How do you build your characters?

[Kzach]

I'm about to start running a game with a good group of people whom I value the opinions of, trust to respect each other, and who I think will get along well as a group.

Unfortunately there is one player who has a knack for creating square peg characters and who tries to force them into the round hole of campaigns. I'm trying my best to accommodate him but on the flip-side, I'm seeing no reciprocation from his end to work towards a compromise where his character will work in the campaign.

But that's not the issue I'm bringing up. Rather, it got me to thinking about how people approach character design. In trying to understand why he wouldn't budge on his initial concept, I had to force myself out of my own methodology and try to adapt to his and this made me realise a few things about change and compromise.

Over the years, I've found that when creating characters, that for me it is not as simple as having an idea and building to suit it. For me there is an organic process of evolution and adaption and creative inspiration that moulds, shapes and forms the final result. That result may even entirely differ from the initial concept, but regardless, through the process of creation I've become attached to it and excited about playing it and seeing it develop.

To me, I can't fathom of any reason why I would want to do it any other way. The process of creating a character is part of the experience of gaming to me, so why would I restrict myself to one rigid concept, especially if that concept doesn't work well in the system or doesn't suit the setting? That just seems like a recipe for conflict and unfun.

Regardless, I'm curious to know how others go about creating characters. Is the process of creation something you care little about? Click a few buttons randomly in a character creation program and you're done? Can you pick up anyone else's character at a moment's notice and have fun playing it? Or do you spend inordinate amounts of time fussing over minor details, trying to get everything 'just right'? Does the setting inform your character choices or do you play "Bob the Fighter" in any setting, from Space Cadets to Guns'n'Garters?

 

[rjfTrebor]

i usually have a very loose concept in my head, things like race or martial/arcane/divine are usually the only things i decide on before starting a new build.

after that i'll usually crack open the character builder and read up on some of the classes i haven't played before. once i've decided on what class i'm going with i really start developing the character's persona. once i have the personality and backstory loosely developed i go to the char-op boards on the wotc forums to sort through the build handbooks to learn more about some effective options and to see what trap choices to avoid.

from there the character is mostly done, i try not to cement anything until i've played for a session or two. i'll always end up tweaking the backstory and i've never gone a level without retraining but this method seems to produce some really fun and memorable characters.

 

[Ryujin]

My characters, in pretty much any game, tend to be quick and tough to hit, but fold like a cheap shirt if you do manage to hit them.

Knowing what the campaign is, I generally come up with a character concept first. Once I know who the character is, I look for a class and abilities that will allow me to realize that concept. If there isn't one I manipulate my basic concept, until it will actually fit the mechanics.

 

[Ferghis]

i usually have a very loose concept in my head, things like race or martial/arcane/divine are usually the only things i decide on before starting a new build.

after that i'll usually crack open the character builder and read up on some of the classes i haven't played before. once i've decided on what class i'm going with i really start developing the character's persona. once i have the personality and backstory loosely developed i go to the char-op boards on the wotc forums to sort through the build handbooks to learn more about some effective options and to see what trap choices to avoid.

from there the character is mostly done, i try not to cement anything until i've played for a session or two. i'll always end up tweaking the backstory and i've never gone a level without retraining but this method seems to produce some really fun and memorable characters.

These past few years I've been doing pretty much this (although the setting could be the source of inspiration too), which makes it harder to find a game that will fit the character. I used to be just the opposite: build first, character comes out after a few sessions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It depends.

Sometimes, I work to use the rules to model a complete PC concept I have in mind. Sometimes I start with "I wanna play a guy who does ______." Other times, it's as simple as "I haven't played one of (insert race or class) in a while/ever..." or "What kind of PC uses this weapon, feat, spell, power?" etc. Or "What does this music make me think of?" On occasion, it's been "What glaring gaps are there in the party?"

then I start sorting through my options. Some PCs have a very definite set of goals, and will have an "advancement plot" that details how he or she or it would meet those goals (subject to change through the interactions in the game, of course). Others just drift through their "lives."

Regardless of inspiration, though, enough of my PCs have been quirky that I've gained a bit of a reputation...

 

[Incenjucar]

After choosing a role, I start drawing pictures, until I get something evocative and unique, then I start building a concept around what best pulls off that image, while flipping through the available options. I go for style first, then fill it with whatever substance works best. For me, a character comes down to entertaining my friends. If I can make everyone laugh or start passing around fist bumps, then I have a good character.

After awhile, I can usually strike a pose or say a word or phrase, and everyone knows what my character is about to do, and usually someone has a giggle fit.

 

[delericho]

These days, I come up with a loose concept (race/class/theme) and tell my DM. He then goes off and does the mechanical stuff - I have neither the time nor the interest to go wading through the million-and-one options that exist in the game.

In parallel with this, I'll come up with a name and a four-sentence background for the character. The background has one sentence each about his past, present, and future, and a single-sentence secret - this may either be a secret he wants to learn or a secret he wants to keep.

Everything else comes about in play.

 

[d2OKC]

I typically start at the same two places each time: what does the party need, and what mini can I use to represent it?

I'm a very accomidating player, possibly too much so, and it is important to me that our party is well-rounded. Usually, I wait to choose last and try to select a character that can fill in as many holes as possible to make both the group as a whole and the individual characters in the group better. Often this means I play the leader role in 4E, and in 3.5 I played a lot of clerics and bards. And I am OK with that! I like playing characters that make other people better rather than being the "best" character in the group (which, I think is why I was so excited about 4E? Because it focused more on the "team" than on the individuals, in my mind).

I'm also a very visual player, and probably the kind of person that gives 4E such a bad rap for being a "minis game". But, I have a large collection, and I like using them, and I want to play a character I can acurately represent using one of them, as opposed to "oh, I guess I'll use this guy in heavy armor to represent my shaman". I'm also the guy that will buy minis for the other players in order to get good visual representation for their characters as well, because it just helps me, as a player, get more interested/ invested in the game.

From there, it's very organic. We've been playing Gardmore Abbey for a few weeks, so we had to make new characters recently. The roles taken were: striker (rogue/warlock hybrid), striker (assassin), leader (ardent), controller (wizard), and defender (warden) - a pretty complete party already. In this case, it was my inclination to play another leader, because there's a good variation of options and it's nice to have a lot of healing.

Next, I realized we had two ranged characters (hybrid, wizard) and three melee (ardent, warden, assassin), so I figured I'd balance it out bit and play another ranged character (which, now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've ever done before!). We have a warlord in our long-running game, but he is a melee warlord, so I decided to try out the warlord's ranged build.

So, leader. Check. Ranged warlord. Check. I started looking at the races that go well with warlords and instantly decided on genasi. It's cool looking, it's got interesting combat abilities, and it's not something we've ever used in our games before. I went with Sandsoul, because it dovetails nicely with the ranged warlord's maneuverability, and then went with female, because I tend to like to play female characters, I guess. Our group is made of all males, so most of our PCs are also male, and I wanted to mix it up a bit.

Then when I dug through the minis, I kind of got stumped. There are not a lot of good Genasi minis, and none for a female. This is probably where I compromised the most, but I ended up choosing the Steelheart Archer mini from War Drums (which is a cool one I'd been wanting to use for a while anyway).

Then, I just had to come up with a name (Pterra - which, looking back, I'm not so sure I really like it, but I'm stuck with it now) and a quick-and-dirty backstory (she escaped the court of an efreet sultan in the City of Brass and is looking for a way to gain the power to get her family out as well) and I was pretty much done. Oh, except for making the actual character.

TL;DR It's a pretty organic process for me, but for the most part it involves figuring out what the group needs most and how I can make a cool character out of that deficiency.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm also a very visual player, and probably the kind of person that gives 4E such a bad rap for being a "minis game". But, I have a large collection, and I like using them, and I want to play a character I can acurately represent using one of them, as opposed to "oh, I guess I'll use this guy in heavy armor to represent my shaman". I'm also the guy that will buy minis for the other players in order to get good visual representation for their characters as well, because it just helps me, as a player, get more interested/ invested in the game.

You & me both- minis often form a key ingredient in my PC design...AND ongoing development.

And like you, my thousands are a resource open for use by the Kherson in my group.

 

[Jacob Marley]

I asked ENWorld for assistance.