D&D Character Brainstorming with Skitch
Sept 19, 2016 14:13:58 GMT -6
Random, Jade, and 1 more like this
Post by skitch on Sept 19, 2016 14:13:58 GMT -6
Ahoy folks!
As with any game system, I've found it fun to mess around with building characters to get ideas of directions I could go in for the future. Here, I'll try to share out some ideas, and offer for folks to join in with the fun with either their own ideas, or even headcannons/fanart of ideas being shared.
The only things I wanted to ask about are 'rules' for this thread to establish:
1. What level should characters be built at? Typically in 4e, character concepts would be built up to level 16 to get an idea of how the different options would interact over time. In the case of 5e, there aren't as many levels that can be pointed to for this purpose, but it's also the case that most characters don't become 'complete' in their feature set until roughly level 3.
Therefore, I assume that likely level points could be: 1, 3, 5, 8, or 12
2. Are there options that would be off limits? In my case, I feel that anything from the main books, plus the Player Guides and Unearthed Arcana articles, should be fair game for spitballing ideas. Some of these features are not properly balanced, though, so that won't really contribute much.
As for 3rd party/fan content, I'd say it's fair game for this thread, but I tend to be more open when I look over class options rather than race options.
3. How are stats going to be generated? While Austin opts for a 3d6 array approach, I'm not sure if I'd regularly use that method when doing my character building. I could either go with a point buy system, or some other dice system (multiple 3d6 arrays, 4d6 drop low, or even the 'start at 8, roll 7d6, and add dice to the 8s to build your stats' method from AD&D 2e that is proposed...in fact I might just start with that).
What are your thoughts on stat generation? If needed, I can explain the different stat generation systems from different versions of D&D
4. What comes first? Concept or Stats? A classic/basic approach to character generation, especially from Basic and 2nd Ed AD&D, is that you FIRST roll your stats, determine what classes you qualify for, THEN pick the class to make your character work. This tends to work well especially in a system where stat generation is done in a strict manner. For context, the strict array orders could be one of three:
1. Basic D&D, 1st Ed AD&D - Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma
2. 2nd Ed AD&D, 3e, 3.5e, 5e - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
3. 4e - Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
More modern games (and, oddly enough, 1st Edition AD&D) opt for the player to FIRST come up with their concept for their character, THEN roll stats in a way that they can assign/pick what points to go what stat to help make sure the character matches their character concept.
For this thread, which method would you all prefer?
- - - -
I'll try posting up an example of an idea in a little bit later today to give some idea as to what I'll be messing with.
As with any game system, I've found it fun to mess around with building characters to get ideas of directions I could go in for the future. Here, I'll try to share out some ideas, and offer for folks to join in with the fun with either their own ideas, or even headcannons/fanart of ideas being shared.
The only things I wanted to ask about are 'rules' for this thread to establish:
1. What level should characters be built at? Typically in 4e, character concepts would be built up to level 16 to get an idea of how the different options would interact over time. In the case of 5e, there aren't as many levels that can be pointed to for this purpose, but it's also the case that most characters don't become 'complete' in their feature set until roughly level 3.
Therefore, I assume that likely level points could be: 1, 3, 5, 8, or 12
2. Are there options that would be off limits? In my case, I feel that anything from the main books, plus the Player Guides and Unearthed Arcana articles, should be fair game for spitballing ideas. Some of these features are not properly balanced, though, so that won't really contribute much.
As for 3rd party/fan content, I'd say it's fair game for this thread, but I tend to be more open when I look over class options rather than race options.
3. How are stats going to be generated? While Austin opts for a 3d6 array approach, I'm not sure if I'd regularly use that method when doing my character building. I could either go with a point buy system, or some other dice system (multiple 3d6 arrays, 4d6 drop low, or even the 'start at 8, roll 7d6, and add dice to the 8s to build your stats' method from AD&D 2e that is proposed...in fact I might just start with that).
What are your thoughts on stat generation? If needed, I can explain the different stat generation systems from different versions of D&D
4. What comes first? Concept or Stats? A classic/basic approach to character generation, especially from Basic and 2nd Ed AD&D, is that you FIRST roll your stats, determine what classes you qualify for, THEN pick the class to make your character work. This tends to work well especially in a system where stat generation is done in a strict manner. For context, the strict array orders could be one of three:
1. Basic D&D, 1st Ed AD&D - Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma
2. 2nd Ed AD&D, 3e, 3.5e, 5e - Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
3. 4e - Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma
More modern games (and, oddly enough, 1st Edition AD&D) opt for the player to FIRST come up with their concept for their character, THEN roll stats in a way that they can assign/pick what points to go what stat to help make sure the character matches their character concept.
For this thread, which method would you all prefer?
- - - -
I'll try posting up an example of an idea in a little bit later today to give some idea as to what I'll be messing with.