D&D 5E [POLL] What drives your inspiration behind char gen?

Lanefan said:

I don't mind playing dumb characters now and then, as it means I can drink beer and relax and not have to worry about thinking at the games.

But these days, unless playing a Cleric, I almost always use Wisdom as the dump stat; 'cause then I can do whacked-out foolhardy things and still be in character.

Lan-"mightiest knight on life"-efan

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What is this...."ree-lacks" of which you speak? Is it edible?

More seriously, I really have trouble engaging in that kind of play. If I'm relaxed enough to tune out, I'm too tuned out to really roleplay. Tuning out is for mindless video games, at least for me.

I tend to develop characters from media and history, and then from thematic needs, and then mechanical needs.

I just have several characters ready at any point so I can join a game that needs [insert role].

Media, definitely: mostly books such as Moorcock's, Lord of the Rings, Dune, Harry Potter, Gormenghast, the Bible, the Mahabrata, Arthurian and other chivalric literature, fairy tales, Oz, Wonderland; but also some movies such as Crouching Tiger, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters; and finally a few comics such as Sandman, Kill 6 Billion Demons and Order of the Stick.

Thematic is closest. I won't cripple a character for thematic reasons, but tend to latch on to something which defines the character and make my choices of feats/spells based on that concept.

I chose other for a reason. My process is bidirectional and I might want to play something because of a choice in the game (mechanical) leads to imagining a thematic character or vice versa; I might have an idea about the theme and then figure out how to make them viable and effective mechanically.

Regardless, theme and character has to loom large or I get bored quickly. That is, once I figure out how to make something happen, that little bit of game is done and to go back it has to have a well developed character driving it.

One thing that totally turns me off though is cheese or things that seem unlikely given the theme. No offense to ANYONE but I do not like quarterstaff with shield nor do I like multiclassing without theme and a good reason other than a synergy for a higher bonus.

As an example, I am planning a celestial pact warlock and would like a bit more utility magic and maybe a few extra low level spell slots. It would be to my advantage to take a level of wizard but it does not fit the image or the character. Same for paladin in my case...one level in bard or divine soul sorcerer is not technically as "good" but fits.

So even in this example it goes back and forth. My initial idea came from reading the description in the book and imagining a wizard like figure like Gandalf who is an ambassador and protector.

BOOM! I guess it is media too! Its all together a mish mash over time one more prominent here, another there. "Other"

Warpiglet said:

One thing that totally turns me off though is cheese or things that seem unlikely given the theme. No offense to ANYONE but I do not like quarterstaff with shield nor do I like multiclassing without theme and a good reason other than a synergy for a higher bonus.

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Agreed. And also agreed this isn't a judgement on anyone else's style of play, but for me it breaks the suspense of disbelief. Yeah, I get how it's a fantasy world with dragons, but there still have to be at least a baseline of realism for me, and when someone builds a character clearly built on mechanical DPR instead of theme to the point where it visually seems silly, it breaks it for me. Like the quarterstaff and shield combo. I also have a problem with a lot of multiclass builds that seem contradictory. Sometimes, some of the most broken builds that people complain about wouldn't be a problem if people treated the fluff as important as the RAW. I.e., while technically you could multiclass if you met the requirements, the fluff would never have allowed you to be a warlock of a demon patron and be a life priest of a good deity at the same time.

Hiya!

Believe it or not, I put down "Mechanical". But that was before I read the description...jumping the gun again! ...sigh... I think I would have chosen "Other", but honestly, if I'm making a character I almost always start with a blank slate. I pick up 3d6, I roll in order. I look at those stats, and then decide on what class, then race, etc. My choices ARE based on "mechanics", but NOT towards the "looking for best bonuses". I just go with what sort of character starts to form in my imagination...usually race, background and alignment are what sort of pop to the top and then things start to fill in the blanks below them. After the initial Str - Cha stats are rolled, the whole mechanics thing almost becomes completely irrelevant to me. I tent towards trying to get a character towards a "+0 base" over having lots of penalties and lots of bonuses with very little in the middle.

So, yeah, "mechanics", but only when rolling my 3d6 in order (yes, this is the option I use 95% of the time; sometimes I'll use the 4d6-L, but I vastly prefer 3d6 in order; as my tee-shirt says "3d6 In Order...D&D's Original Hardcore Mode" ).

^_^

Paul L. Ming

Other. I roll the dice in order and see what I can make from that. Most recently, I rolled a great set of stats and decided to make the "conquering fighter" archetype, which I haven't actually seen played much since 1e. The last D&D character I made before that, I rolled a weird set of stats and took inspiration from an article I'd read recently about extreme endurance training, and made a character who was a high Con, low Str, personal endurance trainer who also happens to be a mediocre magician. So the processes were very different, except that both were sparked by what I rolled.

Theme. I am playing a lot of Greyhawk, and its perfect for because its so fleshed out that you almost have to have a theme to get anywhere. I have all the old stuff, so if you need to generate a place of birth, racial mix, etc. its all there, as is all sorts of background stuff. Creation goes like this

1. Figure out rest of group, I usually just let other players pick class and role they want to play and then fill out group with whats needed. This group had a human Crown Paladin, a half elf Monk, and a human Conjurer (in game brother of Paladin) who was starting out as a Knowledge cleric. The group needed some healing, some second line support, some social skills, i.e. a little of everything which screams BARD.

2. Class is above, so I pick race next. Race I usually fill out to make the group approximately represent the racial mix of world at large. Everyone wants to elf or more exotic, it seems like I get to play a lot of humans, dwarfs and dragonborn. The group above is very normal, so I picked Dragonborn to stand out in the game world.

3. Think of a concept with something a little odd about it -to avoid a min/max approach and also to give the PC a hook. My 2nd or 3rd best ability score will go here, we roll for scores. Example is what I am playing now, Dragonborn STR based Bard. My idea was Dragonborn Bard who started out as a Sorcerer due to parents/social structure who really wanted to be a warrior like in legends and myth. Needed a reason to 'quit' being a Sorcerer after first level and I thought being huge and strong and thus "miscast" would work. That means high STR, with CHR second and CON third.

4. Think of background story that fits. - For Dragonborn in Greyhawk its a new race, so I put origin on Dragons Island, a land ruled by a dragon prince. Its far outside the World of Greyhawk as first laid out in 70-80s so it explains not being seen before. This of course plays right in Far Traveler background. We are playing Age of Worms adventure path, so DM suggested Storm Sorcerer as a fit as Wind Dukes of Aqaa are involved and someone needed to speak Auran language. From there it flowed that visions and portents had caused me to travel far from home to the town where the Age of Worms started. Also, since Dragonborn are unknown in this part of the World I figured I would try to take those Dragonborn feats in XTE to show these foreigners the majesty of dragonborn

5. We rolled and I got somewhat lucky 15,14,14,12,10,10. I need to have 2 odd scores to take those dragonborn feats, and with dragonborn bonuses of +2 to STR and 1 to CHR but needing to have higher STR then CHR for RP purposes I put 14 in CON, 15 in STR, 14 in CHR, then 12 in DEX and 10 in mentals. I realize this is a bit odd, but it fit the concept. I was going to put the 12 into INT instead of DEX to reinforce the concept, but realized I had no Dragonborn mini with a shield so I probably wont use a shield. I do have the Dragonborn Paladin mini with a great axe/halberd and medium armor, so I guess I wont use a shield. An even CON score means Warcaster is in my future to handle weapons and cast and use spells on opportunity attacks.

6. Far Traveler is the background, so what fits with above is

a. "I have a strong code of honor or sense of propriety that others don't comprehend."
b. "I honor my deities through practices that are foreign to this land."
c. "Adventure. I'm far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic)"
d. "The gods of my people are a comfort to me so far from home."
e. "I am secretly (or not so secretly) convinced of the superiority of my own culture over that of this foreign land."

This flaw is key, as a Bard it means I am constantly telling these staring, astonished people how my people are strange and wonderful and majestic compared to them.

7. Flesh it out from there. Storm Sorcerer with melee potential means booming blade, never using shield means shield spell. AC will suck until Valor Bard comes online, so that means Halberd to try to stay away some as well as bonus 10' move by casting spell. STR will be higher then CHR, so try to squeeze most use out of Booming Blade by taking Warcaster to use it on Opportunity attacks and forced movement with dissonant whispers and command from paladin and MC wizard. Spell selection needs to favor spells that don't have saves or are flashy, showy type stuff like Heat metal and polymorph but this isn't a subtle, enchanting type Bard so Suggestion (help us kill your boss so you can take over) and fear make it in. Animate Objects and Destructive wave will make it in later. For Suggestion ideas watch "Gods of Egypt" for Elodie Yung as Hathor using it.

My primary inspiration is "what does this party need?"

Which is why it drives me $%^$ing crazy when I sit down at a table and ask, "What does the party need?" and inevitably some smarmy dork says, "Play what you want..." in a pseudo-helpful but actually patronizing way.

MAYBE WHAT I WANT TO PLAY IS WHATEVER WILL BEST COMPLEMENT THIS PARTY, OK!?!?!?!

/petpeeverant

Anyway, once I know what the party has and think of something that will work well with that group, I roll up* something...usually a variant Human because I haven't yet checked off all the feats in my bucket list...and start playing. Then I let the personality/backstory emerge opportunistically while playing.

(With "roll up" used figuratively because, of course, we don't actually roll any dice to create characters anymore.)