Straight up casters- Less fun to build?

[Snowbluff]

SO, whenever I go over character builds and make characters for fun, I have less fun making casters. So much of the variety is dependent on spell selection and PrC. Even then a lot of classes get access to their full list (I'm looking at you T1 and T3), meaning you won't have to commit yourself to any particular sort of play.

Anyone else feel this way?

Ex:Wizards. Choose 2 schools to dump, grab your starting spells, learn the rest later. And this is a generous example. Clerics, Druids, DN, etc. These classes are built around not having to commit heavily to one thing within the class.

Just a Caveat, I'm not talking Gishy CoDzilla (Where you might make some meaningful choices concerning your playstyle).

[Ernir]

Some classes require more decisions to be made at character creation/level up. Some require more of it prior to each encounter/adventuring day. Some require neither, some both.

This is known. Are you just stating your preference?

[Suddo]

Ex:Wizards. Choose 2 schools to dump, grab your starting spells, learn the rest later. And this is a generous example. Clerics, Druids, DN, etc. These classes are built around not having to commit heavily to one thing within the class.

This was discussed early that dumping 2 schools could easily be considered a bad thing. Clerics get Domains to choose.

And if you watn to have some real fun build a Ultimate Magus. You have a bunch of things to choose.

[Emperor Tippy]

Casters can get infinitely complex to make.

What kind of caster do you want? Healing? Support? A spy? Battlefield control? Damage? Shapeshifting? Summoning? etc.

What race do you want to be? Or do you not care?

What power level do you want to be?

If you want to just build a top of the line PO generalist then it's relatively simple (short of your spell list). Grey Elf (if LA buy off is in play then grab the Dark template as well), Elf Generalist racial sub level, 2 flaws, FMI as one of your feats, Domain Wizard, with Spontaneous Divination at fifth level.

Then you PrC into one of the five or so best PrC's around depending upon your specific desires. Your 1 level dip into Mindbender should be in there somewhere along with Mindsight, probably 3 levels of Archmage as well for the +1 CL, Mastery of Shaping, Arcane Reach, and Spell Power.

But for everything short of top of being the best at one specific thing or going for one specific trick, building casters can and is incredibly variable.

[Righteous Doggy]

I get alot of wander lust when I play any class, I like casters a lot. Every level I get a bunch of cool new tricks I can do, I can change my motif everyday if I feel like it! I'm not limited to whatever manuevers I already chose, nor feats. I don't have to multiclass to get a different flavor. I can even let the power sway my alignment and actions more easily. I have fun building any class, choosing spells is more work, but I like the versatality that comes with it.
Milage may vary I suppose.

[Snowbluff]

Some classes require more decisions to be made at character creation/level up. Some require more of it prior to each encounter/adventuring day. Some require neither, some both.

This is known. Are you just stating your preference?

I... guess? I'm more of a long-term thinker. Bring things by encounter/day isn't something I am concerned with. It's putting characters together. What makes 3.5 so much fun?! All of this silly stuff and choice I wade through to make eat character. Each one a handcrafted piano playing tuned and shined up just the way I like it. :smalltongue:

[The Crash Man]

All depends on what you want to do. Some people love pouring over sourcebooks to find the best spells they can, others prefer playing around with a variety of of build options. However, I do agree that once you find a good casting setup its possible to fall into complacency.

Of course, a good DM constantly keeping you on your toes makes spell choice a game in itself, and quite a fun one.

[eggs]

I'd definitely call Fighter the most fun class to build - it has tons of options, lots of conflicting and interweaving prerequisites to jump through, and the stakes are such that building poorly basically means character death.

[Cor1]

I'm having SO much fun with my current straight Psion, no PrC, LA +0, final destination... precisely because I can tweak its build as much as I want.

I PsyRef it about once per level. Usually to change an Expanded Knowledge power into an other, but sometimes to modify a tricky combo.

[TuggyNE]

Some people love pouring over sourcebooks to find the best spells they can,

And some people prefer not to get their sourcebooks wet :smalltongue:

(The term you want is "poring", not "pouring".)

This has been your tangential nitpick sample!