Optimal time for character creation

[Henry]

How long do I prefer to have?

About a week. However, that hasn't changed in 17 years.

Even when making a character quickly, I don't necessarily regret any choices - I just think of them as character-building choices. How many people do you know wasted their time with a couple of college courses they found they never used? I know quite a few, and some who even wasted YEARS changing majors once they found their true callings. Therefore, if your character has taken Weapon focus (scythe) when he's been using a sword recently, or if he has ranks in profession (farmer) but a Wisdom of 6, he's just a guy who learned that being a farmer wasn't for him. See? instant background. He's also the guy you go to to learn what NOT to water the plants with. How could HE know that that's not the way to fertilize a plant?

 

[IronWolf]

I like to dedicate a session to character generation. Helps everyone get on the same page, help work out why they are together and such. Of course I hope everyone shows up to that session with some idea of what they have in mind meaning a person could have thought about their character concept for quite some time.

 

[Hand of Evil]

It takes as long as it takes.

Stats, skills, feat, concept, background, party relationship (not in any order) can all be quick or long based on the player, the DM, the game.

 

[kmdietri]

It takes me a long time, usually a week or two to make a character I'm really gonna like to play.

I mean I can spit out a character in minutes if I want but to really make one I'm going to enjoy takes quite a bit of time indeed.

I've been making my most recent character for that past 4 or 5 weeks now, thinking and rethinking him.

 

[Mark]

Usually we all sit down together to make our characters. It normally takes about 2 hours

Sounds about right.

 

[Ibram]

First as a DM I usualy give everyone at least three weeks advanced notice that we are changing characters. Usualy I already have a good idea where the campaign is going and where its set so I can give them some broad outline of what characters would work. We usualy spend the first 2-3 hours building characters (Point Buy system keeps dice rolling down) equipment buying doesnt take very long as its assumed that characters start out with a full kit (food, rope, ammo, ect...) and I usualy give everyone a single MW weapon or armor, then we roll some d4's for how much silver they have in pocket.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I ask the players to think about their upcoming characters a week before a new campaign, then we spend half a session building them. I let the players chop and change anything so long as it is within their core concept up until level 2, then it's concrete. That's about 2 sessions of tweaking and I think that's pretty fair.

Also, I'll be telling them the sort of stuff that I think is going to be important to their characters and they may need to see it in game for real to realize that (for example) no social skill = hard times.

Yeah, so about 2 weeks to finalize a character for a decent length (6 month) campaign.