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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark CMG" data-source="post: 5941457" data-attributes="member: 10479">Much in the same way that I feel "Story" is the by-product of gaming, not something the DM/GM can set from the beginning, I use builds organically.  That is to say that my characters have a simple background, geared toward the setting with some nod to stats and class (if appropriate to the game), and the initial character build is constructed to emulate and enhance those elements with an eye toward being good at what it is the character can likely do, taking into consideration the theme and genre of the game and setting.(I'm not a fan of self-sabotaging characters for the sake of making the game oddly interesting for yourself while simultaneously being a pain in the ass for the other players.  I recall one player who wished the others to scoot him around in a wheelbarrow because he said his 3 STR and 5 CON made it impossible for him to be fully independent in our gritty Medieval Fantasy setting.  He also wished to be a fighter, but a genius strategist and tactician with his 16 INT, who barked orders to the other characters in every combat.  That lasted about three hours of game time before they dumped him in a nearby ditch and sold the wheelbarrow!)Anyway, I do plan for the character by way of having goals and ambitions and tend to build the character onward based on a combination of those and whatever happens in-game, nature and nurture in fair proportions.  There's no doubt that in retrspect one would look at my characters and see a definite build, often seemingly optimized or close to it, but the character is never mapped from the beginning of the game with a full build in mind from a metagame perspective.</blockquote>

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