Character portfolios as products

[Frostmarrow]

Would you consider buying a character portfolio? With character portfolio I mean a book that contains information on one pre-made character. Levels 1-20 all statted out and with suggested gear. One character that will have gotten the full treatment with illustrations, contacts, romantic interest, home, and even resurrection options. Personality, quirks, mannerisms and sayings. Throw in a custom record sheet and, if possible, a pre-painted miniature glued to the cover.

You could use it for a full campaign or for a one off if the DM says "I've got this adventure for 7th level characters" and you haven't got the time to prepare.

 

[Clueless]

Mmmm - I know I wouldn't bother. That sort of defeats the purpose when it comes to role playing for me - the character is *my* job as a player. Even in the hypothetical one-off, then you'd be wasting all of the rest of the resource as there's no guarantee the DM will be even remotely interested in integrating all those contacts and interests for it.
It's just not worth it as far as I'm concerned.

 

[SiderisAnon]

You should have a poll attached to this thread.

For my gaming style, that has to be one of the most useless products. There are a number of such ones out there, and I have never seen the purpose for buying them. Maybe for a DM who needs a good returning villain who can increase in abilities as the party does. Personally, any important NPC is going to be tailored by me to exactly what I want. Any PC of mine is guaranteed to be my own creation.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I cannot ever see myself paying money for something like this. I don't want to play somebody else's idea of a character for 20 levels and as SiderisAnon said, if I need an NPC, I'll craft my own or maybe pilfer something similar from another adventure.

 

[Shade]

No way! Character creation and planning are among the things I enjoy most as a player.

 

[sjmiller]

I can't honestly think of a reason I would ever buy something like that. As a player, I like my characters to be organic, growing from their experiences, not planned out in advance. As a DM, I prefer to make my own histories and backgrounds for important NPCs, and the rest just need brief information. What I could use is a way to create character portraits quickly and easily. What you described has, unfortuntely, never been something I needed.

 

[RangerWickett]

E.N. Publishing tried it with The Ironics, which is a book containing pre-statted PCs of each core class (25 characters in all), intended for quick use in one-shots or convention games.

It never received the level of popularity I had expected. Though it has proven useful when I need to playtest something with minimal work on my part.

 

[Rhun]

I have to agree with everyone else here. I would not be interested in that type of product.

 

[Tuzi]

I personally would not.
Creating an own character is something, I enjoy most in D&D. A character portfolio is maybe good for people who are less creative, so it is probably useful for them.
But I would never use a premade character. Okay, it would save much time, but for me investing time in a character creation is very important. Especially when I'm going to play this character for a whole campaign.

 

[Meloncov]

I'd have no interest in it as a player. I might consider buying one for a recurring NPC.