How long does it take you to create a PC?

[johnnype]

I'm not complaining as I actually enjoy making characters but I'm noticing that creating a PC takes me far longer than most other people. I'm sure a large part of it is due to the fact that most of the characters I make are higher level (15+) and always include at least one Prestige Class. As a result it's not uncommon for me to take in excess of 4 hours to throw something together. If I'm not too familiar with some of the rules surrounding one of the classes in question then it could take even longer.

The most time consumming NPC's I've ever created is:

10th Level Cleric/ 10th Level Silverstar (Forgotten Realms) At one point this character can become a lycanthrope so the writeup gets a little long.

I'm currently working on an Air Genasi - Psichic Warrior 7/ Order of the bow Initiate 2/ Peerles Archer 8. Fun but a lot of work.

 

[megamania]

Varies greatly. A fighter type and I'm done in 1/2 hour to an hour. Anyone with spells or psionics takes longer. About the four hours you mentioned.

To speed things up, I have a four page sheet pre typed. It allows for up to three classes and racial bonuses to be added up on Saves, Melees, Skills.

So If I created a Level 1 Fighter, 1 Ranger and 1 Barbarian I would have a section listed as bonus for each and how they add up. Sounds harder than it is.

The flip side is I have a page for magics and psionics. On this page I break down DCs, powers, ranges, Duration and effects which I need to do each time which takes time.


Example using one of my Characters- a Fighter 3/Psy Warr 3
total class class class ability temp feats/racial
one two three mod mod magic item
FORT +10 +03 +03 +00 +04 +00 +00
REF +06 +01 +01 +00 +04 +00 +00
WILL +06 +01 +01 +00 +04 +00 +00

Works well and makes it quick and easy.

 

[Hardhead]

Get PCGen!

Once you get used to it, you can create characters fast, even with really unusual combinations of monsters with PC classes (and even PrC classes) and lots of noncore material.

It takes me about 15 minutes to half an hour to create ~13th level characters (where my group is right now), depending on if he's a spellcaster or not, and how much time I have to spend on spell selection.

Unfortuanately, a lot of the noncore material isn't in PCGen until the new data sets become available in the next few weeks (and then you'll have to pay a small price to download them) but it'll probalby be worth it. (I'm using some *really* old data sets still, that's I've upkept for a long time and kept them in working order).

Anyway, I find that PCGen is a *huge* help for me. I don't know what I'd do without it. I've heard a lot of people say Campaign Suite is nice too. If you want to speed up character creation, you might want to think about picking up one of these.

 

[Drew]

It seems as though I'm never truly finished creating a character. I'm always rewriting and refining. It doesn't help that I'm the DM...

Generally speaking, though, I find I take a little longer to produce high level characters. Something about assigning skill points, especially for multiclassed characters just makes my head hurt. I find that I'm far better at it if I can do it one level at a time, but that slows things way down.

I've been known to use E-Tools for nothing more than skill point assignment. Kind of pathetic, but way faster than paper and pencil. D&D desperately needs a good, quality electronic character generator.

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

I usually need a couple of days to hone in on the character's personnality, background, until i'm satisfied with it, but I rarely spend more than an hour making a character. Of course, they've all been low-level, basic characters.

TS