for 4E, I decided when the game comes out I'm gonna play a halfling paladin, and I have spent a few weeks now just thinking about all the stuff she can, could, and had done. Eventually, at work today when I had nothing to do I came up with quite the event, epic in scale i'd judge. But doing so made me desire not to play the character anymore...
It's weird, I know, but it was that... cool, at least to me, that instead of playing that character I wanted to play a wholly seperate character who simply admires my first. a halfling paladin who admires a previous halfling paladin, who quotes things from her grant story and re-tells her values at every chance.
It seems kinda starange, that I designed a character into retirement before I even played her. I guess I'm just curious if that's happened to anyone else.
Have you ever though of something so cool, you didn't want to play it?
I'd design the first as an NPC, as you say to serve as the example.
Seems like you are more of a DM than player.
Good luck.
Figured it couldn't live up to what I had already imagined.
Of course, a lot of what makes D&D fun is coming up with a simple concept and seeing how it reacts in the situations that the DM comes up with and thus flesh it out. There isn't really anything exciting about already knowing how your particular character is going to act in any given situation.
So yah, I suppose it is possible for some people to think too hard about their character and kinda just be done with it.
Etarnon, I don't see how liking to play a variety of characters has anything to do with it.
He might make a good DM though. Hadn't even thought of that.
So I could play the Elder high level paladin, the apprentice, whatever.
Have you ever though of something so cool, you didn't want to play it?
I've done it, but it doesn't usually affect me. I've had character concepts that I knew would end up changing once they saw game play. However, I so seldom get to play, it's not often an issue, and I have so many unplayed character ideas anyway, I'd just make another character. ;)
It seems kinda starange, that I designed a character into retirement before I even played her. I guess I'm just curious if that's happened to anyone else.
Have you ever though of something so cool, you didn't want to play it?
Yeah. We call it the "A solution exists" syndrome. You've had the fun of working it all out, actually playing the character would be anticlimactic. As others stated though, these characters often make pretty good NPC's.
Whereas the ones I actually play develop from a random idea to a character that yells at me from inside my head until I find a way to play it in some game or other
Even if it's kinda inappropriate for the campaign."I'm running a game where you all start out in an isolated human village. Your characters don't know much about the world, its cosmology or its politics."
"uh...hm...I guess my Gnome Cook/Wizard is the daughter of a single mother Gnome that is hiding out in this isolated village for some reason she's never told anybody."
The above example is real, and worked out ok in the end, although when she ran into normally socialized gnomes, she was kind of alien and a geek.
The party also had a halfling that thought he was human, the "brother" of the human paladin. He was found in the river as a baby....
As the campagn progressed it became more and more clear that our so-called isolated village was probably an enclave of retired adventurers hiding out for tax reasons....
As the campagn progressed it became more and more clear that our so-called isolated village was probably an enclave of retired adventurers hiding out for tax reasons....
You don't know how much campaign material you just gave me in that one quote, but I thank you. I truly, deeply thank you for that quote.
On to the topic at hand, I have pre-designed characters, but only to a limited extent. I have worked out a family tree known as the Hawk family (my first, now retired, character was Jason Orlando Hawk), and I have fleshed out how to assign their stats in any given scenario.
Eric Hawk is a Daredevil with a high Dex and a low Wisdom.
Micheal Hawk is a master salesman (and martial artist) who focuses on Charisma and Strength.
Orion Hawk (my most recent creation) is elderly scholar who is past his physical prime, but manages to adventure by taking advantage of his high Intelligence and Wisdom.
I have quite a few of these.
Notice, however, that all of these characters can be made to fit in almost any setting.
Eric was originally rolled up for a Modern game. Micheal was actually a Star Wars character. Orion first existed in D&D. However, all of these characters could easily be fit into another setting just by modifying their classes.
This means I always have a character concept on hand for the (rare) opportunities I have to play (rather than DM).
Of course, my gaming group is in for equal amounts of trouble since I have an equal number of rough villain outlines, which get plenty of opportunity to see play in my primary roll as Dungeon Master.
I like making a variaty of characters, but I end up doing things like plotting out stuff I want them to do. Not just "at level 12 gain X feat" but like "at level 9 or so she'll have a traumatic episode dealing with split personalities." True a part of my reason for doing this is so I can tell my DM and see if he wants to me do it, or make use of the idea himself. (I love to provide possible plot lines so the DM doesn't have to make stuff up on the spot for my characters backstory)
Usually I'll play the filler character though, I choose something that no one else is in the party, need a cleric? done. trap monkey? you got it. Got no ranged? give me a bow. So often the characters I design never see the light of the gaming table.
My current character, a Elan Psion kinetisist names Kasyl has a world of problems, stemming from the fact that she has (at level 9) two psicrystals, each of which is a different personality that comes from within her. She's quiet, shy and kind. Her past life is a grumpy religious angry woman with a serious manners problem, and a quori (nightmare demon, see eberron/sarlona) trapped within her that is a psychopathic pryo with a desire to see the world in peril. Yeah, things are nuts for her. I may have over thought her back story, though it hasn't too much shown up yet in game. (7 players, little spotlight time to go around)
I've tried DMing before, and thanks for the compliment, but I'm a horrible DM in practice. Designing worlds, maps, adventures, combats, diplomatic discussions. All of it I've done and had fun doing. But running the game is a different story.