why I gave up making backup characters

[nickl_2000]

So, this is personal experience, but I'm wondering if others have run into the same issue.

My current campaign is drawing to a close in the next month or so and we will be starting a new one after that, with new level 1 characters and a different DM (woo, a shorter drive time). So, I've been spending a lot of time on this new character, writing a back story, thinking over progressions, and overall working out his personality in my mind. A funny thing has happened as I have been doing it, I've found that the more time I spend on the new character the less I care for my current character. I don't know if I like the idea of whatever is new and shiny or excited about the potential of the new character or just like the new one since his personality is one I connect with more. However, it is definitely a fact of life in the how my mind works.

*note, the current character is a Moon Druid and the new one will have very little book keeping in comparison. So, it may be that I am just looking forward to being a little more lazy*

Is this something anyone else has experienced? Am I just weird?

[supergoji18]

I've had this issue happen recently. I created a wizard character recently, one I have intentionally designed with a personality and goal very different from what I usually play in order to try something new. He's a sailor, a navigator more specifically, whose ship and crew were lost to a kraken while attempting to journey to another land to find a great treasure. Everything about him is different from what I usually play except for the fact that he is a spellcaster.

Not too long ago, I started thinking about other things I haven't really done yet and I realized that so far I have only played magic classes (sorcerer, warlock, cleric, wizard). I have not yet played a martial character, and so I began conceptualizing a bunch of different versions of a low or no magic character, because its something I haven't done and therefore is something I want to try.

As I began thinking about these concepts, I wanted to replace my current character with these new ones. I decided against it and instead chose to use them as a backup character. I plan to use them some day, but for now my wizard will continue his quest to avenge his crew and finish their final voyage.

[Imbalance]

Many thrive on the exhilaration of the new. I mean, you might be weird, but this behavior is fairly common. At least creating something new is less costly than acquiring something new.

[nickl_2000]

I mean, you might be weird

Solid point, I'm an IT geek, I play D&D, and like it enough to be a regular on a D&D forum. That may not be a arguable point anymore :smallbiggrin:

[Imbalance]

Solid point, I'm an IT geek, I play D&D, and like it enough to be a regular on a D&D forum. That may not be a arguable point anymore :smallbiggrin:

No judgement. 'Birds of a feather' and all that.

[nickl_2000]

No judgement. 'Birds of a feather' and all that.

Wouldn't bother me if you did judge. About 7 years ago I realized that this is who I am and if others don't like it that is their problem, not mine.

[GlenSmash!]

I will make a backup character mechanically, but I won't think about backstory for just this reason. I don't want to be tempted by the shiny and new.

[Squirly1]

I have the same issue. I also have a friend who plays with my group who refuses to make any new character until they are absolutely needed for the same reason.

In my group of five players, four of us rotate through running games as DM. That means I currently have three characters in three separate games. That hasn't stopped me from creating two new characters for when the current games end. The more I work on each new character, the more I want to speed along the existing campaigns so I can try them out.

I do find that playing one of my existing characters usually gets me excited about them once again, and reminds me of what I liked in them when they were first created. Still, a new character will always be exciting as they hold promise of new adventures and role playing opportunities. I think getting excited for something new is just natural.

All this means, nickl_2000, is that you need to have more opportunities to play, so you can play more characters more often! Wishing you the best of luck.

[Helldin87]

My dndbeyond account is a veritable graeyard of characters that are mechanically ready-to-go but have minimal if any backstory. I actually have been using the XGtE background system lately and found it to be enjoyable. It comes up with things that I wouldn't really consider but have enjoyed.

Creating new character concepts is fun! I imagine a lot of people on here enjoy rolling up new stuff. Maybe find a way to tie your characters together? Some common thread that allows you to maintain a connection to the brain space of the old PC while you brainstorm new ones?

Or not. Embrace your addiction. I have =D

[Corran]

I have it the other way around op.

I can think of new character concepts when I am already playing a character, and I can entertain myself by fluffing these concepts somewhat, but I cannot really invest in them and I tend to forget them after a while. That's why before new campaigns, I always have trouble recalling many of the character concepts I was toying about, and for those that I can recall, the interest is not there anymore, because I was never that much invested in them in the first place.

To put it in other words, if I am asked what's my favorite dnd character of all time, I will respond that it is the one I am playing right now. Only after I had stopped playing a character, I can say for example that my last character was not my favorite of all time or sth along these lines.

So no, thinking of new characters does not make me lose interest in my current one. But what you say it's understandable, and the way I understand it, is that if I knew that the campaign I am playing is drawing to an end, then I would probably lose interest in the campaign and in the character, and I would probably focus more on the ending and on my next character. Yes, in this case, such things would interest me more than my actual current character.

[Particle_Man]

I have a similar problem. It has gotten to the point where I am wondering if my current character is just super heroic or if I am trying subconsciously to get it killed in battle so that I can play the new one.

But D&D does have a fun character creation "minigame". That is one of its attractions.

[Jama7301]

These characters are like draft picks in sports. They are at their most valuable and attractive when they are they have the potential to be whatever. As soon as these are put in use, and have a real, tangible person attached to them, they can lose some of their value.

As soon as they hit the table, who they are is pretty 'set'. You're now locked into playing this specific character for some amount of time. When you have a roster of available choices, and you're building new ones, in that mythical 'next game', you have so many options to choose from, including a character that you haven't built yet, which is enticing and appealing.

So no, I wouldn't say you're weird. I see it in RPGs and other places. It's interesting how once something is a known quantity, it can be less valuable that this ethereal unknown.

[Orc_Lord]

There are three reasons why I make character.

1. A way to become a better DM

By making a character like I would make a character for myself it forces me to look into a class a lot more in depth. Which spells would I choose? Which archetypes are strong, which ones give a lot of roleplay opportunities. Is there a race that combos well (Tortle Monks, Ghostwise haflings w/ Feat being abjurers).

Should I multiclass? Will it give benefits or not?

How does my character compare with characters that have played in my games in terms of combat prowess? Social?

I like doing this a lot, it has made me better at creating fights that can be more fun for certain classes, I give them their chance to shine. It's amazing to set things up and see what the players do. That's not even taking into account how sometimes players will do something crazy cool that you never thought about.

Sometimes an NPC will do something that I realized while making their character...and then maybe 1 year later a character will do the same thing, maybe even in a new campaign. For example I made a gnome illusionist wizard once that was totally scared of combat. So when the PCs met him and the PCs and the gnome got ambushed he created a box illusion around him.

Now, two years later a player made a wizard. First encounter with ranged NPCs he made a box to hide behind.

Other times it helps for steering players onto making better decisions. I can give them a better understanding of how things work. My barb/rogue thug idea, I looked at Shield Master, so right when a barbarian PC was thinking about the Shield Master feat I had already figured out how the attack and bonus action order worked, and when it works well and when it works bad. But I knew all of this because I made a character.

2. The min/max way

This usually starts with a let me make the most optimum X I can. The character is not a thing with story it's a bunch of numbers that I want to maximize.

I find this fun and yet again helps me be a better DM. I have discovered that if I try to play such a character I inevitably scale it back because when I get done it's obvious I would eclipse the whole party so I add some more suboptimal choices, or take the party optimal choices over personal.

For example Faerie Fire is better for the entire party if I cast it. Darkness on me (with Devil's Sight) will yield more personal DPS because you can resist Faerie Fire or they might be spread out and I can't target everyone, but Darkness I have on me, so for 10 rounds I have advantage. Usually in those situations I will go with the party.

Or things like should I Bless or Hex. Bless helps 3 of us, Hex helps only my DPS. (this is for a Sorlock I made recently)

The problem with the min/max way is that the character usually has no soul. I will try to infuse some soul on it, but it's the numbers dictating who my character is.

3. The what if / would it be cool if way

This starts with an idea, here is a rather recent example

Wouldn't it be cool if I played a lazy small character that makes other people carry him?

Maybe I am lazy because I am rather weak and frail....what if I am like a symbiotic organism.

How would that work? Oh, maybe I am a fat hafling instead so I can't walk because I am too fat...so people have to carry me. I am the 100lb hafling.

Oh I know, I will be casting spells to help the person carrying me, like longstrider, oh and I can cure wound them all the time because I am being carried.

Druid would work better...and I am fat because I eat goodberries, like 10 of them a day!

What if I am also shy so I hide in the person's backpack and peak through....oh a ghostwise halfing can talk with telepathy!

Ping the DM, see if he is cool with it. Discuss some rules about how saves against things like Fireballs will work, what happens if the person carrying me goes prone. If they get hit is there a chance I get hit, etc.

DM, "of course you will have to convince the players that one of you should carry you."

And that's how Munch was born, the fat land druid ghostwise hafling that eats goodberries and is so fat that he needs to be carried.

You see Munch is not optimal, the race/class combo is good, but his CON is going to be low, which is considered bad, and I will not be a moon druid. I will be a Land Druid instead.

But this character has a soul. I know how he will look, I can see him in my head. I know that the party will be amused and maybe he will die horribly but he is fun.

For me way #3 is the best way always. It's the most fun...for me.

In my experience it's very seldom I am in a group of players that are all min/maxers. So there is no need to be one, actually being one would mess up the game.

[hymer]

Is this something anyone else has experienced?
I've suspected this in certain players who made ostensible backup character, only to have them quickly take primary roles. But I've failed to get my Detect Thoughts off successfully.

[Sigreid]

I enjoy the mechanical activity of creating characters, and do it often in FG and delete them in a few days. I really like the character I'm playing or he wouldn't still be alive. :)

[J-H]

That's why I got to the Underdark a dozen times before finishing Baldur's Gate II.

[Theodoxus]

I used to have that problem. Adventure's League cured me of it. Being able to roll up a new character every week, burning DM XP if I wanted to start at 2nd or 3rd level... I got all the various incarnations of characters I wanted to play out of my system in a few months. Now I know what I like to play in 5th Ed, and stick with a single character until the end of the campaign or it dies... And then I roll up a new one sticking close to the same concept, because I like it best.

But mostly, I DM now, and work on weird homebrew and foist it on my players... but I still play AL from time to time, as it's nearly as mindless as Diablo 3. :smallbiggrin:

[Laserlight]

We just finished CoS last week, and it was the first campaign in a long time where I didn't switch characters. I think that's largely because I was having fun with that character and she had a strong connection to three of the other four PCs, and partly because I resisted the temptation to build a backup character.

[TrashTrash]

I've had issues with that too, but I love my current character too much to replace her mid-campaign. That being said, if I fail my death saves and end up losing her to the will of the dice I'd be fine with switching away.

A trick I've discovered is to make several characters, keep one or two as personal backups, and loan out or give away the others. For instance, I'm currently playing a Halfling Rogue (original, I know) and holding onto a Tiefling Monk and Half-Orc Cleric for later. I have multiple characters with bare-bones backstories and information that I let my gaming group use. I was voted the most creative in this area, so I'm in charge of throwaway and/or emergency character supply.

If you really feel like changing characters, maybe see if you could bring back your old one as an NPC. Lots of DMs will jump at the chance to use a well-developed, ready-made NPC that they know the party will (probably) like to see again.

[jaappleton]

Hey Nickl.

I’ve dealt with the same thing quite a bit over the years. As new books come out, I see new builds and concepts that weren’t there before, and my mind races with different possibilities.

And my current PC seems old and tired, unappealing compared to this new shiny thing that I have.

Unfortunately, there’s only so much that can be done to combat this feeling. We’re D&D nerds, whenever we get new content or create a new character, it’s the opportunity for a new character and for their story to be told.

One way I find helps to negate this feeling is that while it’s fun to theorycraft new builds, it’s nowhere near as fun as playing and developing the character naturally.

Example: My Cleric was typically easy going and forgiving. Stern, but he had empathy. Last session he was bit by a Werewolf and he knows now that it’s simply a matter of time. Now, he has zero time for BS. When bandits stopped the party and demanded a toll, he immediately cast Hold Person, punched the leader in the throat (which knocked him prone), and used Thaumaturgy to intimidate the others with a booming voice. Even if he survives this Werewolf scenario, this brush with Lycanthropy has changed him forever.

That sort of development is fine to have as part of a backstory, but to have it play out at the table is something entirely different. When it’s during play, it’s organic. And THAT is what’s worth looking forward to.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I never had the problem.

Maybe it is because I play 4 games at a time, maybe because I have a lot of characters already made(I like building characters).

I will say you should try to play more then one game at the same time, it may help you enjoy both characters as they will be active at the same time.

[Samayu]

I will make a backup character mechanically, but I won't think about backstory for just this reason. I don't want to be tempted by the shiny and new.

I do the opposite. I think about the concept off and on over time, but I don't put anything on paper. And I have a couple different concepts floating around, so when it's time to make it up, I can quickly put something together that's appropriate for what we're doing.