Character creation time

[S'mon]

Quas, you're quite right, the time taken to make a new 3e PC is far from excessive. The time taken to make a new _NPC_, though... *ugh*

Thank goodness for Henry's Quick NPC System.

 

[Ysgarran]

How long it takes to create a character, especially a high-level NPC is why I really like computer program aids that are available. I really wish that the various publishers would make it easier to expand the various programs (i.e. I would love to get an corresponding expansion to my computer programs for the various 'complete' series or 'Races' series).

Ysgarran.

 

[MonsterMash]

Low level characters for 3e are not too bad its mainly high level ones including NPCs that are the hard work

 

[diaglo]

3d6 six times in order. Str, Int, Wis, Con, Dex, Cha . 3d6 x 10 for gps. 1d6 for hps.
how hard is that?

 

[Crothian]

3d6 six times in order. Str, Int, Wis, Con, Dex, Cha . 3d6 x 10 for gps. 1d6 for hps.
how hard is that?

what is a d6??

 

[jgbrowning]

what is a d6??

It's the one you keep rolling after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th character have died....

joe b.

 

[IronWolf]

If we are talking a character I am going to play in a game (as opposed to an NPC) it probably takes me about and hour, perhaps a little over. That is not so much as a factor of the mechanics of 3.5 but that I like to get everything just right. How do I envision this character? What race and class best meet this vision? Are their skills and feats I should take to help me design the character in the likeness I have in mind. What's his history, what are his motivations, etc. I count all of this as part of the character creation process so it pads my time!

 

[Zappo]

I take a lot of time to make a PC... but that's because I like to think my concept very thoroughly before I even pick up a pencil. Once I have that in mind, I can make a first level character in five to ten minutes.

Making high level characters takes a lot longer, obviously. I can make a 10th level character in half an hour to one hour. I made an epic Sorcerer 15/Incantrix 10/Archmage 5 once, and it took me several hours.

If we're talking NPCs, it's a lot faster. I'll just pick arbitrary stat scores, max every skill, and pick mostly standard spells; it takes me about half the time needed for a PC.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

It varies for me depending on the level of the campaign and the setting. Basic homebrew with no obvious restrictions take less time than a more involved and detailed homebrew and I haven't taken alot of time with an FR character, except for figuring out where they're from.... and if I want to take advantage of a 'regional feat'. I don't think it took too long to work out my 11th level cleric's stuff as I had an idea where I was going.....

The longest, IMO, is picking out higher level characters' magic items. That, I think, takes the MOST time in the creation process.

And backstories come later, usually MUCH later. If at all.... I had one character who never had a backstory until much later when it was only "he's a bastard, raised by his elven mother but never given an elven surname and, due to racial tensions, left to go out on his own"... The most I've gone is a page. I figure the more I put, the more I'm apt to forget.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Using some of the available software, I can create a character in less time than in takes me to type this sentence.