Growing Characters? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Growing Characters? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Guan
06-23-04, 05:02 PM So, does anyone grow characters anymore, instead of picking out optimized classes? I'll try to explain.

My latest character I decided to be a blank slate. Started a pschic warrior and then took a few levels of psion. (Because that was the environment we were in)

However, three adventres later were centered around rogues and a guild, so i picked up a level in rogue to simulate this.

Then there was the time in the forest around rangers, sure give me one of those levels.

Next came the wandering Bard with the really high charisma, who struck a cord with my low wisdom guy, so he picked up a level of Bard despite his 9 Cha.

Finally we've just started boating. A few ranks in profession sailor and swim should suppliment this nicely.

Is he optimized? Not even close. Is he fun to play? I think so.

So, is this type of character growth odd or on par with others? I ask as most of the time people seem to enjoy taking one class and bringing to to the maximum of effiency, or trying for one specific prestigue class. So give me some insight, are you suppose to go insane when you hit twenty years of D&D, or is it just my psychy that is slipping away?

-Guan
Vexxan
06-24-04, 05:47 AM While that may be fun, and the reasoning behind it resonates with me, it is far too frivolous for my liking.
Gaining a new class is not the result of merely dabbling in it, or being briefly exposed to it. A level in a new class is a dedicated, conscious decision. It is the result of prolonged study or a slow evolution.
Walking the same path is much easier than veering off and starting a new trail. Min/max aside, this is why continuing a class progression makes more sense to me than starting a dual or multi-class. Higher level characters are more likely to be dual classed beacuse of the slow evolution process and the theme of the character.

When it comes to skills though I am totally in agreement. I will 'waste' skill points on knowledges or cross-class skills that I've had some newfound experience with while adventuring. That may not make the most finely tuned character but it sure gives them more flavor.
TinySilverChalice
06-27-04, 10:53 PM I've been in the same group for three years now. I've about 80 characters from 1st-25th level. When I first started playing, I had no idea what it meant to Optimize a character. I had a general idea of the "job roles" my characters had and made some fairly chaotic choices from there. Now I build every character.

Why? Not only do I enjoy role-playing them just as much, I don't spend hours looking through source books every time they level up, and they are much better at what they do. My first character, who is 25th level, would have her butt handed to her by many of my pre-epics. I take her out with characters I have built since day one, and she underperforms them at everything, even at things I thought she'd be good at. She dies while the built characters excel.

Dying is not fun. Not being as helpful a party member is not fun. Being a purden on your party is not fun.

Is it metagaming? So is the point-buy system and many other things we do as players without thought. You yourself can decide where to work, what jobs you'd like, and what hobbies you want to get better at. Why can't your character do the same?

Should a build be rock solid and unrevesable? Not at all. I made a tiefling rogue who died at a low level and was reincarnated as a halfling. She was so thankful, she had an unplanned alignment change and became a druid, and this was back in 3.0 when those nasty restictions were still in place, so bye-bye all those feats I spent in rapier fighting.

Become your character's guidence counciler when you first create them. Ask them what they want to be "when they grow up" and draw out a plan for it. No high school guidence counciler would knock on someone's door ten years after graduation and say, "Alright, now you need to enrole in grad school." You shouldn't do the same to your characters ("OK mister paladin, you're 12lvl now. Time to become a blackguard! Put down that fair maiden and let's so kill some innocents!").

Be flexable, but not chaotic, would be my advice. Make premetitated choices that make sense to the character, but don't make you or your party pay for bad guidence counciling on your part.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Guan 06-23-04, 05:02 PM	So, does anyone grow characters anymore, instead of picking out optimized classes? I'll try to explain. My latest character I decided to be a blank slate. Started a pschic warrior and then took a few levels of psion. (Because that was the environment we were in) However, three adventres later were centered around rogues and a guild, so i picked up a level in rogue to simulate this. Then there was the time in the forest around rangers, sure give me one of those levels. Next came the wandering Bard with the really high charisma, who struck a cord with my low wisdom guy, so he picked up a level of Bard despite his 9 Cha. Finally we've just started boating. A few ranks in profession sailor and swim should suppliment this nicely. Is he optimized? Not even close. Is he fun to play? I think so. So, is this type of character growth odd or on par with others? I ask as most of the time people seem to enjoy taking one class and bringing to to the maximum of effiency, or trying for one specific prestigue class. So give me some insight, are you suppose to go insane when you hit twenty years of D&D, or is it just my psychy that is slipping away? -Guan
Vexxan 06-24-04, 05:47 AM	While that may be fun, and the reasoning behind it resonates with me, it is far too frivolous for my liking. Gaining a new class is not the result of merely dabbling in it, or being briefly exposed to it. A level in a new class is a dedicated, conscious decision. It is the result of prolonged study or a slow evolution. Walking the same path is much easier than veering off and starting a new trail. Min/max aside, this is why continuing a class progression makes more sense to me than starting a dual or multi-class. Higher level characters are more likely to be dual classed beacuse of the slow evolution process and the theme of the character. When it comes to skills though I am totally in agreement. I will 'waste' skill points on knowledges or cross-class skills that I've had some newfound experience with while adventuring. That may not make the most finely tuned character but it sure gives them more flavor.
TinySilverChalice 06-27-04, 10:53 PM	I've been in the same group for three years now. I've about 80 characters from 1st-25th level. When I first started playing, I had no idea what it meant to Optimize a character. I had a general idea of the "job roles" my characters had and made some fairly chaotic choices from there. Now I build every character. Why? Not only do I enjoy role-playing them just as much, I don't spend hours looking through source books every time they level up, and they are much better at what they do. My first character, who is 25th level, would have her butt handed to her by many of my pre-epics. I take her out with characters I have built since day one, and she underperforms them at everything, even at things I thought she'd be good at. She dies while the built characters excel. Dying is not fun. Not being as helpful a party member is not fun. Being a purden on your party is not fun. Is it metagaming? So is the point-buy system and many other things we do as players without thought. You yourself can decide where to work, what jobs you'd like, and what hobbies you want to get better at. Why can't your character do the same? Should a build be rock solid and unrevesable? Not at all. I made a tiefling rogue who died at a low level and was reincarnated as a halfling. She was so thankful, she had an unplanned alignment change and became a druid, and this was back in 3.0 when those nasty restictions were still in place, so bye-bye all those feats I spent in rapier fighting. Become your character's guidence counciler when you first create them. Ask them what they want to be "when they grow up" and draw out a plan for it. No high school guidence counciler would knock on someone's door ten years after graduation and say, "Alright, now you need to enrole in grad school." You shouldn't do the same to your characters ("OK mister paladin, you're 12lvl now. Time to become a blackguard! Put down that fair maiden and let's so kill some innocents!"). Be flexable, but not chaotic, would be my advice. Make premetitated choices that make sense to the character, but don't make you or your party pay for bad guidence counciling on your part.