Race First!

[Camelot]

I'm probably of the minority to build around Paragon Path first. After finding one that suits me it helps determine class and race to make the most out of the concept.

For this reason, I consider the racial paragon paths to be the most fun since they don't force a class on you. Too bad there are so few of them that I'm aware of.

This is also fun, as well as starting with epic destinies in mind. I made just such a character recently. I was going to be part of a seafaring campaign (keyword was), so I wanted the paragon path in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Sword Coast Corsair. But the requirement of "any martial class" clashed with my character concept of a human monk. So, I simply took a multiclass ranger feat as my first level feat. Bingo! I can take that path when the time comes, and I can deal 1d6 extra damage each encounter!

 

[Riastlin]

I wonder if some of the dichotomy between starting with concept (race, etc.) vs. class (point buy) etc. comes from experience as player vs. DM. For me, throughout my D&D career I've almost always been the DM. I rarely get the chance to be a player. As a result, I have an endless supply of characters I would love to play. I've often said that I could have fun with any class/race/ability spread, but I think part of the reason is that I am so rarely a player. I'll often tinker around on the CB making new characters even though I've only really played one character in 4th Ed (and that campaign ended at 8th level ). For me, I just love making characters and so will always have tons to choose from; however, its not about making them as powerful as possible.

By contrast, if you are usually a player, then you've gotten the chance to play almost any character you could want -- at least if you've been playing long enough. I could see in this situation where merely playing a dwarf or a bard, etc. would not be satisfying in and of itself. Rather, you are more likely to be concerned with playing a mechanically powerful dwarf or a highly effective bard, etc. This is pure speculation of course.

Ultimately though, the thing to remember is that there is no right or wrong way to make a character, and the gaming group is likely going to have a bit of an impact on how you go about it as well. A group of hardcore powergamers are likely to cause a new player to lean toward thinking about power first whereas a roleplay heavy group is more likely to encourage a player to play an idea first as opposed to power first. Again, neither method is right or wrong, I'm just curious if this is a part of the dichotomy.

 

[Rex Blunder]

Actually, Heroes of the Forgotten Lands is, I think, the first D&D book, I think, where you choose class first. The race chapter came first in 1e, 2e, 3e, and 4e PHB, right?

The fact is, though, that no one did it that way. Consciously choosing race first, as the OP suggest, is actually a refreshing change, despite what all the rulebooks say.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, Heroes of the Forgotten Lands is, I think, the first D&D book, I think, where you choose class first. The race chapter came first in 1e, 2e, 3e, and 4e PHB, right?

Sort of: the original Unearthed Arcana starts off talking about alternative dice rolling methods to ensure that players get to play the class they want to (because in those days, classes had hard stat minimums as prereqs).

 

[cdrcjsn]

Hmm...I don't find the appeal of this personally. But mainly because I don't choose race because of stats. I just pick what seems the most appropriate based on the character concept I've come up with.

Looking back at the last few PCs I created, half fall under creating the persona first, and the others fall under trying out some new combo I haven't played before (gnome ranger, dwarf sorcerer, drow artificer, etc).

It's rare that I would just choose a race because it matched the stat distribution of the class I want to play.

 

[Iron Sky]

With rolled stats, you can also end up with the craziness that we did when we rolled:

Character 1 initial stats: 18, 16, 13, 12, 10, 6
Character 2 initial stats: 18, 18, 15, 11, 10, 10
Character 3 initial stats: 18, 18, 18, 14, 12, 6
Character 4 initial stats: rubbish, talked the DM into letting him use point buy because they were so bad

In all our characters, in equivalent point buy totals were something like 40, 43, 52, and... 22.

After we hit paragon, the players who had rolled these ridiculously awesome stats suggested to the DM that we switch to point buy from here on out, because the power difference between most of us and the 22 was glaring.

If point buy really doesn't do it for you and you want to use your d6 for something, you could always do this: Grab 18 dice. Set 4 of them to 6, 4 to 5, 4 to 4, 4 to 3 and 2 to 2. If you had rolled an exactly average 4d6 drop 1 six times, these are the dice you would end up with (dropping 2 2s and the 4 1s). Now you just arrange these 18 dice with 3 going to each of your 6 stats. Total the 3 dice for each stat. Win.

Dice (kinda) used, check. Everyone with (potentially) equal characters, check.

Sample arrays from this method:
18, 16, 14, 12, 9, 7
18, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10
16, 16, 10, 10, 8, 8
15, 15, 15, 15, 9, 7

 

[Herschel]

I build numerous ways, often starting with a concept then going role, but not always.

Or as one guy in one of my groups might say my method is:

Race first: Genasi, now what class do I want to play?

Class first: Pick class, now how can I make a Genasi work for this?

Paragon Path: Ooo, cool Genasi racial paragon path, what classes would this work for?



Hey, Genasi, Humans and Deva are my favorite races to play.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Personally, I start with what kinds of things I want to focus on in the game. Examples: "I want to be the party face" or "I want to explore the depths of tactical maneuvering" or "I want to be a mystical arcaney type who mumbles about ethereal parallax emissions while the rest of the party debates which corridor to go down next" or "I want to play a troubled youth who is trying to live down the misdeeds of his or her parents".

(For reference, read up on the concept of "vocabulary" in games -- the things that one is allowed to do. I believe Chris Crawford has written about it but I am having a hard time finding links. I may have the wrong person.)

With that starting point, it is usually class that comes first, not race.

 

[thewok]

I said earlier that I come up with character concepts before I even open the builder, and that's true. But I'll admit that usually, those come from "What class looks cool to play?"

The one character I've made based on race first is a gnome rogue. I needed a gnome to join the gnome family my friends and I have going, and so I made her a rog ... er ... treasure hunter.

There have been times, though, when I've thought, "Man, dwarf chicks look cool in 4E. Maybe I'll play one of those next." Or, "I really want to play a changeling." And then I'll start making up a concept from there.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

With rolled stats, you can also end up with the craziness that we did when we rolled:

You can, if the DM does not abide by the implicit suggestion of the PHB to rule out rolls that give a total bonus of more than +8. Given that the traditional spreads of 16/14/14/13/10/8 and 16/16/12/12/10/8 give +7, there is very little room for improvement at the top.