Help, Player burnout? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help, Player burnout? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Turrens
02-01-06, 08:01 PM Well, I have been playing on and off since 2nd edition. It has been a good 3.5 years since my last game. I have almost been envolved in several but right before they started or after one session they fell apart. That being said I havae created hundreds of characters and never really played more than 3-4.

I have just been invited to join a starting lvl1 game I was very excited at first but know find that after making 6-7 characters I don't really want to play any of them. I think I may be trapped in a number crunching prison. I want to play, but I don't at the same time. I can't find a character concept That sticks, I keep being worried about stats-party composition-future advancement, and I think that is bringing me down. I am worried because we only have a rouge and a cleric+ whatever I decide. I just don't know what to do. Maybe I can learn from some of you that pl;ay tons of characters.

So My question to all of you is, How do you stay interested? how do you create a concept that works?

P.S. Sorry for the depression like post, Just looking for help.
TmonsterD
02-01-06, 08:31 PM You're putting the cart before the horse. You're burnt out on characters you've never played once. You're anxious about that things haven't happened yet and aren't going to happen in the first game session.

It's just a game. Don't worry about it. Just go and have fun.

Keep it simple.

TD
Moon-Lancer
02-01-06, 11:09 PM Play a charicter that you have made already that you really liked and knew was powerfull. This way you can roleplay him right out of the box and not worry about the numbers or anything of that nature and just concentrate on the game. Its not bad to reuse charicters or builds that you really liked and enjoyed playing. This is a new group I presume. If so any old charicter that you play will be new to them.

Heck i Have a really fun dervish that i wanted to play forever, but I am already playing a charicter I love to play, so the very next group I join, or if this charicter dies for good, Im going to play the dervish chariter.
Aelstrom
02-02-06, 12:08 PM I think I may be trapped in a number crunching prison. I want to play, but I don't at the same time. I can't find a character concept That sticks, I keep being worried about stats-party composition-future advancement, and I think that is bringing me down.

Don't let the party and the numbers make the character, let the character make the party. When I was struggling to create a character that I thought would fit the campaign, I had the same problem. I went through tons of concepts but couldn't find anything that seemed to fit. I kept asking other people for ideas, pretty much wanting them to make my character for me. But even when they did, I still wasn't happy.

Eventually I just asked myself, if I really were the character, what would I strive to be. Putting myself into the world, helped me get an idea of what I wanted to be. Eventually, I decided on monk. Everything about them seemed cool, it was a perfect match. I didn't have the greatest stats to play one, but the game shouldn't be all about the numbers, it should be about having fun.

One thing I didn't do was plan ahead, I knew the style of combat the character wanted to take, hindering the enemy, as opposed to dealing a lot of damage, so I took the feats that helped acomplish that. As the campaign continued, I fell away from the monk, finding it's lawfull alignment to restricting. The character evolved based on the party, the campaign, and things that happened to him. Moving to a chaotic alignment, and towards a psionic class, I thought, wow, this has been really fun, I like where I'm going with this.

Don't let numbers and party composition and worrying about future planning decide what you should play, create a concept you can enjoy, and let the character grow naturally.
Turrens
02-02-06, 04:42 PM Thank you, I think all of you are correct.

I am going to try to just make a character and then play him. no matter what anyone else wants. If he dies he dies. ....... Wow, That was a liberating thing to say... :) really, I'm going to try.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Turrens 02-01-06, 08:01 PM	Well, I have been playing on and off since 2nd edition. It has been a good 3.5 years since my last game. I have almost been envolved in several but right before they started or after one session they fell apart. That being said I havae created hundreds of characters and never really played more than 3-4. I have just been invited to join a starting lvl1 game I was very excited at first but know find that after making 6-7 characters I don't really want to play any of them. I think I may be trapped in a number crunching prison. I want to play, but I don't at the same time. I can't find a character concept That sticks, I keep being worried about stats-party composition-future advancement, and I think that is bringing me down. I am worried because we only have a rouge and a cleric+ whatever I decide. I just don't know what to do. Maybe I can learn from some of you that pl;ay tons of characters. So My question to all of you is, How do you stay interested? how do you create a concept that works? P.S. Sorry for the depression like post, Just looking for help.
TmonsterD 02-01-06, 08:31 PM	You're putting the cart before the horse. You're burnt out on characters you've never played once. You're anxious about that things haven't happened yet and aren't going to happen in the first game session. It's just a game. Don't worry about it. Just go and have fun. Keep it simple. TD
Moon-Lancer 02-01-06, 11:09 PM	Play a charicter that you have made already that you really liked and knew was powerfull. This way you can roleplay him right out of the box and not worry about the numbers or anything of that nature and just concentrate on the game. Its not bad to reuse charicters or builds that you really liked and enjoyed playing. This is a new group I presume. If so any old charicter that you play will be new to them. Heck i Have a really fun dervish that i wanted to play forever, but I am already playing a charicter I love to play, so the very next group I join, or if this charicter dies for good, Im going to play the dervish chariter.
Aelstrom 02-02-06, 12:08 PM	I think I may be trapped in a number crunching prison. I want to play, but I don't at the same time. I can't find a character concept That sticks, I keep being worried about stats-party composition-future advancement, and I think that is bringing me down. Don't let the party and the numbers make the character, let the character make the party. When I was struggling to create a character that I thought would fit the campaign, I had the same problem. I went through tons of concepts but couldn't find anything that seemed to fit. I kept asking other people for ideas, pretty much wanting them to make my character for me. But even when they did, I still wasn't happy. Eventually I just asked myself, if I really were the character, what would I strive to be. Putting myself into the world, helped me get an idea of what I wanted to be. Eventually, I decided on monk. Everything about them seemed cool, it was a perfect match. I didn't have the greatest stats to play one, but the game shouldn't be all about the numbers, it should be about having fun. One thing I didn't do was plan ahead, I knew the style of combat the character wanted to take, hindering the enemy, as opposed to dealing a lot of damage, so I took the feats that helped acomplish that. As the campaign continued, I fell away from the monk, finding it's lawfull alignment to restricting. The character evolved based on the party, the campaign, and things that happened to him. Moving to a chaotic alignment, and towards a psionic class, I thought, wow, this has been really fun, I like where I'm going with this. Don't let numbers and party composition and worrying about future planning decide what you should play, create a concept you can enjoy, and let the character grow naturally.
Turrens 02-02-06, 04:42 PM	Thank you, I think all of you are correct. I am going to try to just make a character and then play him. no matter what anyone else wants. If he dies he dies. ....... Wow, That was a liberating thing to say... :) really, I'm going to try.