DM Forcing Characters on Players

[LazerPointer]

I can see the temptation for a DM, but it seems pretty unfair to the players. Sure, the DM'll have things go the way he likes, and won't have to revise/change the story he thought of to fit the players, but as others have already stated the players will have less ownership of their characters.

to me this starts from making the story then the players. why not just have them make the players they want, then make the story?

 

[Orius]

I picked the first no option. Although I don't consider it an "affront" to any sort of D&D "tradition", I know right off I would never play a game like this. As a DM, I do not force players to play characters not of their choosing. Any character they create though, they're saddled with, even if they regret taking certain skills/feats/classes etc later. As a player, I want the freedom to choose what kind of character I play; if a DM is going to foist a character upon me that I don't want to play, then he can just damn well get a new player.

Some additions:

I don't mind playing pregens in a one-shot. But then this poll is about campaigns after all, not one-shots. I don't even mind choosing from a pool of pregens at the beginning of a campaign, provided the DM doesn't use it as an opportunity to choice stomp me. So I'd prefer a pregen that's basically just stats, and no backgrounds or personality that the DM will try to use as a straightjacket. I also resent the DMs who want to see me play different types of characters. I like playing wizards, fighters, and barbarians. I hate, loathe, and despise clerics and druids and to a lesser extent bards. If a DM insists on me playing a character I don't like, I'll walk. Let me play the character I want.
Now as a DM, I'd use pregens for novice players or maybe a player that like the convenience, but I'd expect experienced players to be able to make their own characters.

 

[francisca]

In campaign play, I've never had, or forced, a character on me or one of my players.

However, for one-shots with a pile of pre-gens, yes. And it has worked well in that environment.

 

[Black Spiral Dancer]

I chose "Mixed reaction." I've suggested a game like this before and recieved a luke warm response from my players. You have to be careful in the way in which you do this, but I believe a talented DM (not myself, obviously) can pull it off.

 

[reanjr]

Two campaigns I have set up like this.

The first was a homebrew where every race and class was represented either in a single family or close relationships with a family. Three characters were siblings, there was a half-elf bastard who was their cousin, who had an elf half-brother (not a bastard), and there was a dwarf servent of the family, and a gnome and halfling who were friends of his. I don't recall where the half-orc fit in, but it did. The players got to choose which character they wanted to play and could even swap out characters between adventures. This was back when I had a very unstable group of players, so this worked out as all the characters being related and noble, they had good reason to come and go.

The second was a Dragonlance campaign. I made a character for pretty much every class, including major prestige classes. This campaign was an experiment on using characters of wildly differing levels in the same party. Basically, each prestige class character had the absolute minimum number of levels required to become that prestige class. The players got to chose a 1st level character of what class they wanted, or take one of the prestige classes whose path was already set and be higher level. The campaign ended too quickly for me to really make any kind of judgement on that, though.

 

[Afrodyte]

There isn't a response there that's appropriate to my experiences and techniques.

I have played and DMed campaigns (not one-shots) with pregen characters, with mixed success. For the most part, it worked well (more on this later), and in the case where it didn't work, it was my fault.

The time I played in a game where I was handed a pregen character, it was more or less a template that I got to tinker with a little bit. It wasn't a D&D game, but it was adventure-based. I enjoyed my character a lot since the DM knew me well enough not to hand me something that would make me cringe when I saw it.

The other times I've used pregens was as a DM. Neither one of these were D&D games, but I don't think the system really matters when discussing specific techniques. I have done this twice. In both cases, it was a matter of expediency. There simply wasn't enough time to spend a whole session or most of a session explaining the system to a newcomer and then creating a character. One was good, the other not so good.

The not so good one was not so good because instead of relating the pregens to the main characters, I sort of just had them hanging around. They were definitely interesting, and their stories would have been entertaining to pursue, but their backgrounds were not connected to those of the other characters in any way. It made playing within the group awkward, to say the least, since I had created no reason for the pregens to be around the other characters.

The good one was good because I did a few things right. First of all, I had a pool of pregens. There was no assigning specific characters to specific players. There were simply enough pregens so that every player had more than one option, and no one would be stuck with something simply because it was at the bottom of the pile. Also, I applied a bit of GM rat bastadry and laced each character with traits that would appeal to specific players. It worked so well that I chuckled with manaical glee within the deep recesses of my demented mind. Second of all, I only developed the characters well enough to play with them, but not more. I deliberately left a few things open for the players to fill in. Most didn't take advantage of this, but one did, and he benefited from it. Unfortunately, the good things I did here were lost when I created the pregens for the campaign above.

All in all, for pregens to work, I think there has to be flexibility. You have to leave enough room to give the players an opportunity to use his own creativity to flesh out the character beyond what you see at the gaming table (like parts of the character's background and motives) as well as for the things you do get to witness during the game (like appearance, personality and mannerisms). Try creating different levels and types of details for pregens. Some might be fully fleshed-out PCs, perhaps characters you had envisioned as NPCs but could easily join a party. Some might be a general role in the campaign and numbers on the character sheet. Others could have detailed backgrounds and motives with plenty of plot hooks but not much in the way of statistics beyond the basics. You also have to have enough options so that there will be something that will appeal to any one of your players. I would hate to be the one stuck with playing something I really, really don't like. If you are too rigid with the pregens, the players will rightfully feel forced into playing them, and they will enjoy it less.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

In my last PBEM game I created almost all the PCs and had interested players submit biographies for them. I then selected those players whose submissions I liked the best.

 

[SamSpectre]

Usually, I allow people to make their own characters. But there are some definite advantages to pre-generated ones. 1) balance, 2) storytelling. These things are made easier on the DM by having pre-generated characters. Another advantage, perhaps the greatest of them, is that a well-developed pre-generated character may force the player to adopt a new playing style and attitude than they usually do. This gives the campaign a much needed dose of variety. I think that left up to their own devices, players tend to create characters with the same feel, over, and over again. Path of least resistance role-playing. This isn't a criticism really, just a trend that I've seen (and am guilty of when I make a PC). Pre-generated characters can be a lot of fun, so long as your players are up to it.

 

[zeist]

ditto.

I ran a one shot game with pregenerated characters, It was a disaster.
I think the main problem was thatthe players had no investment in the characters.

I think pre-generated characters are fine for one-shots, and mini-campaigns.

For a longer game, I vastly prefer to make my own character...

 

[Umbran]

I picked the first no option. Although I don't consider it an "affront" to any sort of D&D "tradition", I know right off I would never play a game like this.

This attitude I honestly don't understand. "Never" is a long time, and is absolute. Under no circumstances, ever?

Do you read any of the storyhours? There are some great games there. And for some of them, if the GM of the game said, "I want you to play in my game, but I need you to play this character", I'd still jump at the chance.

I don't even mind choosing from a pool of pregens at the beginning of a campaign, provided the DM doesn't use it as an opportunity to choice stomp me. So I'd prefer a pregen that's basically just stats, and no backgrounds or personality that the DM will try to use as a straightjacket.

Hamlet, Lear, Lady Macbeth, Don Quixote, Willy Loman - a whole list of characters folks didn't write for themselves, but would die for a chance to play.

Why do you view it as "foisting" or "choice stomping" and "straightjacketing"? Why don't you view it as a challenge, a chance to extend your role-playing ability? Why do you focus on what you don't like about it, rather than what you migt be able to get from it?

As you yourself demonstrate, players sometimes get into patterns. They'll only play X,Y, or Z, and nothing else. There's a fine line between being in the groove, and being in a rut - sticking to a pattern can lead to having your characters always be the same. Playing something you didn't pick for yourself, and doing your best to play it well, is a good way to make sure you stay out of the rut.

I occasionally play White Wolf games. But never vampires. I have an intense dislike for the pop-culture view of vamps, and refused to play one. Until my favorite WW GM said that he *needed* me to play a vampire (and he honestly did need someone to play one). So, I sat down and thought long and hard about hnow I could construct a vampire I could tolerate playing. The end result was one of my favorite characters. I still don't like playing vampires in general, but I liked him.