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Bartmanhomer
2017-05-15, 10:15 AM
OK I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who's addicted for creating multiple character sheets for a hobby. I make so many character sheets for D&D 3.5. And it's becoming an addiction. As much that I enjoying making character sheets and I'm planning to play all of them and I do mean all of them. I just wonder if this a serious issue or it's just no big deal. Speaking of which, how do you handle multiple character sheets addictions?

TheIronGolem
2017-05-15, 11:47 AM
"Addiction" doesn't mean "something you do a lot".

Are you actually compelled to create RPG characters all the time? Not like "I sure would like to build a new wizard", but like "Oh god I literally won't be able to function as a person until I get this wizard built"?

Do you seriously feel nervous or anxious when you don't have a character sheet in front of you? When you do get that character sheet in front of you, does it feel more like pain relief than something you actually enjoy?

Are you willfully neglecting important obligations in your life (school, job, family, etc) to work on character sheets? Again, not like "I was five minutes late to work because I was writing down spells" but "I might get fired because I keep ditching work to make pretend knights"?

If you answered yes to those questions, you might have an addiction. We can't help you with that, because we are Internet people who argue about how to play elf games. Consider seeking professional help.

If not, you don't have an addiction. You have a hobby, and maybe you're spending too much time on it. Consider broadening your interests a little, or maybe just learning to manage your time better.

Bartmanhomer
2017-05-15, 12:23 PM
"Addiction" doesn't mean "something you do a lot".

Are you actually compelled to create RPG characters all the time? Not like "I sure would like to build a new wizard", but like "Oh god I literally won't be able to function as a person until I get this wizard built"?

Do you seriously feel nervous or anxious when you don't have a character sheet in front of you? When you do get that character sheet in front of you, does it feel more like pain relief than something you actually enjoy?

Are you willfully neglecting important obligations in your life (school, job, family, etc) to work on character sheets? Again, not like "I was five minutes late to work because I was writing down spells" but "I might get fired because I keep ditching work to make pretend knights"?

If you answered yes to those questions, you might have an addiction. We can't help you with that, because we are Internet people who argue about how to play elf games. Consider seeking professional help.

If not, you don't have an addiction. You have a hobby, and maybe you're spending too much time on it. Consider broadening your interests a little, or maybe just learning to manage your time better.well I only do multiple character sheets when I'm not busy with important obligations in my life such as work. I only do muliiple character sheets when I'm at home.

Lvl 2 Expert
2017-05-15, 01:34 PM
Okay, that was a pretty sick burn.

The whole "addiction is a serious thing, like mental illnesses (because it is one), nazism or rape, please don't joke too much about it" thing aside:

Use it, if you can.

Are you currently in any 3.5 games? Maybe you can get your DM to let some of these guys show up. You're not going to be able to play all of them as a full PC up to level 20, but maybe that 3rd level druid could be a nice NPC with her own little hut in the forest the main cast just stumbles upon after they ran out of potions a few fights back. Played by you, within certain limits you agreed upon with the DM. If she's a well made character she can even come back as a hireling several levels later, and the group will love the conservation of detail.

Eventually I expect your interest will drift off again. If it stays in or comes back to RPGs maybe you'll start home brewing. As you slowly work your way through the back catalog of 3.5 characters you'll have new magic items or prestige classes for them. Or you could end up world building, and using them as NPCs in your own setting. There's no need to use all of them right now...

Bartmanhomer
2017-05-15, 02:53 PM
Okay, that was a pretty sick burn.

The whole "addiction is a serious thing, like mental illnesses (because it is one), nazism or rape, please don't joke too much about it" thing aside:

Use it, if you can.

Are you currently in any 3.5 games? Maybe you can get your DM to let some of these guys show up. You're not going to be able to play all of them as a full PC up to level 20, but maybe that 3rd level druid could be a nice NPC with her own little hut in the forest the main cast just stumbles upon after they ran out of potions a few fights back. Played by you, within certain limits you agreed upon with the DM. If she's a well made character she can even come back as a hireling several levels later, and the group will love the conservation of detail.

Eventually I expect your interest will drift off again. If it stays in or comes back to RPGs maybe you'll start home brewing. As you slowly work your way through the back catalog of 3.5 characters you'll have new magic items or prestige classes for them. Or you could end up world building, and using them as NPCs in your own setting. There's no need to use all of them right now...

Well I'm still am currently playing with my Male Lesser Drow Rogue and this is my third character playing seperately.

Jay R
2017-05-15, 03:07 PM
Actually, I'm more interested in designing character sheets.

Every character I've had in this century has had a custom character sheet in Excel. When the character levels up, all the relevant numbers go up as well - BAB, saving throw, to-hit numbers with each weapon, etc.

My current illusionist even has a sheet in the document with all his currently-known spells, and it updates their range, duration, etc. based on his level.

Grod_The_Giant
2017-05-15, 04:59 PM
There's nothing wrong with enjoying the character creation minigame. You're allowed to make dudes for the sheer pleasure of making dudes. You can use them as pre-gens or NPCs or whatnot if you ever wind up in a position to need them, or you can just stick them in a folder and forget about them once they're done.

Bartmanhomer
2017-05-15, 05:04 PM
There's nothing wrong with enjoying the character creation minigame. You're allowed to make dudes for the sheer pleasure of making dudes. You can use them as pre-gens or NPCs or whatnot if you ever wind up in a position to need them, or you can just stick them in a folder and forget about them once they're done.

That's idea is one of best ideas I heard all day. I could make my own D&D Campaign with these characters. Sweet! :smile:

LibraryOgre
2017-05-16, 11:28 AM
I did it more when I was younger, though my poison those days was TMNT and Other Strangeness.

Lvl 2 Expert
2017-05-16, 11:47 AM
I did it more when I was younger, though my poison those days was TMNT and Other Strangeness.

I'm going offtopic here, but...

Looking back on it, would you still say it's good? I'm a fan of the genre/power level in general and the turtles in particular and I've read some good things about it, so I might actually want to put in the energy to track that thing down.

LibraryOgre
2017-05-16, 12:22 PM
I'm going offtopic here, but...

Looking back on it, would you still say it's good? I'm a fan of the genre/power level in general and the turtles in particular and I've read some good things about it, so I might actually want to put in the energy to track that thing down.

"How willing are you to put up with Palladium mechanics?", is the key question. Because there's a lot going on there that comes back to Palladium's system and its preference for characters who are tougher than AD&D characters, while not significantly improving on the damage... you wind up with combat that is frequently a time-consuming slog, especially if the DM doesn't take morale (a system Palladium doesn't really have) into account. If there's a significant difference in numbers of attacks, folks wind up bored while waiting for the combat monster to do his thing.

TMNT & OS was a really fun game for me, back when I was a young player and young GM... back in the early 90s. There was a lot of fun, creative energy to it, and the fact that the skill system was under-developed didn't bother me because there were so many cool skills to take (and I didn't seem to mind that certain skills were incredibly better than others since, if I got those skills, things were really cool!). An older gamer, with more experience, less time? I'd avoid the system. Palladium made a stand-alone After the Bomb RPG (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/61133/After-the-Bomb-RPG) that was in many ways superior... more mature as a system, though not much, with a better set of mechanics for making characters, even if the mechanics for running the game remained much the same.

Me, I wouldn't bother to track it down unless it was my heart's desire. I'd be inclined, these days, to grab a more modern generic system that allows some racial flexibility and introduce those themes to that, rather than fight my way through what's now almost 40 year old game design (since there's not much difference between TMNT and PF1), which amounts to someone's house rules of AD&D 1st edition. Even grabbing a relatively modern Palladium Game (the 2nd edition of Heroes Unlimited (http://palladium-store.com/1001/category/Heroes-Unlimited.html), for example, or the aforementioned AtB remake) would probably be a better option than finding what's now a collector's item.

(If you want to respond, let's take it to Older D&D or PM)