How much do you plan your characters?

[Lord Mhoram]

I figure out my classes and which levels to get which class level, I plan out my feats - not nessisarily when to get them, unless I need to know for prereqs for something, but a basic list of what I want in feats - that can change due to play and what happens.
Skills, and such yeah whatever - just when I get the level.

 

[KB9JMQ]

I pick class and race and let the campaign help decide the rest.

 

[was]

Roughly, 1 or 2 levels ahead at the most. I like my characters to develop along with the campaign instead of the DM having to modify it to fit some preset character goals that may or may not jive with the campaign.

 

[Voadam]

My longterm face to face and e-mail game as a player I have the character path planned down to level 20. Mostly. I have a few different paths for the last three levels that I have not definitively decided on.

For the pbp games I don't really expect them to last long enough for the PCs to level. Today was the second time I've ever had to advance a pbp character up a level. So for those games I pick what looks like will be fun at the time I'm playing them instead of what's down the road.

 

[MirrorMask]

I like to let my characters grow along with where the story takes them (ie: what experiences do they gain from the story). Then I will pick and choose which skills to take or feat to take or PrC to take depending on what my character is using most at the time. But I will admit that I DO sometimes pick a PrC in the beginning that I will aim for.... BUT half of the time that PrC changes as my character grows.

So I chose "other"

-MirrorMask

 

[Wombat]

I do a bit of planning ahead for my characters, but ultimately the dictates of the campaign and my character's reaction to them are more important than the long view.

Just like in Real Life (r), you can plan all you want, but ultimately you get hit on a blind side and have to shift directions.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm an "other" because I'm an "all of the above" kinda guy. I've used all of the above, depending on the specific PC concept.

 

[MadMaxim]

When it comes to my characters, I'm a planner all the way. I plan every level, every feat and every skill point. Of course, I try to do so within the range of the setting and the campaign, but otherwise I can go really crazy with prestige classes and feats! Yes, I really love the current edition of D&D

 

[Glyfair]

Depends on the character. My current character I have planned to 10th level, except for his 5th level bonus feat (I'm stuck between one of two).

 

[AIM-54]

I picked 1-5, though I really fall at the low end of that scale. Ultimately, like many here, it depends on the character and the concept. If I have a strong concept (such as my Russian Cavalryman in the Sidewinder: Recoiled/d20M game I'm playing in now), I'll look at PRCs and feats 1 or 2 levels ahead and to ensure I have the skills I need for anything further down (as it's likely I'll have a shot at 2nd PRC). In the previous game, I sorta took it as it came, as I had no particularly defined path for the character. It worked out and I think the single-class was right for that character.