D&D 5E How complex do you like your character creation process?

[el-remmen]

Spoiler

In the 5E mod my group is designing, we've added a prologue level (Level 0), where you only select your race and background and need 1000 XP before you select your class. Part of this the choices you make for race and background leads to other choices before you even begin playing.

It adds another layer of complexity to the character creation process and I am wondering how well received it might be by others. Obviously our group likes it since we made it for ourselves.

MCDM's Arcadia recently had an article on zero-level characters.

 

[The-Magic-Sword]

I love having lots of choices, Pathfinder 2e was really a breath of fresh air after the 5ish years of 5e we played after moving on from 4e. I think one critical component is that you have to design in such a way that players don't have to worry so much about trap options, that way the choices aren't hard to make, you CAN think carefully about mechanics to eke out that extra effectiveness, but the difference isn't that large, so you can also just choose stuff in a more expressive way and be alright (assuming you start with a maxed primary stat, but the game makes that easy)-- since there's less 'setup' for a build than in 4e or PF1e you can also think a lot more about versatility, so the whole process feels organic.

Throw in a character creation tool, and it takes less than 10 minutes, 5 minutes if you know what you're doing already.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

There's absolutely some benefits to having a very simple process. But for me the process of 5E is way too streamlined and uninteresting. The reality is that the players have almost no say in their skills and they barely increase over time. There's a bit of you made these choices during character creation, that's all the choices you'll do. So for me, definitely more than 5E.

But on the other hand, Starfinder was a bit much for me. My players had to dig through dozen of feats before even having played for a few minutes and it was very tedious. So definitely less than Starfinder.

I haven't played yet, but Pathfinder 2E seems to be a bit more streamlined than Starfinder, but offer much more playground than 5E. I might give that a try in 2022.

 

[Stormonu]

B/X, BECMI: a little too simple
Aliens/Tales from the Loop/Fate/WoD: as simple as I like
Savage Worlds/5E: about the level I feel comfortable
3E/Pathfinder: The high end I can tolerate; prefer an app to help me
Pathfinder 2E/Twilight 2000 (revised)/Rolemaster: boggle - find someone else or an app to do that!

 

[CleverNickName]

5E's typical character creation process (by the book, with limited "optional rules") really works for me. It's a great compromise between my two favorites: the over-simplified BECM rules and the oppressive, clunky 3.X rules.

 

[billd91]

Right now, 5e is hitting a sweet spot for me with respect to PC generation complexity. But for some non-D&Dish games, I do like more crunch - mostly the superhero games handled by point buy like Champions or Mutants and Masterminds. But then, that genre really does shine with that sort of generation method.

 

[Scribe]

I miss all my feats, and prestige classes and the wild array of requirements for both. 2e to PF1 is the correct range.

I actually cannot fathom feats not being a default in 5e, as they already stripped things out enough anyway.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I think versatility is important.

I chose option#2. I don't like to make too many choices at character creation. I like to watch characters develop organically as they are played.

However, sometimes I do like to sit back with a glass of wine and muddle over the details of a high level character, or an interesting combination of classes, races and feats.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Overall I like 5e's character creation. However it's a bit too dumbed down for my liking, and I do feel that backgrounds could be expanded, a few more classes could be added, and that all the classes should have some actual meaningful choices beyond subclass.

 

[jmartkdr2]

For myself: more. It's part of the reason one of my groups switched to PF2.

But for the game as a whole, I wish it was more variable. Some classes (or at least subclasses) should be pretty much plug-and-play - you're a champion, you're good to go.