Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Characters are not their statistics and abilities
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 6933920" data-attributes="member: 20564"><p>To address the OP's point about optimizing needed to support the group:</p><p></p><p>One point about D&D (and many other RPGs), is that certain activities it's fine to have one or just a few characters proficient while combat everyone is expected to contribute meaningfully. I think it's because of the mechanical processes it's the longest in terms of wall clock time.</p><p></p><p>Addressing combat first: in my experience, a group has the most fun when the characters are all in the same ballpark in terms of effectiveness. A outlier, either significantly more powerful or significantly less powerful, tends not to be as much fun. Though "more powerful" tends to overshadow others, while "less powerful" seems more to reduce fun for yourself.</p><p></p><p>Caveat: a support or defensive character who's significantly more powerful then the group average doesn't seem annoy, while a character who kills foes and/or does the same niche as another character but is much more powerful then average garners more annoyance.</p><p></p><p>(BTW, to show my own biases: I enjoy making well wrought mechanical characters. I've also brought up to DMs when I thought I was outshining others and have volunteered to "detune" characters. I also love RPing and am happy with pure-RP sessions just as much as anything else, and have had characters do stupid things both tactically and plot-wise to follow their motivations.)</p><p></p><p>So, while I think everyone has some responsibility not to create sub-optimal characters, I don't think you have a <u>responsibility</u> to make as mechanically powerful character as you can. If that's where your group is calibrated at, go for it. But if not, then trying to match the effectiveness of the group will probably bring the most fun. (Note: if your fellow players are open to suggestions, giving them advice to bring up the average also meets this criteria. Just don't be pushy.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Blue, post: 6933920, member: 20564"] To address the OP's point about optimizing needed to support the group: One point about D&D (and many other RPGs), is that certain activities it's fine to have one or just a few characters proficient while combat everyone is expected to contribute meaningfully. I think it's because of the mechanical processes it's the longest in terms of wall clock time. Addressing combat first: in my experience, a group has the most fun when the characters are all in the same ballpark in terms of effectiveness. A outlier, either significantly more powerful or significantly less powerful, tends not to be as much fun. Though "more powerful" tends to overshadow others, while "less powerful" seems more to reduce fun for yourself. Caveat: a support or defensive character who's significantly more powerful then the group average doesn't seem annoy, while a character who kills foes and/or does the same niche as another character but is much more powerful then average garners more annoyance. (BTW, to show my own biases: I enjoy making well wrought mechanical characters. I've also brought up to DMs when I thought I was outshining others and have volunteered to "detune" characters. I also love RPing and am happy with pure-RP sessions just as much as anything else, and have had characters do stupid things both tactically and plot-wise to follow their motivations.) So, while I think everyone has some responsibility not to create sub-optimal characters, I don't think you have a [u]responsibility[/u] to make as mechanically powerful character as you can. If that's where your group is calibrated at, go for it. But if not, then trying to match the effectiveness of the group will probably bring the most fun. (Note: if your fellow players are open to suggestions, giving them advice to bring up the average also meets this criteria. Just don't be pushy.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Characters are not their statistics and abilities
Top