Pre-generated Characters

[MustacheManny]

So I'm in a group of about 6 including the DM and half of them have never played before or have only played once or twice. (The DM has been playing since the 80's, so that's nice) Our DM decided we should roll with the pre-gen characters and even though I was sure I would hate my noble fighter I'm ending up really liking it. They have a background all made up that fits with the campaign and with maybe a little tweaking to his ideals and personality traits he just feels good.

What are your thoughts on pre-gen characters?

[ChildofLuthic]

Dude, I'd hella play a pregen character for a one shot or something. A whole campaign with a character I didn't make might annoy me after a while though.

[Naanomi]

For a specific purpose (short campaign, campaign built around very specific character archetypes) pregens are ok, but I do enjoy character creation/planning so if I can make my own (even if given guidelines) I'd prefer to do so

[MustacheManny]

I typically prefer to make my own, I'll even roll up characters and make a backstory just for fun. I'm surprised at how much fun these characters can be. We're running the Lost Mines of Phandelver, there's a pretty neat batch of characters there.

[Fishyninja]

I didn't even realise this was a thing. How do they work?

[ChildofLuthic]

I didn't even realise this was a thing. How do they work?

Basically your DM hands you a sheet and you play the person on that sheet.

Depending on why they're prefabbing your character, they might give you some flexibility on making your stats/things, or in making your backstory/motivations. Often times it's done so that a DM can make characters that will definitely want to do their quest.

[Hrugner]

I've never experienced it beyond a simple "you are all working for a secret police group" or "you are all in X small village, tell me why your character is there" and of course "no anarchists". I don't think it would bother me too much unless character growth was also pregenerated or my RPing of the character was being critiqued.

[Baptor]

I think it would be a neat idea. Actually the first d&d group I played with back in the old ad&d days had a DM who only let us play pregens.

He had these elite adventure groups in his campaign world and pre made characters for them. They had super hero names like Animus and Titan and had a bunch on unique abilities in addition to their normal class.

If I had never played it, I'd have said it must be boring, but let me tell you, it wasn't. It was a ton of fun. We even swapped characters if we were bored or if someone was out. Also, losing a character wasn't as big a deal since some other fellow would be blessed or whatever add become the new Titan.

I played with them for years and loved it. But every game I've played since has been build your own, which has its own ups and downs. As a DM I've never run pregens not because I don't like then but because I've never been able to sell my players on the idea.

[Fishyninja]

Basically your DM hands you a sheet and you play the person on that sheet.

Depending on why they're prefabbing your character, they might give you some flexibility on making your stats/things, or in making your backstory/motivations. Often times it's done so that a DM can make characters that will definitely want to do their quest.

But Character creation is the best bit! :smallsmile:

Though could be interesting depending on the DM.

[Arcangel4774]

Baptor's DM i think did pregens right. The biggest issue would naturally be that you don't like who you are given. Having a cast of characters to pick from seems a better solution than having little to no wiggle room

[ChildofLuthic]

But Character creation is the best bit! :smallsmile:

Though could be interesting depending on the DM.

Right? I feel like I would never do this as DM because my players love character creation, but I do create their characters with them, to make sure they fit into my world.

[Fishyninja]

Right? I feel like I would never do this as DM because my players love character creation, but I do create their characters with them, to make sure they fit into my world.

That's fine, I actually had a DM suggest a WOTC archetype to me as it fit the RP of my character more and it is amazing!

[Arkhios]

Background Traits can do wonders in regards to what a character feels like, be it your own doing or not. They can really help you flesh out the character, especially for someone who might think they're not very good at making backstories. Now you can just roll the dice, write down the results, and connect the dots. With a bit of creativity (not much is needed) you can create interesting characters!

I wish Backgrounds would've been a thing in character creation long before 5th edition.
I never had a problem coming up with a backstory, on the contrary really. My problem has been that I tend to invest a tad too much into that story, even before the game has begun.

[Fishyninja]

Background Traits can do wonders in regards to what a character feels like, be it your own doing or not. They can really help you flesh out the character, especially for someone who might think they're not very good at making backstories. Now you can just roll the dice, write down the results, and connect the dots. With a bit of creativity (not much is needed) you can create interesting characters!

I wish Backgrounds would've been a thing in character creation long before 5th edition.
I never had a problem coming up with a backstory, on the contrary really. My problem has been that I tend to invest a tad too much into that story, even before the game has begun.

You and me both sir.

[Virfortis]

Because of the nature of my tables, playing in a public space and having people come in and out a lot, I have pre-gen characters of all classes (one extra for fighter and cleric, an archer and "inquisitor" type) and keep them levelled with the party. Then I tell players they may submit a revised version of their character sheet within one month of when they started.

Heres what this accomplishes:

1. People just wanting to drop in serve as NPCs turned PCs in the middle of combat, or wandering travellers.

2. New players can get right to it without worrying about character creation.

So far I've turned a gaming tavern with about 4 people on a Tuesday night into 30+ people with multiple tables and the owner loves it.

[NecroDancer]

I'd suggest letting the players make the personality/backstory of the pregens