Forked Thread: How difficult are 3.xE characters to create?

[Crothian]

Not necessarily.

If you build your character wrong.

I think wrong is not the correct word. You can build a character weak, but unless you are not following the rules the character will be right. Being effective depends as much on the player as it does the character. One of the first one shots I ran for 3e was PCs that were races and classes that were weak together. It worked out just fine and people still talk about the Fellowship of the Flute.

 

[Vegepygmy]

It is intersting to note that it seems people choose to take this long. They don't have to as most people readily admit they can make a character must faster.

This is my answer. You can generate a perfectly viable 3.5 character in very little time. Or, if you choose to do so, you can spend many hours tweaking it to perfection.

 

[Crothian]

This is my answer. You can generate a perfectly viable 3.5 character in very little time. Or, if you choose to do so, you can spend many hours tweaking it to perfection.

Perfect in what way? Are you perfecting the build or the concept or something else?

 

[Shades of Green]

What I think I've learned from this thread is that one of the major issues with 3.xE was not the amount of options available per se, but their interdependency. Since later features (such as higher-level feats and PrCs) require certain earlier choices, they force the player to plan the character many ahead, not to mention making 'legal' high-level NPC creation a difficult chore for the DM.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

There is no difficulty in creating High Level NPC's. Its based on the individual Dm. I can plan out and stat up a 40th level BBEG in about 20 minutes. Thats not alot considering everything. If you want some generic high level guy you can do that in about 5 minutes. Simply, even less if you recycle stats like I do.

The game doesnt require you to plan out a character way In advance.
I prefer to make a character that way, and Ive played with plenty of people that do not plan and have just as effective characters as me. There are retraining rules that if done right could allow you to totally rebuild your character. Sure they didnt exist before the PHB II, but im sure some groups houserules it.

 

[billd91]

I can usually dash out a concept and stats on a 1st level PC in about 10-15 minutes. I definitely don't plan out all of my advances nor worry about qualifying for a prestige class at first opportunity. Not my style of play.

 

[RFisher]

I agree with both of the quotes in the first post.

It often doesn’t take me long to create a 3e PC because I usually create something very straightforward without a lot of tweaking.

If I’m not using that complexity, then—for me—there’s really no need for it. Thus, I prefer a less complex system.

If the DM and/or other players want the extra complexity, though, I’m happy to let them have it and chart my more straightforward path through it.

And oddly enough, I not having a carefully tweaked PC hasn’t hindered my effectiveness or enjoyment of the game.