Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 5992288" data-attributes="member: 1465">I was required to use the "meeting" method the very first time I played D&D in the 90s. I totally hated it, because I rolled poorly and could not meet the requirements for any of the classes allowed, at which point I just had to ask the DM if he was going to let me play at all... IIRC he winged the scores so that I could qualify for a class, the one which I was least interested into. I complained but I still played and I still had enough fun that I soon became the biggest fan of RPG in my group of friends.A few years later I started RPGing more regularly, and in my first 3ed game as a player I practically let the dice decide my fate... not with stats (I did rearrange them) but by letting everybody else at the table choose their class & race before I made my choice. I was just so anxious to play the new edition that I wanted to try all classes and races, so who cared which one first?I think the "meeting" method can be a lot of fun for mature gamers, but I would strongly discourage inexperienced gamers to do it. Beginners should start with freedom of choice (although maybe with some limitations on the usable material so that they are not overwhelmed, but that's a completely separate issue) and should never be forced into a character concept they don't like. But once you are experienced, the "meeting" method can be refreshing, causes you to think out-of-the-box, and provide more challenge (of course you must be willing to get that).An additional potential problem is ending up with a poorly assorted group of PCs, such as all charismatic weaklings or all rogues or all fighters etc. But this is an additional challenge for the experienced groups. And keep in mind that you cannot avoid the same problem when you let everybody choose their characters: if they all come up with similar PCs and you don't accept that, you still have to force them to play something else.Bottom line: never impose this on players like they did on me... Murphy's law will make sure that those who don't like the idea will be the most punished by using it. Always make sure that everyone understands that they may end up with a bad PC and willing to play such character, otherwise avoid the idea altogether</blockquote>

Verification