Kurotowa
Legend
After thinking it over, my opinion is that a character should meet a player's expectations of the character.
What I mean is that a player has the most fun when their character does what they want. Some people want to be buttkicking badasses, and they go for the combat munchkins. Others want to play the social butterfly and don't care as much about holding a fight. There are even people who want to play Elan, comical incompetence and all.
Where the trouble comes is when a player doesn't know how to make the system do what they want and gets a character that doesn't fit their image. Getting Elan unintentionally can be very frustrating. Wanting to be a swordmaster and turning out an also-ran in fights is the pits. It's situations like these that can lower people's enjoyment.
So no one should be required to have a character that meets some standard of effectiveness. But if the player is having trouble reaching the point they want to be at, then by all means more experienced hands can step in and lend their experience.
What I mean is that a player has the most fun when their character does what they want. Some people want to be buttkicking badasses, and they go for the combat munchkins. Others want to play the social butterfly and don't care as much about holding a fight. There are even people who want to play Elan, comical incompetence and all.
Where the trouble comes is when a player doesn't know how to make the system do what they want and gets a character that doesn't fit their image. Getting Elan unintentionally can be very frustrating. Wanting to be a swordmaster and turning out an also-ran in fights is the pits. It's situations like these that can lower people's enjoyment.
So no one should be required to have a character that meets some standard of effectiveness. But if the player is having trouble reaching the point they want to be at, then by all means more experienced hands can step in and lend their experience.