I like making chars more than playing, what do I do?

[zlefin]

I want to do stuff.
I thought of playing some play-by-post 3.5 or something; but then I read about all the problems that can happen with it.
And for me, char creation is quite fun; but playing can be considerably less so at times.
But without sharing and/or people who care, it just feels a bit empty.
So is there a place for people to just generate chars that others might want to use for NPCs or something?

[gkathellar]

I suspect if you put up a thread on the 3.5 boards where you just made NPCs for people to use, no one would object. Or ... write fiction, I guess. That's also a thing to do when you just like building characters.

That said, I say you shouldn't just rely on other people's bad PbP experiences — get out there and develop your own, see if it works out for you.

[Black_Zawisza]

Have you tried DMing? I've been in the same boat you are, and it worked like a charm for me.

[Anxe]

My experience? You become a DM. Or you can make the NPC stats for your DM.

[Protecar]

I'm with the idea to try and take up writing. Just flesh out the characters(if they aren't already), figure out how they interact(if they don't already), and make a setting(if you haven't already). Everything else can get worked out. I used to get really into making characters as a player and a dm. It got to the point where it was the only reason I played D&D. I enjoyed the storytelling. Now I just want to tell stories.

My advice: give that a shot. You never know how it might turn out.

[Lord Tyger]

Which part of making characters appeals to you? The stats or the story? Or some combination thereof?

[Need_A_Life]

I want to do stuff.
I thought of playing some play-by-post 3.5 or something; but then I read about all the problems that can happen with it.
And for me, char creation is quite fun; but playing can be considerably less so at times.
But without sharing and/or people who care, it just feels a bit empty.
So is there a place for people to just generate chars that others might want to use for NPCs or something?

I will submit four options:
1) Become a GM.
2) Become an assistent GM (taking on some of an existing GMs burdens by statting up NPCs, keeping initiative order, figuring out tactics etc.). I dunno, it appeals to some.
3) Assist other players. New player show up? Give him a homemade pre-gen! Character dies 15min into the session? Offer the guy to use one of your pre-gens until he rolls up one of his own (unless he likes the one you rolled up, in which case, let him keep it!)
4) Just keep doing it. We're all weird in some ways

[Anderlith]

You could try dying a lot in-game. Or become a dm, or do some writing.

[Bastian Weaver]

Yeah, you could try being a gamemaster. That could be a good opportunity to let your characters have some fun and maybe some, you know, character development!

[RandomNPC]

There's a few online character makers, if you don't mind the electronic format you could always just make them for other people, or not make them public and make them for friends.

I used to have a few spares laying around, I can spend hours fleshing out a fifth level character, figuring out where and at what point they got each magic item, coming up with some kind of history that fits the game, but none of my gamers appreciate that much work, so I've kinda let that dwindle. I still want to, but it gets no respect around here.

[Drazik]

I was in the same situation, and I started DMing and my need was sated.

[jackattack]

Or, as above, write and package some settings or scenarios.

[Rorrik]

I agree with the above. I've felt the same way and I took up writing and DMing. It's been a great release, the only regret is that I keep wanting someone else in the group to make a campaign, but in the interim between campaigns quickly come up with another idea and end up Dming all over again.

Also, try the PbP, bad experiences are always more often shared than good experiences.