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Post by Drozgul on Jan 29, 2010 9:26:30 GMT -5
In response to Fenix's latest rant addendum, I decided to make this spot for your character creation ideas.
How do you build characters? Are they copycats from your greatest heroes with shampoo/conditioner names? Or built to do one thing great and fall on their face doing others? Or are there still originals out there to yet be found?
What about build methods? Backgrounds? GM guidance?
Spill it.
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Post by Drozgul on Jan 29, 2010 10:04:01 GMT -5
I like to keep my backgrounds short, sweet, and simple. This way there's less fodder for the GM to use against my character. Sure story fodder is good. But if he really wants a hook from me, he can always ask and I'll be happy to oblige.
Spilling my entire character's life, loved ones, personality and weaknesses before even beginning play is a big mistake to me. It means there's no discovery left, for the GM, other players, and even me. I like revelation through play, it's more interesting.
I also like to build from my heroes, but we all know my originals are the best. I mean, as much failure as he saw, Joshua Berrybush was a great little guy. Win, lose, or draw, he'd have your back. Blake Gentry was my very first original though. No stolen license, no copies, no appeals, just the guy I used to think I wished I could be.
I like to work with the GM if he/she cares to. I find that his/her input is likely to make my character stronger in the story, one way or another. I rarely try to draw againt the GM's vision, but if he gives no guidance, I refuse to accept blame for "destroying his story".
I like to play underdogs, and seldom care for much power. My underdogs typically still have plenty to do, and often come out on top, even when the odds are stacked against us.
I despise the thought of min/max, super-powered characters, who have no substance and few strengths with heavy weaknesses. I just don't believe in them. I see the sheet, but in game my agination rejects them. Realistic characters, with actual flaws, and a little moxy all feel right.
None of the above may be off for others. But I am rarely satisfied playing the latter types. I mean, why be a cleric who can heal a ton of damage but can't deal any? Might as well just be a potion cart and save the party that extra grip on the challenge ratings.
Bolaneer was a good build, and a badass. Don't really remember anybody but me who liked him much though. Shame too. Because he and Blake being mostly disliked has soured my gaming experiences since. Sure I still play, but with an feeling in the air that I should remain a GM so that my wants as a player no longer "cripple" the party.
My World of Darkness build style must seem odd to most as well. Maybe it's because I do as the book suggests and stat a mortal, and THEN add the supernatural template. Oh well, I'm not saying your way is always wrong or mine is always right, but it just doesn't make sense to have a vampire built with a four in strength AND intelligence AND presence so that he can power his way through anything if in his mortal years all he ever did was balance books for shareholders in his law firm. The intellect makes sense, but the rest could use an adjust.
Making characters that make sense is where it's at. An overexplained immortal with a terrible Achilles heel is no better than a spineless shell of a character with no history at all.
Best build so far? Probably Dominik Bortzfield. Most original? Probably Blake Gentry or Bolaneer Thistlebrew. Most fun? Skruut Liif. Most memorable to others? Seems to be Joshua Berrybush. Most forgettable? Haha! Either Haku Ping, or that chew toy that was once a halfling sorceror. Can't even recall the name. Best NPC? By and large, Simon Von Croy. A werewolf/hunter, who weighs the situation, rarely acts in haste, is helpful, and even somewhat self-loathing. He is also one of very very few modern characters I've played who actually uses the gun he carries.
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Fenix
Journeyman
Who in the hell do you think I am?
Posts: 162
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Post by Fenix on Jan 29, 2010 13:02:28 GMT -5
Hmmm. I think my best builds were Jessy, and tai. Jessy was heavily based off spike from cowboy bebop but strayed from that idea as the game went on. Tai was just a random idea and snowballed into what he became.
I have found that group building seems to flesh out characters and ideas better, most due to there being more then one point of view. I mean you say there is the idea some one then goes why? And you respond and keep going till you have a decent character. Some like to build by themselves and that's their choice, but I am finding building with the storyteller and other players is more productive at least for me.
I honsetly beleive that heros are just ordinary people that end up in extraordinary situations. And playing a hero/villan can be fun, but not many like to play the sidekick.
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Post by labael on Jan 29, 2010 14:16:47 GMT -5
You know. . .I'm not sure how I do it. A lot of times I see a position, class, or group and am like "Oh neat! How would I make someone like that!". Then I look around through the week for inspiration. I take a little of this character trait. . .oh look that's funny. . .but I don't like this. . . *plop* The character and his eccentricities are in my head.
Now for the character sheet. He's more this, so I should up that. He wouldn't be that strong silly! So I lower that.
I guess my character is already grown in my head before I even play him. In fact at work or driving, I go through what my character would do.
Some of my characters are partly based on people I meet. Some are partly movies I've seen. I'm not very original I suppose, just good at mixing stuff up and plopping it out.
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Post by rjrock85 on Jan 30, 2010 5:41:08 GMT -5
Nowadays my character building process is a bit of a hodgepodge. Sometimes I fill out the sheet and flesh out the personality around it, then re-adjust the sheet. Other times I create a personality and then fill out the sheet. Ever since the very first game I ran, I tend to stay away from drawing inspiration directly from the media. I think its in poor taste, but that's just for me.
I prefer to play exceptional people, because I am not exceptional in my eyes and I don't just want to play as myself or any other ordinary person. Now, I don't have to play a min/maxed war god, in fact I'd rather not, but I don't want to be Jimmy the Dishwasher either. I like to have my characters be well-rounded, with a few exceptional strengths.
I like to have a working background drawn out before play, one that allows me to grasp the character's personality and one that answers the "whys".
Finally, I think that the best characters and backgrounds are those that are created in the presence of the fellow players and the GM.
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Post by xenocide on May 10, 2010 9:39:55 GMT -5
i have really only ever built my characters in two ways.
the first is simple. ill decide i want to run a certain class or race, say a two weapon ranger from dnd. ill mull about a lil, then decide what race/s i want to play. i build the character sheets acordingly, then choose which one i like the best. after that i give him (or her, im not beyond playing women) a personality, which ive probably had something in mind as i built the char.
the other way i do it is by writing little blurbs about the chars history in a notebook. after about ten blurbs, ill decide what race and class to play, and build a character that takes into account the notes in the notebook.
i honestly wont build too much story into a char, for three reasons- 1: im gonna be playing thru its story, why tell it twice? 2: less the dm can smack me in the face with. peroid 3: i can come up with it on the fly anyway.
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Post by archon on Sept 26, 2010 16:36:28 GMT -5
It tends to depend on what game I am playing and what is needed. When playing games like D&D I ask what position needs filled and build to suit. Now I generally start with personality and background then fill in the character sheet. In powergames I min/max where needed but I am not a fan Im just good at it.
I tend to like characters that are in control and generally inspiring. I tend to good characters but if the situation needs (like vampire) I can be good at being bad.
All in all building a character is different each time. Right now for instance I am exploring options for underdog characters like a dwarven bard for D&D 3.5 or something along those lines. Whatever I do however I love the process.
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Post by xenocide on May 26, 2011 10:58:26 GMT -5
as i have been dming more than playing lately, i havent been building too many characters, but something i have noticed myself doing is picking a generic backround (like an aladdin, for example) then giving him a life change (was he picked up by a monistary? or a traveling wizard saw promise in him? or even he pulled off an incredible theft) and from that point chose race n class. that way, i have a basic background and what he is.
Id like to admit, I metagame. I really do. But almost always, it is limited to character creation. Ill metagame the character so that he plays well so i can enjoy him, and thats about it. i guess thats my biggest downfall as a player. >_< but ive found that the characters i do with it, everyone enjoys more than the ones i dont.
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