Resource Value - Character creation

[Delta_tea]

In the grand scheme of things what do you consider more important when building a character? Some of them can be substituted but some can't and are highly limited. In your opinion, what is the normal hierarchy of importantance/rarity? If I missed some thing please let me know.

More important

Feat (level 1 specific or regional)
Feat
Class levels
Ability points
Gold (items, gear, wands, etc)
Skill points

Least important

[Xeni]

That question can't really be answered without additional context. What hierarchy are you talking about and in which context? some builds are feat starved and every feat is spoken for, some builds require strict adherence to a specific sequence of class levels, some builds are highly item dependent. an arbitrary and objective importance cannot be assigned to any of these character ingredients without first having some kind of lens through which to evaluate them. If you were to ask this question and as "what is the importance of these resources if I want to build a strong cleric?" then arguments could be made for the value of feat resources for investing in things like DMM, or ability points if someone advocates for a highly MAD build.

As it stands, without further context, I would rank class levels as first and feats as second in a general sense, with significant exceptions to this.

[Roninblack]

In the grand scheme of things what do you consider more important when building a character? Some of them can be substituted but some can't and are highly limited. In your opinion, what is the normal hierarchy of importantance/rarity? If I missed some thing please let me know.

More important

Feat (level 1 specific or regional)
Feat
Class levels
Ability points
Gold (items, gear, wands, etc)
Skill points

Least important

Attributes, attributes, attributes. In 3.5 they dictate everything you do.

Level from there because it dictates everything else
Followed by feats, they're stronger than everything else
And then skills, they seem to be what really makes a character
Lastly gold, it's fun to play with, not to eat! But it fills in the holes and gaps covered by everything else

[Silly Name]

In the context of value as being related to scarcity, feats are almost always the most limited resource a character has. Even if your build is flexible about feats, you still have very few feats to choose compared to skill points or class levels. In this sense, they are the "most valuable" resource a character has.

In the sense of "most impactful", class levels are probably the thing that mechanically defines your character the most. All other things equal, a Rogue and a Barbarian will be play differently and want to build differently, influencing their choices on how to assign skill ranks, ability points and feats themselves.

I'd probably rank gold at the bottom, as it's the only "renewable" resource a character has. Character build resources are limited by design, and even if your party follows the WBL guidelines, during actual play if you need to earn some extra money to pay for that magic sword, you can find ways to get it.

[bean illus]

In the grand scheme of things what do you consider more important when building a character? Some of them can be substituted but some can't and are highly limited. In your opinion, what is the normal hierarchy of importantance/rarity? If I missed some thing please let me know.

More important

Feat (level 1 specific or regional)
Feat
Class levels
Ability points
Gold (items, gear, wands, etc)
Skill points

Least important

I wonder if I m answering wrongly, but ...

Base Class
Attributes
Prerequisites

Class levels
Feat (level 1 specific or regional)
Feat
Skill points

Gold (items, gear, wands, etc)

[Maat Mons]

I'd put class levels at the top of the list.

Occasionally, I might be willing to give up a class level to gain a feat. (That is, take a level of Fighter.) But usually I'd rather have the class level.

Similarly, I'd rarely be inclined to take a class level that does nothing for me except increase an ability score, give skill points, or increase my wealth.



I'd put feats second. If a DM told me he let players start with bonus feats in exchange for using a lower point-buy, I'd strongly consider it.

[Saintheart]

Personally I'm amazed someone hasn't already put "caster levels" up the top of the list.

[bean illus]

Personally I'm amazed someone hasn't already put "caster levels" up the top of the list.

I did.
Not every character is a caster, but by "base class" i mean to imply that such choice is first.