When building a new PC...

[The Human Target]

B, I guess.

In a strongly class oriented game, its just less of a hassle.

I think "Oh, I want to play a Knight from the PHB2. What a neat class."

Then I come up with all his details (both rules based and flavor wise.)

 

[Nyaricus]

Choice A; I generally figure out what's needed in the party, and then make a wicked-awesome combo to play it.

Sometimes, I'm option B, but now I'm much more of a "generalist" than a "specialist". I do, however, keep a list of neat character concepts that I want to play someday - but generally when I'm playing a PC, I'll just check over my list to see if the role I need to fill can be found within that list. If not, I'm off again

cheers,
--N

 

[Sejs]

Mostly A, but occasionally I'll reverse-engineer myway to A from B.

Unless it's one of those "Don't think too hard, princess" type games where a character being a person doesn't ammount to a hill of beans. Then I'll just shrug, take option B, toss on a veneer and go with it.

 

[Melan]

Other. I roll stats randomly, in order, assign a class, plus feats and skills (in a 3e game). I only come up with a character personality during actual play, and do so gradually. Backstories are right out, I'd never bothered about that stuff.

 

[Imperialus]

Most of the time I fall into the A catagory. There are occasions though that a praticular class, race or PRC catches my eye and I'll go from there. The Hexblade is probably the best example of this. For some reason I saw that class and just started drooling. Turned out to be one of the most entertaining characters I'd ever played.

 

[airwalkrr]

I am almost always A. Option B has appealed to me on occassion, but I am a roleplayer at heart. I don't try things just because I think they are powerful. I play characters that I personally find interesting and require a lot of tactical thought. Hence, I play mages or priests 90% of the time.

 

[Aaron L]

I voted A, but maybe I should ave voted C. I do start out with race and class in mind, but then i go from there and start visualizing, which is the most important part o character craation for me. Once I have an image of the character in my head, then I start looking into what mechanics will fit the idea fit the idea I have. The last step for me is to write the backstory and history of a character, coming up with a good explanation and reasons for why the character is the way he is now, and filling in all the details about him.


For me, it goes class-race/visual/background. But visuals may be the mist important step, and I'll described other ideas to fit the visual concept I have. I've made many suboptimal choices for characters based on am i,age I had of the character, and the history and background that it implied.

Heck, my very first 3E characters was a Fighter/Sorcerer who fought two handed, with a longsword and a bare fist. I took Improved Unarmed Strike and Weapon Specialization with my fist, but there weren't any other options for making it better, so I just stayed with my 1d3+2 subdual damage til I got the opportunity to get a permanent Greater Magic Fang on it (a +5 fist is always fun to have!)


He may not have been the most optimized character, but dang he was cool to visualize, and fun as heck to play.



I just wish I had the Book of Nine Swords and its Superior Unarmed Strike feat back then Not to mention the Eldritch Knight PrC!


(I miss Ereves Rook )

 

[Perun]

I mix A and B about equally. We've gotten used to making characters that will cover all the bases (melee-er, healer, blaster, trap-finder/scout), and so we usually start with dividing the bases amongst ourselves, and then building a character around that concept. I usually wait to see what others will play, and then I make a character that fills a missing role.

Regards.

 

[DaveyJones]

I roll 3d6 in order. I play what the dice and my mood tell me to play.

 

[MonsterMash]

I tend to have the idea first and then go to find how to represent it mechanically.