NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sheadunne" data-source="post: 6817398" data-attributes="member: 27570">This is where I have issue, not with you, but with the "PC concept." In a D&D sense (which I rarely play anymore), I wouldn't even have a concept in the works until level 5 or 6. I develop background during play not before play begins. I find it too restricting and want the freedom to develop the concept of character during play rather than before. I want the decisions made to influence and direct the PC's development. I don't come into play knowing any of that. I have a few personality traits, for example, grumpy dwarf, but not the why developed. Nor do I want it to be developed until I've been playing with the character a while. This is one of the reasons I don't find interest in pre-authored content. How can anything be pre-authored for my character when I don't know enough about the character yet. Frame him in a scene, see what emerges and what choices the character makes and move on from there. I find pre-authored sandbox play the most frustrating type of play. Choices are expected to be made when character hasn't even been developed yet. And so PCs head in a "random" direction and encounter a pre-authored situation which isn't connected to any of the characters. Since there's no connection to the character, because we haven't framed scenes to aid in that development, the pre-authored content doesn't force choices of consequence. Rescue the princess or not isn't a good choice when, am I good or evil hasn't even been tested yet. Am I moral character or not? Do I value gold or magic or ale? What's my motivation? I prefer choices that test those attributes of character before we even start talking about big plot points. Maybe we find out at the third session that one of the character's motivations is to buy and own a tavern because he just encounter an interesting barkeep. How could we have pre-authored that, when the player didn't know that was going to be of interest? Maybe another character is struggling with the killing of creatures and his desire for a life of luxury brought on by wealth? How do we answer the question with pre-authored content when the player didn't even know at the time of character creation, that it was going to be a complication with the character? \Anyway, I like a different type of game and a different way of having it played. I'm okay with that. But in 30+ years of gaming I have moved away from pre-authored games and now stick with the type I enjoy. As should everyone.</blockquote>

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