Assigned Characters

[Neo]

Well for myself I think Pre gen characters would make my life much easier as not only do I love making characters but I'd be sure to get a sensible group class mix But my groups players would never stand for anyone making characters for them unless it was for a one off game of something or other where it didn;t really matter.

Regarding Backgrounds I sometimes require certain factors be included but I leave how they are introduced or included to the players. this is mainly because I tend to have a Central story plot for the campaign and then individual character plots for those players who want them which are built from the information in that player's characters background.

 

[drnuncheon]

I never actually played using this setting, but I once designed a very detailed village with 'slots' open for the PCs - so they had ready-made families, connections, reputations. I didn't pre-make the characters, but had notes on which 'slots' would be appropriate for what classes. I was going to distribute the 'public info' on all of the villagers and the 'open slots', then let them decide which families they wanted to be from and what their relationships with the other PCs was like.

Once, I ran a solo game that began with the PC pursued by wolves through snow - no character creation on her part whatsoever. She caught sight of her reflection and I asked her to tell me what she saw, and that was the extent of her decisionmaking about the character. The central theme of the campaign was her rediscovering her memory and skills.

J

 

[willpax]

The canpaign I run actually has all pregenerated characters. I made up eight characters, complete with backgrounds tailored for the specific setting, and allowed the players to pick one (with only 6 players, I wanted to have some room for choice). I did this for several reasons, not least of which was the fact that all of us were new to 3rd edition, and I had troubled myself to study the rules the best. I also wanted to be able to create a very specific social situation with various characters and backgrounds.

What I did: used a point buy system and tried to give each character some definite strengths within the group. I statred them at first level. The personality of their character and their subsequent development are completely up to them.

I have not found that the players are any less attached to these characters than they have been to their own characters. Of course, there is a great deal more room for player preference in the sequence I have described than in some situations where pregenerated characters are used.