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View Full Version : Pre-made or free reign characters? (Any)



penbed400
2010-10-24, 03:47 AM
I recently saw an argument struck up here on the forum about whether or not Dungeon Masters should let players create their own characters. I've seen both sides of this argument and have experienced them. Personally when I DM for a game it depends on what kind of story I am looking for.

If I have a very specific story in mind and my player's know that, such as Paranoia where I can't just make up definitions for every society and rumors that apply to everyone on the spot (I'm an over thinking preparation-is-key DM), then I just hand them pre-generated characters that they can play. My dad's group does this as well for any game, they just hand out players with already written backgrounds and everything. They even enjoy this method because it means that they can take this character and make their own out of it, playing that personality and letting it fuse with their own over time.

But sometimes when I don't have something in mind I let my players go wild with any official material they can find with any character concepts they want. Home brew is even okay as long as I get a chance to look it over before they implement it. My players enjoy this since it means that they can be anyone they want as long as they can think up the idea for it and can write a legitimate story that applies to my campaign.

What does the playground think about this debate? How does your group do it? Any specific preference?

Shatteredtower
2010-10-24, 01:26 PM
The main danger with premade characters comes when the DM micromanages them, or when your players are too contrary to understand that there are opportunities to be found in being assigned a role. Being told what your character would think and do at every turn is bad. Thinking that a loss of certain choices comes without new choices is worse, though, as players will spare no effort to deny themselves to support that position. Some people simply aren't competent to run pregens. They need a different option.

The drawback to letting players build their own characters comes down to plausibility. The party goes well beyond rag tag to create race, class, and alignment combinations that defy belief. Even with the best Diplomacy check available, prospective allies keep wondering why they'd help "their kind". There is also the fact that this makes it harder to ensure the party has (or lacks) the right tools to overcome (or be challenged by) key encounters. Sometimes, you want to see how certain combinations play out.

Starbuck_II
2010-10-24, 01:30 PM
If I have a very specific story in mind and my player's know that, such as Paranoia where I can't just make up definitions for every society and rumors that apply to everyone on the spot (I'm an over thinking preparation-is-key DM), then I just hand them pre-generated characters that they can play. My dad's group does this as well for any game, they just hand out players with already written backgrounds and everything. They even enjoy this method because it means that they can take this character and make their own out of it, playing that personality and letting it fuse with their own over time.



Can the players play these pre-gen characters as they wish or are you forcing them to act like background?
Do the players have freedom?

Are you forcing sucky feats? (many Pre-gens seem to have stuff like Toughness that isn't useful)

penbed400
2010-10-24, 02:45 PM
Can the players play these pre-gen characters as they wish or are you forcing them to act like background?
Do the players have freedom?

Are you forcing sucky feats? (many Pre-gens seem to have stuff like Toughness that isn't useful)

1. Yes they can play them how they wish. I mean I do hope that they are mindful of their backgrounds. I would rather not have the cowardly wimpy character charge into battle roaring a battle cry for no reason but playing is subjective to the player. So if he ran charging into the battle roaring a battle cry because he's so frustrated at being scared all the time that he finally wants to prove himself etc. It's not exactly the character I wrote but it's the character they want to become. The whole aspect to a story is character development, so why deny them that?

2. Well normally I don't do pre-gen characters for D&D. The last time I made characters for everyone they all seemed to like them. I'm ok at optimizing, better than all of my friends at least. That's part of the reason that I allow them all of the books, since I'm pretty confident I can handle whatever is coming my way. So I guess the answer to that would be no, if I was making a character I would no more make them take Toughness than I would have them take Combat Casting.