Are you happy with your characters?

[danzibr]

I have tons of character ideas, either from mechanics or flavor (I try to marry the two). It seems every single time I actually finish a character, I'm unhappy with it. It's sort of like... the ideas I have never come together perfectly. Like they're lacking somehow. Like the builds should click together like a little box, but they don't.

Most recently I've made a DFI Bard, a Psion/Constructor, and a few version of a Totemist. And man, no matter what I make, I'm not quite happy with the final result.

So anyway. Are you happy with your characters?

[Sir Chuckles]

Keep going at it. You'll eventually build a character that does exactly what you want.

I've never been unhappy with one of my characters. I might just be lucky in that aspect, but how can one not be happy with a Large Monk with a dip in Fighter able to deal 14d6+48 (About, sheet not on hand) a round?

I guess it's because, even when I build a skill monkey, it's exactly what I want.

The closest to disappointment I have is when I DM, set up a fight with a fancy character, and it just turns into a loot table.

[A.A.King]

Sometimes I'm really happy, but some other times it does feel like what I want is impossible. It's those character concepts where you want to have a bit of extra flavor which just requires more resources then is worth it.

But there are also those times when I do feel that some things just fell together perfectly.

[hymer]

There are certain limitations that the rules impose, and I feel those on occasion. But I usually come at my characters from one of two directions: Either a (nearly) fully formed personality forces me to put it into D&D terms, or some mechanic compels me to invent a personality to go with it. This keeps frustration down, but it doesn't eliminate it.

[DSmaster21]

I have tons of character ideas, either from mechanics or flavor (I try to marry the two). It seems every single time I actually finish a character, I'm unhappy with it. It's sort of like... the ideas I have never come together perfectly. Like they're lacking somehow. Like the builds should click together like a little box, but they don't.

Most recently I've made a DFI Bard, a Psion/Constructor, and a few version of a Totemist. And man, no matter what I make, I'm not quite happy with the final result.

So anyway. Are you happy with your characters?

I deal with the same thing. (it's why I sometimes prefer to DM) I just start building something in a mad rush and then when I finish I look at it and always say something along the lines of how it needs improvement and then start on a new one that turns only slightly different or something entirely to clear my head. I have so many N/PCs built that will likely never see use it is hilarious. My latest project was making a team that only does combat if they must. They lie, make deals and just generally f-around. Or they would if I could bring myself to use them.

[Spore]

I tried to make my first character kind of multi purpose, which failed miserably. But when I create a new character now, I take ONE or possibly TWO mechanical aims as well as a roleplaying theme and stick to it.

If I am able to be as useful as the rest of the group AND still stay in the confines of my perceived character, I am golden.

[OldTrees1]

The more options I have, the smoother the final build is mechanically.

However there have been builds that have taken years of revision. My Lich of Wee Jas build was started 5 years ago. Although it felt "clicked together" after 1 year.

You might consider examining what specifically is missing from each character.

[ArcturusV]

It tends to be how I build a character. For one, I'm almost never happy when I make a high level character from scratch. They always seem to lack depth and organic growth that would have come from naturally leveling up. Things like having relatively suboptimal items still because you haven't had a chance to replace them with the appropriate/higher version of them yet, or lacking certain build aspects that you would have needed/wanted/taken to survive low levels that is no longer important at high levels, etc.

Secondly... I almost always fail to be happy with a character when I'm setting out to build something before I even roll the dice. If I go into it saying something like "I'm going to make a Cleric" or "I'm going to make a wizard" or the like right off the bat (Particularly if group dynamics are trying to force me to be one because "we need one" and no one else wanted to play it)? I'm going to hate the character. I always do.

But I love characters that end up unexpected. It's part of why I like random stat gen rather than point buy. I won't have an idea of what I"m going to do, but look at this Str: 10 Dex: 14 Con: 12 Int: 4 Wis: 14 Cha: 17 that I randomly rolled up and go "Hmm... what can I do with that?" which then gets me fired up to explain how this sort of thing occurred, how the character coped with it, etc. It provides me instantly with a sense of more organic growth, etc. And in the end I tend to like those randomly generated character spun out of the chaos, rather than carefully built, preplanned creatures.

[Subaru Kujo]

Love my character ideas, and love the items they pick up. My duelist (rapier dagger) Elf Rogue/Fighter has now turned into a chain/dagger fighter thanks to a 60ft long chain spear that has embedded itself into his arm (he calls it out of his arm at will).

As far as my next one, a drunken, gambling obsessed cleric of Olidammara sounds like fun.

[Invader]

I've had characters that I've loved and some I hated but I think a lot of that depends on the campaign and the group you're playing with as well.

I was really excited about a DFA I built for a campaign and I had tons of fun playing him and his personality but mechanically I hated the class because it was the same thing over and over again.

I guess it really depends on a bunch of different factors for me.

[DSmaster21]

It tends to be how I build a character. For one, I'm almost never happy when I make a high level character from scratch. They always seem to lack depth and organic growth that would have come from naturally leveling up. Things like having relatively suboptimal items still because you haven't had a chance to replace them with the appropriate/higher version of them yet, or lacking certain build aspects that you would have needed/wanted/taken to survive low levels that is no longer important at high levels, etc.

Secondly... I almost always fail to be happy with a character when I'm setting out to build something before I even roll the dice. If I go into it saying something like "I'm going to make a Cleric" or "I'm going to make a wizard" or the like right off the bat (Particularly if group dynamics are trying to force me to be one because "we need one" and no one else wanted to play it)? I'm going to hate the character. I always do.

But I love characters that end up unexpected. It's part of why I like random stat gen rather than point buy. I won't have an idea of what I"m going to do, but look at this Str: 10 Dex: 14 Con: 12 Int: 4 Wis: 14 Cha: 17 that I randomly rolled up and go "Hmm... what can I do with that?" which then gets me fired up to explain how this sort of thing occurred, how the character coped with it, etc. It provides me instantly with a sense of more organic growth, etc. And in the end I tend to like those randomly generated character spun out of the chaos, rather than carefully built, preplanned creatures.

I may try doing this its just that I started in a RetroClone (Had some bad experiences but mostly good) and so rolling stats is something I have not used (I have bad luck, so I had very interesting characters (Case in point Leo the dumb foolish ugly Fighter (Stats = 13, 11, 8, 5, 7, 9) and I actually played him)) since then.


I've had characters that I've loved and some I hated but I think a lot of that depends on the campaign and the group you're playing with as well.

I was really excited about a DFA I built for a campaign and I had tons of fun playing him and his personality but mechanically I hated the class because it was the same thing over and over again.

I guess it really depends on a bunch of different factors for me.

Yeah, I am kind of groupless right now (I run a group for my school game club with 30+ people but its kind of bleh) and that might be why because I actually do like making characters that play a bit off others (nothing cruel but stuff like making that guy you know who just kinda is there in the corner when you and friends are doing your stuff (made an avenger in 4e that just snuck around performing assassinations and only contributed to fights when others where not looking.)).

[Eldariel]

I usually am missing about 1-2 feats unless I Dark Chaos Shuffle something from what I want. It's infuriating, especially when not playing Humans/Strongheart Halflings (and I hate playing Humans and to lesser extent Halflings). Overall though most of my characters are pretty close to what I want.

[Ravens_cry]

Build is one thing, and, while it's a nice thing, it's not the only thing.
What frustrates me just as much, if not more, is when you have clear goals in your back story, and your DM isn't willing to work toward any of them. One can't always be the spotlight, duh, but if you have goals, it's nice to be thrown a bone now and then.

[The Insanity]

Depends if they perform well.

[Yukitsu]

I've never been unhappy with a character I made. One of the best reasons to learn how to optimize is that even if I decide to make a tier 5 character, I know how to make them conform perfectly to my vision of them.

[Werephilosopher]

I got hooked on D&D after my first game, and since then I've built dozens of different characters. Unfortunately I've only played 3 separate campaigns, so I've come to love building characters for the sake of it as opposed to anticipating how they play in an actual game. Of all my different characters, including:
a dwarf incarnate who wields two greathammers with her four arms;
a nightcrawler-like rogue who can teleport at will and kill most enemies in a single turn;
a priest who can transform into any living being (and a few undead ones);
a cyclopean warlock who shoots eldritch eye beams;
a "grim reaper" who lost his job and now works as an assassin-for-hire;
a half-angel, half-devil who hates magic so much, he made himself into a literal antimagic force of nature;
and my favorite, a psychic who looks like the lovechild of Slenderman and the Joker, and rips open holes in the fabric of reality for shiggles;
they've all started from looking at mechanics and getting an idea from there, instead of taking a character concept and trying to force it into D&D rules. That way, my characters always "work," even if what they do isn't optimal.