So you're designing a character just for fun, not to actually play ...

[D+1]

Here's the question: In designing this imaginary PC, do you adhere to the core (WotC) books, dip into any published supplemental material you've seen, or make things up as needed to fulfill your vision the character's race, class, feats, etc.?

Depends on the character I guess. Mostly it's Core Rules only. I do have one character in the dark corners of my mind that if I actually bothered to stat him out would need a PRC or two from some cheesy splatbook or other to really fit together.

The character starts out as a commoner, becomes a sailor/swashbuckler/rogue, somewhere along the way develops psionic abilities, he gains prominence as a warrior, then he "retires" and becomes (effectively...) a bard writing plays and songs, is then impressed into the military where he becomes an assassin (secretly using his psionics to his advantage), and finally deserts/escapes and then spends a few years putting a new king on the throne as the puppet leader of a rebellion.

To create that character in 3E rules he'd be something like Com3/Rog3/War3/Psi3/Brd3/Asn3 which is about half again as powerful as I ever really thought of him as, yet to reduce those levels by much would remove much of the capability I thought he should have. Probably why I never HAVE tried to stat him as described in full 3E terms.

 

[frankthedm]

Half orc fighter with improved grapple. Weapon of choice? Vicious, Human-bane armor spikes.