Monday, September 9, 2013

Character Creation for "Noobs"

Creating an RPG/D&D character is a very personal thing, on many levels.  One of the main topics I want to address in this post is: in what order we should tackle the steps of character creation.  If you would like a constructivist literary analysis of RPG character creation, let me know...I am a literature and English teacher, after all.

The numbers?   
Especially for new players, the numbers can be meaningless or feel disconnected without a grounding element of character concept or back story.   It would be like telling you that you have a .00987 micellar index on the Swizzle scale.  Because it is made up, entirely.  However, often extreme ability scores can translate into fun character and role-playing elements.  You may have read about the goggles I made for my steam punk inspired gnome fighter in a friend's campaign.  My 18 strength (or whatever racial maximum for strength is for a gnome in 2E) went a long way toward getting me to think outside the box, and added to the character concept and back story. Correct me if I am wrong, but the old school traditional method to determine attributes is roll 3D6 add 'em up, that's your strength.  Repeat for Dextereity, Constitution, etc, in order.

Class? 
Somewhere relatively early on in my D&D playing days, someone in my group (and the zeitgeist, possibly even the Player's Handbook or DMG) said, "Hey, wouldn't it be better if you could assign your attribute dice rolls to the stats/attributes you want them with?"  We unanimously said, "yes!".  No longer would I have to roll a good number on the fifth roll specifically to play a priest, or the first to play a fighter.  I can choose the class that is the most interesting to me, instead of the one that fits my stats.  This goes doubly for Rangers, Paladins, and classes that had higher (and multiple) prerequisites.   Now that it is feasible to choose what class you want to play before doing anything else, it has become my default starting point and the place I pointed players to when beginning the character creation process.


Race?
Along with point-buy attribute builds, arrays, and other player friendly stat determining methods, it has become common to choose the race that best achieves min/maxing.  This is when you minimize the things you deem unimportant to your character (usually based on combat) and maximize the stuff you want.  If I want to play a rogue, I should be an elf because it gives a +1 to my Dexterity, making me more sneaky and stealthy. This is all well and good, however sometimes it can minimize the role the character's race plays in their connections to the campaign setting and the player's role-playing decisions for the character.  This is partly because it is not made as a story-based choice, but as a mechanics driven choice.  

Background, Back Story, and Personality?
As of late this option is becoming more interesting to me.  Decide what your character is doing in the campaign world.  Describe where he/she comes from, what their desires are, what they are like to be around.  Then figure out what might be a fun class/race combination to play that reflects those choices.  This is probably the most difficult option for new players, especially those new to fantasy and/or RPGs. With an experienced group, I expect it would be a rewarding option.



What did I leave out?  What do you do first?  Comment below!




Til next time,

-DM Josh

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