Do you like character building?

[radmod]

Choosing mechanics is indistinguishable from building the personality for me.

That's what it is for me, too. As usually a GM/DM, I use character building as a tool for the world creation (many of my worlds are/can be created on the fly). I might have some amorphous idea, and then a character says "for my background, I ..." Then, suddenly, my world changes.

Am I the only one, upon reading the title, went "Duh! Of course!", thinking the thread meant "do you like it when people build up their character, via roleplaying and such?"

 

[coyote6]

I'm entitled to an opinion, too, right?

I dunno - did you pay the points for it?

I'm fine with making characters; since my all-time favorite game systems are probably GURPS, Champions, D&D 3e, and M&M, that's probably a good thing.

I am not such a fan of overkill character "optimization" to the point of breaking the system (and I kind of hate the term "build"). OTOH, I am also probably prone to it somewhat (I have a lot of GURPS characters with DX 13, IQ 13, and almost every Champions character had Dex 20, 23, or 29). But CharOp-style super builds isn't really my bag.

 

[scruffygrognard]

I enjoy "building" a character, no matter the system. 3.5 and its derivatives lends itself to complex, pre-planned characters (which I enjoy) BUT I also enjoy creating characters for simpler systems like C&C and Traveller.

 

[BlubSeabass]

Choosing feats, skills, traits, plan A's and plan B's; I simply love it. I love it so much, that I take up way too much time tweaking NPC's while writing adventures. Creating monsters is even better, because they need to be challenging and balanced. It's game mechanics, and I love playing with game mechanics.

 

[Sunseeker]

I should ad an addendum that I love to create characters, personality, history, that kind of stuff, but I hate the mechanical aspect.

 

[WheresMyD20]

I really dislike character building. I used to be more neutral on the subject until 2 events soured me on it:

1) I was playing in a 3e tournament and one of the players on our team kept whining about how the 15th level rogue he'd been given was so poorly built. He spent lots of tournament time going over all the changes he would have made if he could. The point of the tournament format is to work with what you're given, be a team, and come up with creative in-game solutions to challenges. All he would do is whine about how he had all the wrong feats and skills. The worst part is that he had a really high UMD skill and an arsenal of scrolls, wands, and other magic devices that he never even tried to use once even after a couple of other players pointed it out to him.

2) I went to a 3e D&D meetup and one of the guys there repeatedly asked if anyone would start up a campaign so he could "test a character build". <rolleyes>Yeah, right, I'm going to go through all the trouble of putting a group together, organizing a campaign, and writing up adventures just so that you can test out a build idea you had.</rolleyes>

After these two events, I came to realize that I really value playing with a group that focuses on what's going on during the game rather than focusing on min-maxing characters out of the game.

 

[Ainamacar]

After these two events, I came to realize that I really value playing with a group that focuses on what's going on during the game rather than focusing on min-maxing characters out of the game.

Since these things are not mutually exclusive, wouldn't it be fairer to say that you can't stand playing with a group that won't stop min-maxing characters (or thinking of them only in those terms) even when at the table? In both your examples it seems to me that the problem is the players, not the building mechanics per se. Respectfully, I think your distaste is misplaced.

In my case I love building characters mechanically, and I absolutely try to follow the don't be a jerk rule at the table, even if it means nerfing a character at the DM's request. And when I DM I'm free to optimize to my heart's content (I'm mostly thinking of 3.5 here). If I end up making a surprisingly effective build, no problem, the effective CR (or equivalent) goes right up. If it's totally broken, I don't use it. The joy is in the journey, and then in the good sense to share it rightly.

 

[steenan]

I like character building. And by character building I mean both fluff (background, personality, relations, goals) and mechanics. It is especially fun if they tie strongly together (traits in DitV, aspects in Fate, motivation and intimacies in Exalted), instead of being separate layers.

What I like is taking my concept, tying it with the setting, putting it on concrete systemic terms in a way that will be interesting in play.

What I don't like is putting together mechanical items that don't correspond coherently to in-game reality, especially any kind of "combos" that depend on specific rules and not on what they represent in setting. I also don't like it when a game forces me to use multiple books or jump back and forth between various rules (eg. when many parts of a character have requirements that must be satisfied by other parts).

 

[Lanefan]

I love coming up with character ideas, personalities, etc. but I've little to no use for the mechanics or the "building" process...particularly in a more mechanics-based system like 3.x where my often-wacky character ideas didn't exactly add much to the party optimization.

I just want to drop the puck and get on with it. Often when I need a quick NPC for my game I roll the base stats and HP; figure out possessions, AC, and languages (can it even talk to the party?); write these down on whatever little shred of paper happens to be nearby, and dream up the rest on the fly. Then if it has joined or is joining the party, during the week I sit down and write out the character sheet...unless it has already died, in which case its character sheet *is* the little shred....

Lan-"optimization is a 4-letter word anyway"-efan

 

[DumbPaladin]

I do enjoy character building, actually. I seem to be in the minority. I don't do it when there's no reason to do so, but my current character took Leadership a few levels back, and I am finding I enjoy putting a brief backstory & personality sketch to each of my 18 followers.

The mechanics of choosing feats, skills, and the like is the most time-consuming and the least interesting, but since it has a direct effect on helping me figure out the character's background and personality, I get through it okay.