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#1 stembolt Dec 16, 2003 23:33:04

A Beginners Guide to Min/Maxing This article assumes three things. It assumes you know what roleplaying is. It assumes you know how to make a character. And finally, it assumes you know what min/maxing is. The article is intended for people who have never min/maxed before or people who have never given real consideration to the concept of min/maxing. It is intended as an introduction, something for people to start with. If you are a veteran min/maxer this is not an article that is telling you that you are doing it wrong. However it may provide some ideas for experienced min/maxers. ------------------------------ How to Start Lets assume this is your first min/maxed character. You have made characters before, most likely at the direction of the DM or other players. Or instead maybe you have just picked things that looked good without putting too much thought into it. Or maybe you did put some thought into it and never realized that was min/maxing… Anyway, The real secret to starting min/maxing is that you start just like you would any character. You pick one or more “Initial Arbitrary Decisions” and go from there. For example, you may decide any of the following: “I want to play an elf” “I want to make a cleric” “I want to be a really good at fighting” “I want to make a spring attack fighter” “Here is a story I just wrote” “I want to play a tragic figure” These Initial Arbitrary Decisions fall into a number of categories. You may decide you want to play a specific race or class because you like them. Or perhaps they are something you haven’t played in a while. You may also choose to go with a basic concept such as “superior spellcaster” “best undead fighter” “really good at melee combat.” Then again you may choose a more specific specialty. Such as sneak attacks, spring attacks or illusion spells. Finally you may have a story or a literary concept that you would like to play. Jekyll and Hyde, an estranged prince or a mother of three are all concepts you could play. I do not want to say that this is how every character is made, but most characters have some sort of starting point. Last time you played a wizard, so this time you want to make a fighter. The party needs a cleric. I have always wanted to play a rogue “Hey Jimmy! You should play a sorcerer. They Rule!” Pick something, have someone pick for you, pick five things, make 3 characters and pick the best. The thing is you need to start somewhere and that somewhere is up to you. I know I put you on the spot. Maybe you can’t think of anything right now. If that’s the case then look around the boards a little. There are lots of ideas just waiting to be spun into characters. Worst come to worst make a “what kind of character should I make” thread. What’s Next? The next step I like to call “Focus and Expand.” You need to Focus on how to do what you want your character to do, and Expand into other areas. Note that some characters benefit from expansion first and focus after while others could benefit from focus first. Now this is not a primer on what exactly to do when making a character. I am not going to tell you that you need to have a max BAB, or spellcaster levels or what feat does every ranger need. This method is a way to help you try to make the character you want. Focus First In this case you have something that you can easily identify as a Focus. For example Wizard or a spring attack fighter falls into this category. You need to identify what will help accomplish your Initial Arbitrary Decision and focus on that. Using an example; you know a wizard needs a high intelligence, therefore you are not going to take a race that gives a penalty to intelligence (unless there is some other payoff). Figure out what you really need to focus on. Then Expand Decide where else you would like this character to go. No character does only one thing well. The rogue finds traps and fights, the cleric heals and summons elementals. The fighter uses a greatsword and a longbow. OK lets say you have decided to make a wizard and you think that an elf would make a great wizard. You think “what else can elves do well?” Maybe you decide to emphasize spot and search because that’s also what elves are good at. Maybe you decide to fight with a rapier. Broaden your characters horizons. Or we could be going with the other tack, Expand First Some characters do not have an obvious focus. You need to brainstorm some ideas and figure out some other direction for your character to go. For example if you want to play an estranged prince there is no obvious path to travel down. So you brainstorm and come up with ideas. You finally decide that a prince should be a leader, so you focus on leadership. Also a prince needs to fight so you decide to specialize in fencing. An Aside: How to brainstorm The easiest way to brainstorm is to take a piece of paper and start writing whatever comes to mind down. Start in the center of the page and write outward. Draw any little diagrams or doodles that come to mind. Then Focus Now you figure out how to focus on what you have chosen. Decide how to maximize fencing. Figure out how to increase your leadership score. After that just rinse and repeat. Rinse Throw away all the useless stuff and keep the good. For example you may decide that in order to be a really good leader fencing is too much to also take. Repeat Basically you want to expand and focus and expand and focus, until your character is done. So to recap: 1) Initial Arbitrary Decisions 2) Focus and Expand or Expand and Focus 3) Rinse 4) Repeat Lets look at an example, The Wizard. Make a level three character. Initial arbitrary decision: You say to yourself “gee I would really like to play a wizard” Focus: What makes a good wizard? High int. Also I think I would like to make a evoker who has lots of ray spells so I need a high dex. Halfling is a good choice then. Expand: What else do halflings do? Well they are good at thrown weapons and good a hiding, moving silently. A wizard could take alchemy and throw items like alchemists fire. Maybe I could take weapon focus sling? I could also hide and sneak around and use spells to strike from surprise. Rinse: OK thinking about it that is too much to take. I don’t want to waste a feat on weapon focus. I need that feat for spell focus. Alchemy is a good idea so I’ll keep that. As for hide and sneak that is too many skills to take. Why not pick one? I will take move silently then I can use invisibility and so forth with it. Repeat Focus: What feats make the wizard? Spell focus. And obviously specialize in evocation. Dropping conjuration and enchantment. Conjuration is mostly attack and enchantment holds no interest for this character. Also due to the desire to make ranged touch attack rolls is important. After some research you realize Point blank shot and precise shot are must have feats for this concept. Expand: What are some non evocation spells that will help? Cats grace, true strike, invisibility, acid arrow. Wait a minute. Acid arrow is conjuration. Ranged touch attack and no SR! Lets consider dropping another school. How about necromancy? Rinse: After contemplation you drop Spell focus. You will get it later but for now you need Point Blank Shot and precise strike. They will help with wands and alchemists fire as well. Repeat: Keep going… Here are some guidelines or rules to help you along The first rule is: There really are no rules. Anyone who says “always or must” is at best misguided. Often there will be some really good things to choose and some less good things. When someone says "must" or "never" be wary. Now for the rest of the rules… Never Cram – Use the shoehorn not the hammer. Try to make things work, but if you cannot make things fit with a little finesse then try something else. Don’t force a fit. Don’t try to do everything – A character cannot do everything. You cannot maximize HP, AC, To Hit and Damage. You must decide where and what to maximize. Be flexible – Don’t be afraid to change things or play around with ideas. You may have started wanting to play a dwarf but after contemplation you decide a gnome is a better choice. Cast a wide net – A character does need to have broad playability. You should make sure your character is useful in a variety of situations. Above all hold nothing sacred. Don’t say “this must always happen.” Whatever works, works. This is a early draft constructive criticism is welcomed. All terms and observations in this article are my own original ideas