Character Model Anhedonia: Does Anyone Else Get This?

[aadder]

Hello everyone,

Recently I designed a really cool character and have been super excited to play DnD after taking a break.

Then I had to find a model for them, and honest-to-God it has turned me off of playing DnD.

I have really bad anhedonia (the loss of pleasure) around things like Legos; usually this means that I can't build anything I myself design.
I can build kits, but if -I- come up with the design, I can never like it. It's always "imperfect" in a way I can't define, and while I initially love it, I come to hate it in a matter of days.

I've never felt that about DnD before, but now I have, and I'm -SUPER- upset because now that I can finally play again, I dread doing so.

I know this is a big swing, but does anyone else have any experience with this?

[Khrysaes]

Hello everyone,

Recently I designed a really cool character and have been super excited to play DnD after taking a break.

Then I had to find a model for them, and honest-to-God it has turned me off of playing DnD.

I have really bad anhedonia (the loss of pleasure) around things like Legos; usually this means that I can't build anything I myself design.
I can build kits, but if -I- come up with the design, I can never like it. It's always "imperfect" in a way I can't define, and while I initially love it, I come to hate it in a matter of days.

I've never felt that about DnD before, but now I have, and I'm -SUPER- upset because now that I can finally play again, I dread doing so.

I know this is a big swing, but does anyone else have any experience with this?

Not exactly the same, but I have severe depression which affects my motivation and enjoyment of a lot of things.

I do things anyways, and don't always enjoy it, or lose enjoyment of it more quickly than others. And that is okay, I work around it. I think one of the biggest factors for me personally is just getting started on something, and once I do its easier to continue doing it.

So I would just suggest trying to play again anyways. Also, maybe just use lego people for miniatures, or anything abstractly representing your character. My wife and I use Disney Doorables a lot for our minis. I have a lizardfolk character and I use Rex from Toy Story. If you get triggered by the imperfections in making a mini, remove that trigger, or take small steps to overcome it.

If you don't like playing in person with minis, you could try playing online with images on Roll20 or something, or just a game with no images, like a play by post or something.

[da newt]

Perhaps you can find an image of your PC that you are happy with and print it to use in place of a mini. You can either lay it flat or use one of those little card holder bases so it stands up.

Or you can use anything as a marker for your PC's position - a favorite button or coin or ...

[False God]

Have you considered commissioning an artist to draw your character and then printing it out on some hard paper or over a cheap playing/trading card?

I too have trouble finding "matching minis", it's one reason I don't paint them, to leave them a little more vague on the kind of character they're representing.

But I've had good luck with buying "adoptables" premade characters, or commissioning artists, even making my own sometimes and then printing them onto a small card and sticking them on a stand, or doing them like the ones GITP sells, little triangles weighted down with a penny.

[Imbalance]

There are many things I end up participating in that I do not enjoy, yet seldom regret it. Rather, regret often comes after I talk myself out of something because I somehow start to believe that I won't have fun.

If shopping for a specific miniature robs you of pleasure, try buying a cheap random lot instead, and choose from a more limited selection the one that "feels" likely to represent your character whether it bears an exact likeness or not. Donate the rest to your group.

Edit to add: if you want, leave a description, and someone may be able to suggest a figure that fits.

[Leon]

I find art first, make a Character based of that bit of art and then maybe worry about getting a model for it and very rarely it will be an exact one most often a close enough works

[Dualswinger]

Alternative mini idea, instead of an actual miniature humanoid, have something that represents them, such as a flaming sword or something for a paladin,or a skull for an undead warlock\necromancer?

[Chronic]

Alternative mini idea, instead of an actual miniature humanoid, have something that represents them, such as a flaming sword or something for a paladin,or a skull for an undead warlock\necromancer?

That is a good idea, I was gonna suggest to use a geometric form like a cylinder, or a cone.
I myself don't like miniatures for d&d, which might be weird considering that I'm a tabletop wargame player and have dozens and dozens of miniature characters. But they never fit perfectly for an rpg, so I'd rather have something purely abstract.

[newbie padawan]

Not exactly the same, but I have severe depression which affects my motivation and enjoyment of a lot of things.

I do things anyways, and don't always enjoy it, or lose enjoyment of it more quickly than others. And that is okay, I work around it. I think one of the biggest factors for me personally is just getting started on something, and once I do its easier to continue doing it.

So I would just suggest trying to play again anyways. Also, maybe just use lego people for miniatures, or anything abstractly representing your character. My wife and I use Disney Doorables a lot for our minis. I have a lizardfolk character and I use Rex from Toy Story. If you get triggered by the imperfections in making a mini, remove that trigger, or take small steps to overcome it.

If you don't like playing in person with minis, you could try playing online with images on Roll20 or something, or just a game with no images, like a play by post or something.

I agree, that problem seems to be rahter personal. I mean, maybe you are upset not becouse the DnD is not perfect, but because you have some other problems that you want to forget for a while and therefore plunge headlong into an invented world, as if avoiding the present. And when you realize that the invented world is also not ideal, you fall into depression.