Brand New Players: Make Character, or use Sample Character?

[Stalker0]

When talking about character creation, there is always this tradeoff:

1) I want character creation to have lots of options.

vs

2) I want character creation to be dead simple, especially for new players.

I am strongly in the first camp myself. I like character creation to be an involved process that gives me a lot of options.

However, I recognize the problem for new players. My thought was....should new players be making characters at all?

What is we just had a big list of sample characters that had in general.....wait for it......"roles" that allow the player to play what they want. Then once they have a taste for the game, then they can step up to the big boys (or girls) table and make a character.

To me this is a great compromise and would be easy to implement. But what are your thoughts:

Should a new player make a character the first time they play, or should they choose a sample character and play them?

 

[Umbran]

New players - play a sample session with pregenerated characters so you see the rules and world a bit, then create a full character.

But, that's a campaign building thing, not a rules thing.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Teaching someone to play D&D by doing character creation for them is roughly equivalent to teaching someone to play baseball by putting your arms around, grabbing the bat, and swinging it for them. That is to say, it might be okay for very small children, but it's insulting and pointless for everyone else to try to play the game for them.

Character creation is a fundamentally important part of the game, and it's critical for new players to be engaged and feel ownership of their character. It's also a great way to learn the basic rules. It's much easier to understand what strength, dexterity, and consitution are if you're putting them into practice by assigning ability scores to your character.

A beginner product that walks you through a reasonably complete character creation is fine; it's basically a surrogate for having an experienced teacher. Pregens for convention gaming and the like are fine. But a new player needs to be given the opportunity to make the character of their choosing and should be encouraged to do so and supported in doing so.

 

[delericho]

If at all possible, new players should be able to create their own custom character.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

1st level should not allow for many choices. Character building should happen in the first few levels.
There would be no harm, if the first few levels are very fast to achieve (One or two combats each level.) At level 5 you have all your abilities you expect from a lvl 1 4e or 3.5 character.
Experienced players start from level 5.

Or: Expert level 1 as you call it.
The former levels are called: novice levels.

 

[TerraDave]

I think rolling those dice the first time for your ability scores is a crucial first rite of D&D initiation.

 

[Reynard]

If the application of options is simple, you can still provide lots of options even for new players. For example you could have a tiered character generation tree, where each tier is a more specific archetype. Warrior, rogue or wizard? Warrior. Light, heavy or ranged? Light. Martial artist, swashbuckler or scout? Swashbuckler. Musketeer or Pirate? Each tier provides a specific mechanical element and by the end, with stats rolled and race chosen, the player not only has her first character, but the one she wants to play.

The worst part of character creation IMO, especially for the newbie, is equipment. Ugh. For my recent B/X one shot I created a standard package for any adventurer. D&D should do the same.

 

[was]

create their own

 

[amerigoV]

I vote get them into the game. Have a some pregens and go. Once they decide they like the game, then help them make a character. Sitting around helping them pick a feat or allocate that last skill point vs. GAMING is just going to lose them.

(hell, even WOW just says "pick a race, pick a class, and play" -- you do not make a decision until about level 10 (by that time you know if you like the PC or not).

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I think both methods have their place. For a quick introduction I'd go with a pregen, but if you are about to launch an ongoing campaign, I think think creating the character is important.