Okay guys. Calm me down.

[GreyBlack]

So, in my gaming group, the next DM is going to be assigning us characters. Now, in all of my experience with RPGs, I've never had a character assigned to me, so I'm a little perplexed. I really feel like my character won't be my own, and I'll have no investment in it. That worries me; part of why I enjoy TTRPG is the feeling of investment in my character, and watching it grow from 1 up to immense power.

Does anyone have experiences with pregen characters that you have no control over leveling? How was it? Can anyone tell me that it will be okay?

[Sayt]

Is he handing you your character, or is he handing you a mechanical scaffold for the start of your character? Just how much of your character is being dictated here?

As game designers have said, Restriction breeds creativity: Look at this as an opportunity to play a character you wouldn't otherwise have chosen to play, see what you can make it do and what you can do with it. Take what you've been given and put your personal touches on it.

Also, ask your GM if you get to make build choices beyond the snapshot you're given for the level you're at.

[KillianHawkeye]

Does anyone have experiences with pregen characters that you have no control over leveling? How was it? Can anyone tell me that it will be okay?


Also, ask your GM if you get to make build choices beyond the snapshot you're given for the level you're at.

Yeah, I'm wondering if you can clarify whether you're merely being given a pre-made character which you'll then have full control over, or if you really aren't going to have any choice in leveling the character in the future. Because one of those I would be okay with, while the other screams "I have control issues" and seems unnecessary and a bit insulting. Unless it's for a one-off game or something, but that's not what it sounds like.

If I was given a character and told that somebody else would be choosing the Feats and Skills and whatnot, I'd probably ask if they're also going to be telling me how to roleplay as well, or choosing my actions in combat for me?

[Spore]

We did this as a oneshot. Our DM gave us sheets without name, gender or backstory. We sparked instant backstories befitting those values. Still, it was post apocalypse and we woke up from cryostasis so the background was more or less completely blank. But we didn't get the characters assigned we got a pool of 5 sheets for 5 players and we each picked one.

And to be completely honest I miss Helga von Hohenheim a bit, ex corporate militia, with her completely insignificant noble title and her knack for solving problems with physicality.

[johnbragg]

Give it a shot.

The big question here is how much do you trust your GM? Do you trust him to create an enjoyable table experience, or not? Maybe he wants some people at the table to explore other classes. Maybe she's tired of Player X *always* playing class Y.

[Seto]

That's a little weird. I actually enjoy pregens, and I think they work very well in a narrativist game, a rules-light system, or a one-shot... Playing a premade character for a roleplayer is kind of like doing improvisation for an actor, it's fun and takes you to unexpected places.
But if it's going to be 3.5 and a long-running campaign? Maybe ask your DM if there's a reason he hands you pregens. If it's for story reasons (like, character-based plot twists) remind him that he can't predict the story over the full length of a campaign. If it's for mechanical reasons (for example, to make sure that there won't be a power gap between party members), stress that you're willing to work with him and comply with his concerns, but that you'd like to build your own character.
Or if it doesn't bother you too much and he has a good reason, go along with it and see how it unfolds.

[atemu1234]

Not really my area of expertise, though if you want, I could make you more angry :smallbiggrin:

[Soranar]

It's pretty common in certain games. Warhammer fantasy makes you roll your character origins on a chart for example (where being a ratcatcher is seen as the best you can hope for).

I say give it a shot, if your DM is half decent he'll at least make sure all your party roles are covered

[prufock]

I've only ever done this for one-shots for somewhat expendable games like a zombie-survival game and Paranoia!

It can be good or bad. On the one hand, sometimes its fun to move outside your comfort zone, expand your roleplaying style, and see what fun you can make out of it. On the other hand, the DM could be a control freak.

My advice: Try it for a session. If it's fun, go back for session 2. If it isn't, don't. You aren't obligated to play games that aren't fun for you. If the DM questions your decision to leave, tell him you didn't have fun playing a pregen character.

[Falcon X]

I absolutely love being handed pregens, so long as it is for one-shot games. For long-term, it sounds like less of a good idea.

Why I love them is because I love playing unique and interesting characters. I tend to get too Mary-Sueish if left to my own devices, and having someone else let me try out a new character ensures that it is going to be a new experience, at the very least.

[GreyBlack]

Okay, addressing some questions.

1) this is for story reasons. We recently finished a long-running campaign which saw one of my previous characters ascend to godhood by devouring the god's heart. Now, we're going into the future and playing the offspring of two of the characters from that campaign.

2) I will have no control over the level up process, or at least very minimal. We run in Pathfinder, and the characters classes will be dictated by DM. I am unsure as to alignment, which is my big problem.

3) I'm certain that this isn't to get me to play more diverse characters. In the recent past (we generally run rather short campaigns), I have run a Bard (NG), a Barbarian/Ranger (TN), a Wizard LE), an Alchemist (LG), and an Antipaladin (CE). Each of my characters have had a carefully crafted theme (e.g. Antipaladin plaguebringer, a Barbarian who believed himself to be a bear, a Bard who just wanted to tell the best stories, etc.).

So, the character I will be running will be an alchemist/ninja. I've asked if Investigator or pure Alchemist (Vivisectionist) were available, but the DM said he'd be assigning the class in level up. Unsure if he's giving me an alignment or not, but given who I'm descended from, it will likely be CN, which sucks because I hate playing CN (I'm on board with Spoony insofar as CN has nigh-on no reason to adventure). So, I guess my question is whether I'm overreacting.

[Segev]

It does seem odd that the only reason given is because you're playing children of past characters. That shouldn't dictate classes at every level. At least, not to me.

That said...just see how it is. That's all you really can do.

[GreyBlack]

In a full disclosure, I did kinda kill the character I'm descended from. Twice.

Full story is that, as we were descending to fight a Great Wyrm Red Dragon, the dragon offered us the chance to join with it to rule the world. His character kinda accepted and tried attacking me, to which I kinda ate him.

Then, after a convoluted resurrection, he wound up attacking one of the other PCs. I happened to walk in on this, saw him kill our group paladin, and proceeded to go full bear mode on him (I was a Barbarian who specialized in grappling), eating him again. That after him trying to poison a village and literally executing prisoners.

But yeah. Should be interesting.

[JNAProductions]

Seems unnecessarily restrictive. I would talk to your DM, OOC of course, and express your concerns. Hopefully they'll be reasonable, listen to you, and let you have input on your character. If not, then ask yourself this-will you still have fun? If yes, stick around. If no, then leave.

[DarkSoul]

Okay, addressing some questions.

1) this is for story reasons. We recently finished a long-running campaign which saw one of my previous characters ascend to godhood by devouring the god's heart. Now, we're going into the future and playing the offspring of two of the characters from that campaign.

2) I will have no control over the level up process, or at least very minimal. We run in Pathfinder, and the characters classes will be dictated by DM. I am unsure as to alignment, which is my big problem.

3) I'm certain that this isn't to get me to play more diverse characters. In the recent past (we generally run rather short campaigns), I have run a Bard (NG), a Barbarian/Ranger (TN), a Wizard LE), an Alchemist (LG), and an Antipaladin (CE). Each of my characters have had a carefully crafted theme (e.g. Antipaladin plaguebringer, a Barbarian who believed himself to be a bear, a Bard who just wanted to tell the best stories, etc.).

So, the character I will be running will be an alchemist/ninja. I've asked if Investigator or pure Alchemist (Vivisectionist) were available, but the DM said he'd be assigning the class in level up. Unsure if he's giving me an alignment or not, but given who I'm descended from, it will likely be CN, which sucks because I hate playing CN (I'm on board with Spoony insofar as CN has nigh-on no reason to adventure). So, I guess my question is whether I'm overreacting.Hmm...

1) He wants to tell a story in a certain way, involving certain characters. That's fine, I understand that. Buuuut...

2) He wants these exact characters, developing this exact way over time...

At this point the DM needs to have a very good reason why the players can't control the development of the character after he's created them for you. He's really not giving the players any reason to become invested in the game because he's telling his story the way he wants to, with the characters he wants to have. If you can't control who you are, or who you become in what should be a shared storytelling experience, why don't you just wait for the book to be released and read the story that way?

[johnbragg]

Okay, addressing some questions.

1) this is for story reasons. We recently finished a long-running campaign which saw one of my previous characters ascend to godhood by devouring the god's heart. Now, we're going into the future and playing the offspring of two of the characters from that campaign.

2) I will have no control over the level up process, or at least very minimal. We run in Pathfinder, and the characters classes will be dictated by DM. I am unsure as to alignment, which is my big problem.

Boo. No control over your character after you get the character? Boo.


3) I'm certain that this isn't to get me to play more diverse characters. In the recent past (we generally run rather short campaigns), I have run a Bard (NG), a Barbarian/Ranger (TN), a Wizard LE), an Alchemist (LG), and an Antipaladin (CE). Each of my characters have had a carefully crafted theme (e.g. Antipaladin plaguebringer, a Barbarian who believed himself to be a bear, a Bard who just wanted to tell the best stories, etc.).

So, the character I will be running will be an alchemist/ninja. I've asked if Investigator or pure Alchemist (Vivisectionist) were available, but the DM said he'd be assigning the class in level up. Unsure if he's giving me an alignment or not, but given who I'm descended from, it will likely be CN, which sucks because I hate playing CN (I'm on board with Spoony insofar as CN has nigh-on no reason to adventure). So, I guess my question is whether I'm overreacting.

Yeah, if he has the PCs all picked out and their builds planned out, he probably has a kewl railroad plot he wants to run you through. And you get to play an alignment that you hate. No, I can't argue to you that this isn't as bad as it sounds.

[Anlashok]

Sit down and talk with your DM about what his plans are.

I'm personally of the opinion that anything can be good if it's executed well, but every new bit of information makes this sound a bit sketchier.

What part of your character is actually under your control? Find that out, because right now it sounds like it's basically nothing.

[LTwerewolf]

He wants to tell a story, so let him tell the story instead of involving dice. Maybe one entire session where's it's raw exposition of this is what happened and etc. It's not fun to be railroaded so hard even your character is set in stone.

[LoyalPaladin]

Not really my area of expertise, though if you want, I could make you more angry :smallbiggrin:
I was about to say something to similar effect.

[GreyBlack]

Okay, thank you everyone. Just really wanted to make sure that I wasn't overreacting and that this sounded a bit sketchy to me.

[TheIronGolem]

Okay, addressing some questions.

1) this is for story reasons. We recently finished a long-running campaign which saw one of my previous characters ascend to godhood by devouring the god's heart. Now, we're going into the future and playing the offspring of two of the characters from that campaign.

2) I will have no control over the level up process, or at least very minimal. We run in Pathfinder, and the characters classes will be dictated by DM. I am unsure as to alignment, which is my big problem.

3) I'm certain that this isn't to get me to play more diverse characters. In the recent past (we generally run rather short campaigns), I have run a Bard (NG), a Barbarian/Ranger (TN), a Wizard LE), an Alchemist (LG), and an Antipaladin (CE). Each of my characters have had a carefully crafted theme (e.g. Antipaladin plaguebringer, a Barbarian who believed himself to be a bear, a Bard who just wanted to tell the best stories, etc.).

So, the character I will be running will be an alchemist/ninja. I've asked if Investigator or pure Alchemist (Vivisectionist) were available, but the DM said he'd be assigning the class in level up. Unsure if he's giving me an alignment or not, but given who I'm descended from, it will likely be CN, which sucks because I hate playing CN (I'm on board with Spoony insofar as CN has nigh-on no reason to adventure). So, I guess my question is whether I'm overreacting.

I certainly wouldn't play in a game like this. While having your new characters be descendants of the previous game's characters is a perfectly valid premise, there's no logical reason why that should prevent you from being able to make your own characters within that premise.

Really, this almost comes off as the DM writing fan fiction about your previous characters and trying to make you act it out as a play he's directing. Don't be surprised if this turns out to be a railroad game through and through: "No, you can't spare the surrendering orc's life, you hate orcs and vowed to wipe them out!".

[erok0809]

I agree with everyone else here on the sketchiness. I would give it one session to see if it's fun anyway, because for me, a good enough story could potentially be worth it, if you can manage to connect to it. Play the character how you want to play it, and see what you can and cannot do according to your DM. If you're too limited for your tastes, respectfully bow out, explaining your reasoning, and see what the DM says about that, if he can be brought to understand what went wrong. If you end up liking what's happening, well, you're having fun. No problems there. :smallbiggrin:

[KillianHawkeye]

Yeah, if you have so little control over your character for no reason other than "story purposes," just tell him you'd rather wait until the campaign comes out on Netflix/DVD.

[Yahzi]

Does anyone have experiences with pregen characters that you have no control over leveling?
D&D was originally pre-gen; in that you rolled dice for stats in order. That often dictated what class your character would be. So giving you a pre-gen character is fine; you're supposed to look at the numbers and create a personality out of them.

Controlling how you level up, however, is run-away-screaming-bad.

[Jay R]

There was a time when you played D&D for the first time.
There was a time when you played a caster for the first time.
There was a time when you played a Ranger for the first time.
There was a time when you played a prestige class for the first time.

This is just another new experience. You have no idea whether you will enjoy it or not, or whether you will bond with the character or not.

Every single book or movie you've enjoyed has involved somebody else creating characters that you become invested in. This game is just halfway between a normal rpg (in which you design the character and then decide what he or she does) and watching a movie (in which somebody else designs the character and controls his or her actions).

Go into it as a new situation you haven't tried yet, and try to enjoy it. If you do, then great! You have enjoyed a new experience.

If you don't enjoy it, then you have treated it fairly, and discovered (not guessed) what that experience is like.

[OldTrees1]

There have been several campaign ideas that would work best under the conditions you are describing.

The one I recall best was in a forum thread a while ago. It had everyone playing an amnesiac. Learning about the past was part of the campaign premise and was enhanced mechanically by the characters rediscovering their abilities.

Another one I personally ran was where a bunch of people were tossed into a new world. The translation process gave each some abilities. However since the characters would not know IC what those abilities were, I left the players in the dark. Again part of the campaign premise was about the engagement of discovering these unknowns. I ran 2 one shot versions of this back in high school and my group enjoyed them.


So I suggest asking if there is a reason but not pushing necessarily to know the reason. The DM could be a control freak, or could be trying a specialized campaign that requires specific setup. Either way, a good DM will want to be aware of your concerns and might have a good reason (although if the reason is about discovery they might not be able to reveal anything more than that a reason exists).

[GrayDeath]

I would suggest giving it a shot.

it sounds weird, but maybe (I dont know your GM) he ahs something truly great in planning and just wants you tog et to a certain point "prestoried".

I would not actively look to play like that, but I`ve never tried it out either, so why not?

Tell him beforehand that you are worried about X, y amd z and WHY.

[GreyBlack]

Oh, absolutely. I certainly intended to lay out my concerns about the upcoming game anyway and give it a shot. Again, worse to worst and I am playing CN (unsure if I am or not), I can literally just CN the [REDACTED] out of it and walk away at a pivotal moment because I felt like it. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with these games before. I'm a generally anxious person who is known to look too much into things (I'm a philosophy major currently studying for his masters in Emergency Management level overthinking and anxiety concerns lol)

[dascarletm]

I'm running a game where the players are not able to access their actual sheets. I printed a custom one that has some basic info on it. The campaign premise is that they have no memories of their past life or powers. The game involves them discovering this. This is working in my group because we have trust for one another. Trust is paramount between GM and players to do this sort of thing. If there isn't trust... I don't think it can be done.

[Dekion]

This sounds too much like a couple of experiences I have had where the story was already written and the DM just walked the players through it. No matter what we did, it came out how he wanted. A suggestion in this case for the DM would be along the lines of the Netflix/DVD comment...Write a book. This type of control over characters tends to go against why we play roleplaying games in the the first place, and if it's all planned out, then why go through the exercise to reach a foregone conclusion. Save your story for a book or short story and move on to something everyone can enjoy.

That said, I have no idea what your DM has in mind, and it could be a great opportunity. Talk to the DM, and, if it goes forward, try to keep an open mind until you stop having fun.

[Jay R]

At best it's a fun new way to play. At worst it's an interesting experiment. You have nothing to lose.

Go, have fun.