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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5657444" data-attributes="member: 996">I'll agree that for a campaign, it's better for players to create their own characters.  (Though one of the players who recently joined the campaign I'm currently in /is/ playing a pre-gen - it was from a playtest we did, and he just liked the character so much he's sticking with it.)However, jumping into a campaign that could go for a long time is not the best introduction to the game.  Playing an isolated session, where you don't have to worry about how your character's future, is a much better way to pick up the mechanics and get a feel for the game.  And, we agree that pregens are the better choice for that.  Once a new player has played a few times - and, preferably, a few different characters or classes - making a character is a better idea.  They have an idea of what they're getting into, and can make a good choice of class/race/concept - not 'good' in the powergamey sense, 'good' in the sense of 'this is a character I want to play.'  They should by then, with that little experience, having looked at/played/seen played a number of characters, and/or a little help, be able to build a perfectly viable character for a campaign - that they have a good chance of actually sticking with and enjoying for a while.No, it's just fine.  I rather like it, because, as a game like D&D grows and becomes more and more complex, the trap/must-have options and broken combos, proliferate, and character generation does become like onto a game in itself - one that you can 'win' or 'lose.'And, jumping into a full-featured campaign can be a nightmare for a new player.  The sort of 'training-wheel' effect some (OK, most) Essentials classes have can help with that, in a sense.  It's harder to make glaring errors with such characters, for instance.  But, there's also less to be learned from them.  If you play some well-done pregens, you get an idea of who characters can be built effectively (and probably some ideas of things you'd like to do a little differently).  If you build a character yourself, you make mistakes - and learn from them.  If you build it with some help, you avoid mistakes as they're pointed out, and you're being 'taught.'  Just cobbling together an 'easy mode' character leaves you effective out the gate, which has got to be good for morale, but you don't learn much from it.  And, if you're playing a character that's radically different in structure from others, the little you are learning is only narrowly aplicable.  So, Essentials easier for new players?  Yes.  Better?  Not so much.</blockquote>

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