by 5+ heavily armored guards who showed up out of nowhere and proceeded to be knocked out / captured and left to die (however further attacks on guards since then haven’t caused anywhere near the response by  the guards). I had chance to salvage the character but without any gear I was apathetic to the idea.

So in order to keep a character around for more than 2 sessions I decided to go a more passive way. I brought in a skinner. Now, while the skinner hasn’t really ticked off any of the players or the NPCs, I am frustrated by my lack of exp gain. In two and a half session I haven’t even gained a single “level”. Last session one of the players leveled and brought in a new character. This character, in like 20 minutes, had already gained their fifth bubble of exp.

When I said how I felt that I was stagnant and don’t have many options, the GM and the other players blamed me for not doing more. They say that I should try to be manipulating every NPC I come across even though you need some sort of leverage to manipulate, something I don’t have.  Or instead of manipulating, seducing, and I really didn’t want to play a slutty character. The only other stat I have ever had highlighted is cool and I need to get In a fight to use that, which I am hesitant to try, since every time I’ve actually tried to fight on any of my characters I’ve nearly died or have died.

Should I just continue at my slow exp rate, and suck it up? Or should I try to be more aggressive like my last two characters risk getting killed, again, and having to start all over. I do like meeting up with them for the weekly game, but it seems with each session I’m having less fun.

Help?