When another player builds a clone of your character.

[Flexor the Mighty!]

It deepens on how effective that choice will make the party. Had fun parties with 3 dumb brute fighters many times. All was well.

 

[Blue]

When I join an ongoing campaign, I find out what people are playing and make a character to first not step on anyone's toes, and second fill a gap. That's common courtesy as far as I'm concerned.

And it gets me angry when others don't do this, perhaps out of whack with the magnitude of the sin. Had a player do this in one campaign where it was just that his new character also had expertise and the same modifier in persuasion that was my halfling bard's trademark for the campaign. Wasn't helped that the original characters were point buy but he showed up with quite nice rolled ability scores so he matched me there, and others elsewhere. As you can tell, I'm still a bit steamed about it.

EDIT: A couple of posters mentioned doing it on purpose with buy in from both players and making brothers or other interwoven backstories. That's cool, and I've done that myself. Party on!

 

[Li Shenron]

Have you guys ever been in this situation? You roll up a character with a fairly standard archetype -- big dumb guy with greatsword; snarky necromancer; etc. -- only to find that another player is horning in on the same conceptual space. Is this a "stop copying me" problem, or do you feel like there's enough room in the campaign for similar character types? And if the players in questions do feel like, "I called shotgun on seductive bard," how did you resolve it?

It doesn't happen to me because usually I let other players choose what character to play, and then I pick a different class from anyone else. It works for me because I'm not a childish "I want to play ONLY this pet concept of mine and I want to play it NOW" player, and in fact I can easily come up with a dozen character concepts I haven't played yet and are all worth trying out.

The only time I had a PC similar to that of another player was the very first time I played D&D, and that' because we were playing BECMI, we only had 7 classes to choose from, each class had minimum ability scores requirements, and we were forced to roll 3d6 in order. Me and a friend both ended up with ability scores that did not qualify for any class except Dwarf, and there was practically nothing else to choose, so we had to play very similar characters stat-wise. That didn't stop us from eventually having very different characters story-wise: I was the young reckless Dwarf, and my friend was the older wise and calm Dwarf.

 

[Istbor]

Before our long standing group new that session 0 was a thing, we ran into something like this.

It wasn't really a clone all the time really, but we did have a player who was a big fan of one-upping.

I do feel a little annoyed if I dump a lot of character creation into being the sneaking rogue type, and then another player ends up being as sneaky.

I think it all depends. Are you trying to make an A team, or a Seal Team 6? If you want that cool all rogue party, then toe stepping is probably going to happen. If you expected to fall into a particular role of; Face, Support, Glass cannon, Tank, and find that someone else is jumping into that role? I feel it is natural to worry a little about your share of the spot light. Especially if you are in an AL or Con environment, where you may not know or trust the other party members. With close friends that I have gamed with for years? Heck yeah, let's be the Bash Brothers (Big dumb warriors) or the Silent Sisters (sneaky rogues). That is fun.

 

[Arnwolf666]

5E probaly plays better with similar character types than any edition before it. Some would call this a good feature, others not. Many in the past Hated that they had to have these different character types or the game would not play well.

 

[Shiroiken]

Have a mechanical clone isn't an issue, unless you use asymmetrical character creation (such as rolled ability scores). In that case, if one is clearly better than the other, the second player is going to have a lot of problems. Jealousy and envy are going to rise up, no matter how mature the player might be. It's hard to enjoy yourself when you're always second fiddle.

Having a personality clone usually isn't an issue, so long as the players run with it. Smash brothers, ladies men, etc. all can pair up to work off of each other socially really well. One exception to this is the edgelord; two edgelords in a group is misery for everyone, as they try to outdo each other.

If someone made a mechanical and personality clone of my character, and they knew my character in advance, I'd give them a WTF look. If it was pure coincidence, I'd work with them to vary our personalities at least a little bit.

 

[Scott Christian]

It is natural, IMO.

How many dumb barbarians are there that hate anything magic (wizard) related?
How many self absorbed wizards are there, that cares only for its personal goals?
How many hack-n-slash fighters are there?

How many elves are there that hate dwarves?
How many dwarves are there that hate elves, goblins, orcs.

Stereotypes are abound in any role playing game.

I'm with Legatus on this one. This is especially true if they are from the same area. It's like saying how many elitist can one find in a Parisian wine bar. The answer - lots. If two barbarians are from the same area, they probably share similar views.

As DM, I say roll with it. I would even go so far as to build into the storyline that they are related, although they find that out later.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Years and years ago, without talking to each other, a friend and I both showed up at the table with half elf rangers with favored enemy (human). We laughed about it. I think we did differ on our skill selections and combat styles.

 

[Eltab]

If two players show up at Session One with similar characters, the two players and the DM have to figure out how to roll with it.
If one PC dies and that player brings in a near-copy of another player's character, I would be asking what (s)he was trying to accomplish by so doing. Even more so if the old character was narratively retired not slain. I also would take my lead from the player of the copied character; if he is ok with it, I won't press the subject.