Lastly (I’m practicing “brevity is the essence of clarity”, please rate the results
), I feel you may be missing out, sitting out on the party’s formative moments of those one-shots. Would you really be ok with joining an established group with a new PC? I mean, yes, but would you really consider that optimal over being there from the beginning? Then, same question, but for a new system: would you really prefer all the other players to have experience with the system, and knowing how to build the character that they envision and enjoy playing, while you will be running a comparative jalopy, like a poorly built 3e Fighter (“Toughness is where it’s at! Why would anyone take any other feat! And I’m going Dex-based, and high Int to cover low skill points!”) falling behind the Druid’s animal companion, let alone the CoDzilla? Because, if so, that seems an odd goal, but you do you.