Within Rules: How many PHb character combinations?

[Emirikol]

That's pretty irrelevant though. Skills, whether they have 4 points or 8 points do not make one character measurably (?!?) different from the next.

A rogue with pick pockets is a rogue with pick pockets..maybe after about 10 ranks of difference, is there something notable from one character to the next.

Skill focus doesn't make enough of a difference.

Em

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Skills strongly differentiate characters, and sometimes define what the character actually is. Take the rogue class: Give a rogue jump, climb, tumble, escape artist, use rope, balance, and maybe swim, and you have a thief-acrobat. Give him diplomacy, bluff, gather information, intimidate, sense motive, and listen, and you have a spy. Give him search, spot, listen, hide, move silently, disable device and use magic device, and you have a dungeon delver. They all use the same class, but they differ from one another more than some members of different classes.

 

[Darklone]

Hm... I really don't like RPGs where they don't distinguish between races and classes. We had one of those around here (except that they updated the rules recently, and now they are much closer to D&D....)

DSA?

 

[SnowDog]

Viable, interesting

I think it's clearly established that there are near-inifinite starting character possibilities. Most of us discard 95% of those possibilities right off because we don't feel they are "viable."

Of course, there's a certain truth to that. Nobody wants to play a character that is too weak to survive (well, very few people do).

Making each new character interesting, then, takes some cooperation between the DM and the players. If the DM promises to tailor the game world to the characters, then players might feel a little less pressure to concentrate on a viable character and make a more interesting group.

Also, the ways in which characters can differ grows immensely after the first few levels. Multiclassing, feats, equipment, skills -- these all create a wide variety of character concepts. Even the number of "viable" concepts grows exponentially.

Lastly, if you're relying just on stats to make your characters different, your game is going to have problems no matter what. Personality and style make up a lot of what makes two characters different. Fully realize the character, give them some real personality, give them some unique flair. You'll never even notice that you're playing the same stats.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

DSA?

Genau das! Although after all I heard about the 4. Edition it's almost D&DSA now....

 

[Darklone]

No idea. I stopped to play it in 1996. But I didn't hear anything about it to make me go back.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

No idea. I stopped to play it in 1996. But I didn't hear anything about it to make me go back.

I never really played it, I sort of played it years ago, but only for a one session or so. After learning about AD&D I really hated their Hero Types, which are really stereotypes, where an elf can't be a fighter. Plus you have to make several checks for every action you take. Then there's the fact that some of the hero types are really stupid, and the system uses only two sorts of dice..... but I'm getting off-topic. I'm bashing DSA enough at our gaming sessions (those with DSA or former DSA players around )