Long-term planning for D&D characters

[Jürgen Hubert]

It was recently pointed out to me that many players plan their D&D characters a long time in advance - often for five, ten, or even more levels. They need to do this to get precisely the combination of feats and prestige classes they want.

And somehow, this seems vaguely annoying. The life of an adventurer can be extremely varied, and logically, this should mean that a character constantly learns new things in response to his previous experiences - instead of focusing his training on a rigid advance scheme so that he can meet certain prerequisites for his favorite prestige class.

Should we accept this bit of metagaming that characters simply continue to advance into the direction of a specific goal, despite the fact that the character himself might not even have seen reason to learn specific skills or feats? Or should the prerequisite system be overhauled to allow for more spontaneity and variety during character advancement without obstructing future choices?

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Infernal Teddy]

Most people I know plan from one level to the next...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I tend to not plan my characters very far in advance. I usually instead let the PCs game experiences shape the advancement. If I have a specific goal, I let the DM know and hope they will help me get there by providing a story and experiences that make achieving the goal make some amount of sense.

 

[Remathilis]

My all-encompassing answer: It depends.

I've created 1-20 guides for PCs. Typically, if I'm going for a particular PrC or class combo, I stat it out to see when I can get into it and what my core numbers will look like (bab, saves). This is especially important for spontaneous casters: I am meticulous about what spells I'm going to pick next because even with the drop/replace mechanic of 3.5, its a long time to get stuck with a sucky spell.

However, I'm also flexible about how the campaign is going and will adapt my plan along the way. If my fighter's will save is getting him into a lot of trouble, I might forgo great cleave for iron will. If I'm making a character who is based around undead fighting and suddenly we smack into a long-term Githyanki incursion, I might change my focus. Or if I'm playing a charm-bard and we need extra healing, I'll take some healing/buff magic as well as charms. The trick is to adapt the plan to the campaign.

 

[rowport]

It was recently pointed out to me that many players plan their D&D characters a long time in advance - often for five, ten, or even more levels. They need to do this to get precisely the combination of feats and prestige classes they want.

And somehow, this seems vaguely annoying. ... Should we accept this bit of metagaming...?

Jurgen-

Why is early planning annoying or even metagaming? In your RL, did you not plan out your eduction goals, choose a career path, possibly earn specialized certification credit or training courses, and once there, choose opportunities for specific projects and/or jobs that would further your advancement?

It seems to me that for characters *not* to plan for their futures is *less* realistic, not *more*.

I suppose that strictly speaking, choosing feats and skills that are Prestige Class pre-reqs is metagaming, but if you abstract the concept, you might have similar requirements in RL (e.g. degrees, certifications, specific experience, etc.) so even that can be related to RL.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I've done both. In one campaign I've played in (WoW RPG), the characters level up relatively quickly--I've gotten three characters to epic level all within a couple of years. In that campaign, I usually plot out the advancement ahead of time, because the campaign is so fast-paced that I like to just save time.

In another campaign I've been playing in, advancement is slow (in part because we don't play as often--my character leveled up last session, but before that, she gained her last level in Dec. 2005). So, I can afford to wait; after all, several new books with interesting new options come out in between levels.

Dave

 

[Henry]

Keeping in mind that quite a few D&D players like the long-term strategy of planning their character out, just the planning itself is part of their enjoyment of the game. In Ye Olden Dayes, Long-term planning was pretty much planning to take proficiency in two levels for the magic weapon your group just discovered, or for Magic-users long-term planning was how to survive until you could toss off fireballs and cones of cold... After 1st level, your character's mechanics were set in stone, and pretty much put on autopilot, and planning was relegated to more story-based concerns.

Me, I will plan one or two levels ahead, but I don't like the whole "plan to take this Prestige Class by 10th level" business that many people are into; it doesn't have the right feel to me. But for others, it provides a strategic element that they enjoy in their games.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

From the DM's chair, I specifically designed my campaign world so that prestige classes could be planned from the get-go, if that's the way you want to take your character. Certain character types, just like certain types of people IRL, do things through meticulous planning. Some character types, just like certain other types of people IRL, just go with the flow. There's room for both in the game. The way to account for that, at least in my campaign, is to have the organizations associated with the prestige classes be the ones most associated with the feats, skills, and other prerequisites assocated with the prestige class. Adventurers in my campaign know that if you want to be a Shadowdancer, you need to go study with the slave-dancer monks who taught themselves to fight unarmed while still enslaved by masking their combat techniques through an elaborate dance.

If the prereqs have campaign emphasis, it makes sense to plan ahead. From a player stand-point, I think it also largely depends on the campaign and what the DM allows. If there's no reason not to plan ahead and that's what you want to do, then why not?

 

[Crothian]

The only long term planning I've seen is when someone really wants a prestige class which is rare. Usually my players are shocked when they gain a level and have no idea what they are going to do with that level.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Why is early planning annoying or even metagaming? In your RL, did you not plan out your eduction goals, choose a career path, possibly earn specialized certification credit or training courses, and once there, choose opportunities for specific projects and/or jobs that would further your advancement?

Not really.

First I decided to study physics because I was interested in astronomy. Once I started studying, I learned that the job offers for astronomers is rather limited, and then I took bio-medical engineering as a Minor. Now I am doing my Ph.D. in Computational Materials Science, but I don't know yet if I will continue to work in that field after I finish my thesis - or if I will work as a consultant on work process optimization, or something else entirely.

Life is full of odd twists and turns, and the CVs of many people have odd twists that they never suspected when they were younger. And the life of an adventure is probably far more twisted than anything that we have to deal with.

It seems to me that for characters *not* to plan for their futures is *less* realistic, not *more*.

You know, I think the life of an adventurer might be compared to that of a soldier during a war. Before he enlisted, he might have had all sorts of high-flying plans for his future career.

But once he is in the middle of it, his main concern will switch to the question:

"How am I going to survive this &%!$ ?"

If he survives the war, he will come out of it changed - but in ways which he didn't expect at all. And the same is probably true for adventurers - to most of them, "career planning" is a luxury.

I suppose that strictly speaking, choosing feats and skills that are Prestige Class pre-reqs is metagaming, but if you abstract the concept, you might have similar requirements in RL (e.g. degrees, certifications, specific experience, etc.) so even that can be related to RL.

Even in real life, most of these prerequisites are flexible and can be fulfilled via multiple paths.