This does seem like a good thread to sorta-de-lurk in.
My first character was also as a DM. It was a small group with no casters. I wasn't sure how dangerous that'd be, so I made an NPC Bard who was chronicling their adventures. (In hindsight, they probably would've been fine, since it was just a low-level adventure---Dragons of Icespire Peak---and I didn't plan on running the whole thing in any case. I also have no idea why I didn't just use the sidekick rules.) The campaign didn't get far, but Minnie the Minstrel went over surprisingly well for a DMPC. The plan was for her to be fairly quiet, but the players kept talking to her, so I had her start telling disconcertingly cheerful stories about past adventuring parties that died horribly to various sorts of monsters. It was a text game, so I still have some of it:
[When asked if she knew about any weaknesses of White Dragons] Well, um, my understanding is that dragons don't necessarily do weaknesses? But I've heard White Dragons aren't very bright. Lots of stories about them being tricked. They also are most at home in icy areas, but that's more of an "even worse in their own place" thing than a "weak anywhere else" thing. I wouldn't mess with one, though. There was another Bard I knew from one of my first gigs like five years back who I heard later was hired by a White Dragon to play for her wyrmlings. She didn't like his playing so she froze him and let them use him as a popsicle- Sorry, probably too much detail.
In hindsight, I... probably could've tried a little harder to make the dialogue sound fantasy-ish.
Since D&D got a movie, will there ever be a Skyrim movie?
I'd like that.
Considering Bethesda is working with Amazon to make a Fallout television show, I do not think an Elder Scrolls show is outside the realm of possibility.
That said, the fantasy television market is pretty saturated right now. You have Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Willow. There is a D&D show in the works. Netflix spent a lot of money to be the first entity to hold the film rights to all the Narnia books at once, but there has been little signs of movement on that front for almost a half decade. A Kingkiller Chronicles show and movies were in the works, but production drama might have delayed that. One could make the argument that the upcoming Dune television show focusing on the Bene Gesserit might count as fantasy, since Dune always leaned more heavily into the fantasy elements than science fiction. Same could be said of Star Wars—they’re mostly focusing on the science fiction elements and themes now, but a few shows this year deal more with the Jedi, so we could see a return to more fantasy storytelling.
All told, it would be a pretty hard market to break into. There’s lots of competition as everyone tries to make the next Game of Thrones-level financial behemoth.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
That's a tough question, since I do it both ways. I'll often have a subclass I want to try out, and then work a personality around it, and they're usually fun to play. But I do think my more interesting characters are the ones that occasionally appear in my head with a fully formed personality, and then I fit the class around the character. The second way often works better long term. And I find myself less annoyed when the campaign ends before I get to try out the higher-level tricks. So, as I'm writing this, I guess I am finding out I prefer to have a character and fit a class around them.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
Ooh, good question. I don't really know how to answer it besides: both. A lot of times the mechanics of the class and the personality develop congruently in my head. For example, I'm playing a Tempest Cleric whose family lineage is supposed to be from Thor himself and wants the world to know it. I couldn't tell you which of those concepts came first, but they fit together nicely. Sometimes when I'm just making characters for fun it will be a little more separate, starting with "what's a neat Warlock concept" or "what would a bugbear monk look like" and then the character comes later. But the ones I actually play usually have that simultaneous development.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
Either/or. Sometimes I have a specific character type I want to play, other times I’m looking at a specific mechanic or at playstyle
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I’m definitely a mechanics first kinda hombre. While I can make a character both ways, and have, I find that I can come up with a character to fit any PC build and end up falling in love with it, but if I don’t like how the PC plays mechanically I’ll end up hating the character then. If I start with the mechanics I know I’ll be okay. Besides, I often discover who my character is as part of the building process, and end up fleshing it out over the first several sessions. So I honestly don’t know who they really are until I’m, like, a month or so into playing the. Plus, my absolute favorite way to make a character is to roll stats first in order and build up from there. I find I end up playing combinations of race/class that I might not normally pick that way because I usually pick a race that fills in deficiencies for the class instead of going all in on their main stat, so it always makes me excited to see how they turn out.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I do not think I lean really one way or the other, and generally more inclined to treat them in tandem. Class choice might inform character ideas, ideas that might change class choice, and then new class features begetting more changes, etc. - or the reversal and starting with character ideas. I tend to keep refining the ideas until I feel satisfied or until the campaign starts (or until I decide I’ll just make them an NPC because prospects of not-DMing are low).
That said, I do try to stick to more support classes mechanically, which informs roleplaying choices as well - the compulsion to min-max is strong, and I find it is better for other players if I am not inadvertently outshining everyone in combat. 5e is kind of terrible for things like tanking (where there’s not many great options outside of Peace Domain Cleric) and healing (which doesn’t scale too well with monsters/if DM sticks to RAW stat blocks, fights don’t last that long anyway), so that’s a bit of a letdown, but hopeful some of the new focus on feats and customisation in OneD&D might add some worthwhile toys.
Sometimes I "pregame" a character idea and build the character around that. I also will just roll up a character and see what I can build and figure out the person and their story based on what I rolled up. As an aside, I think I learn more about the system the latter way, it's like letting the character generation mechanics run their course without any preconceived plan.
I'm also a big fan of games with "life path" character generation systems (Traveller I think invented the concept, and I believe it's used in almost all editions, original black box Cyberpunk did it better than I think the current Red edition though it took more time, are my two favorite examples), so in a non life path game I may be more open to rolling things up and then figuring out how the character landed that way afterward.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I can do both, however, as I am typically filling whatever roles might be needed in the group and let other players choose first, I tend to end up with the mechanical decision first and then building my character around it.
This way my current PC came into existance. The Eberron group was missing a frontline combatant, and I always wanted to play a Rune Knight. So, I chose Rune Knight Fighter and started reading through Eberron Campaign stuff, to get inspiration how to get Giant rune magic into the setting. Ended up with an prototype Warforged that has been built using scriptures and knowledge from excavated Xendrik ruins. The warforged had been partially destroyed during the fighting leading up to the Mourning. After being rebuild by some shady Artificier the warforged cannot remember anything from its creation. I roleplay level ups as repairs and reactivation of damaged systems. And I am very curious what my DM an I will unravel about my past and my origins.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
A little of column A and a little of column B? I do tend to focus on a character idea first and then almost backport a build and the mechanics onto that character idea in a way that works for me. Of course, I also usually have a few bajillion build ideas floating around in my head pretty much all the time, so I usually come up with a match pretty quick.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I start with subclasses (or occasionally races) and read the flavor text until I find something that resonates with me. Then I build out the RP elements and go back in for the mechanics at the very end. More often than not, my characters are a twist on a key element of the flavor text.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
Its pretty much both for me. Generally I start with a concept I want and then find the best mechanics to fit it. That being said, sometimes my "concepts" are less RP driven and more "weird mechanical niche" driven.
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
I'm 50/50, as sometimes I'll have a mechanic I want to try out (my Arcana Cleric, whose sole purpose is to have as many known Cleric spells as possible, by any power gaming, min-maxing, & cross-setting shenanigans necessary) and sometimes it's a concept that I hunt down ways to make happen as best I can thru mechanics (my Earth Genasi "Architect" Alchemist/Transmuter who rebuilds all those ruins that every adventure seems to have).
I'll jump the gun & put forward tomorrow's semi-related question: Do you make your character solo & the group is a mishmash of randoms, or do you table up first & create a team (potentially using the term very loosely) so you don't step on toes mechanically or creatively?
No answering before second breakfast and/or cup of coffee, as appropriate!
I have been really depressed for most of the latter half of last year; while I am not super depressed anymore, my current default emotional state is still lowkey sadness. Dance class is back in session again, and being there really helps me take my mind off of things, at least for a short while. Working out does not help my emotional state at all (my mind is bored as ****, so it just dwells on melancholic thoughts) and I absolutely hate working out too, but it does help boost my confidence when I am outside the gym (sometimes I feel my own arms and poke my own abs, and I am like "Damn bruh, life feels like shit, but at least something is going right!"). I have been sleeping over a lot lately at my friends' places, and having their company, playing games, watching movies, and eating with them definitely helps, but it also makes me feel worse at the same time.
My friends and I have been playing the Forest a lot. It is pretty fun with friends to build bases and fight cannibals. I cannot wait for Sons of the Forest to come out. I am also looking forward to getting Fire Emblem Engage and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes for my Switch. I also want to get all the Pokémon games I missed, but that is lower on the priority list.
I have not went stargazing in a while. I think I will go stargazing tomorrow night. I do not want to say it helps clear my head, but looking into space and seeing the stars sort of help me put things into perspective.
I have been really depressed for most of the latter half of last year; while I am not super depressed anymore, my current default emotional state is still lowkey sadness. Dance class is back in session again, and being there really helps me take my mind off of things, at least for a short while. Working out does not help my emotional state at all (my mind is bored as ****, so it just dwells on melancholic thoughts) and I absolutely hate working out too, but it does help boost my confidence when I am outside the gym (sometimes I feel my own arms and poke my own abs, and I am like "Damn bruh, life feels like shit, but at least something is going right!"). I have been sleeping over a lot lately at my friends' places, and having their company, playing games, watching movies, and eating with them definitely helps, but it also makes me feel worse at the same time.
I’m sorry to hear things have been rough for you. I went through it pretty bad myself, but now I’m in therapy and it really helps a lot. I know we’re not close or anything, but if you ever need to “talk” about it, PM me.
I have been really depressed for most of the latter half of last year; while I am not super depressed anymore, my current default emotional state is still lowkey sadness. Dance class is back in session again, and being there really helps me take my mind off of things, at least for a short while. Working out does not help my emotional state at all (my mind is bored as ****, so it just dwells on melancholic thoughts) and I absolutely hate working out too, but it does help boost my confidence when I am outside the gym (sometimes I feel my own arms and poke my own abs, and I am like "Damn bruh, life feels like shit, but at least something is going right!"). I have been sleeping over a lot lately at my friends' places, and having their company, playing games, watching movies, and eating with them definitely helps, but it also makes me feel worse at the same time.
My friends and I have been playing the Forest a lot. It is pretty fun with friends to build bases and fight cannibals. I cannot wait for Sons of the Forest to come out. I am also looking forward to getting Fire Emblem Engage and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes for my Switch. I also want to get all the Pokémon games I missed, but that is lower on the priority list.
I have not went stargazing in a while. I think I will go stargazing tomorrow night. I do not want to say it helps clear my head, but looking into space and seeing the stars sort of help me put things into perspective.
It will get better.
There. Now that that's out of the way, maybe a little bit of information that could actually be useful.
When I was going through easily the worst period of life, one of the biggest elements that helped me get out of it was actually Roguelikes. Roguelike being the category of games that are like the classic game Rogue (although many games that are called Roguelikes aren't a whole lot like Rogue, and games that are actually similar to Rogue are called Traditional Roguelikes now). Although there are a number of other core concepts to Roguelikes, the biggest one is easily the lack of saving. You can only have one save at a time, and it disappears the moment you die. No matter how much time you spend on a character, it disappears the moment you slip up. My depression mostly stemmed from a fear of loss and forgetting. I was afraid that my memories would be lost, my loved ones would be lost, my impact on the world would be lost. Of course, the hereditary Dementia in my family didn't help. When I started playing Roguelikes, each death felt like such a hard sting. Over time, however I learned not to fear losing. As I played more and more (and boy did I play a lot), the sting got lesser and lesser, and I started to fear change less. That acceptance of change noticeably translated to other aspects of my life. I can't claim it was the only thing that helped me, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was the biggest.
If you have a problem of a wandering mind (which I can sympathize with), then I recommend podcasts. Personally, I recommend Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, which is great if you have even the tiniest interest in physics (and if you don't, it's likely to start one). It's physics ideas explained simply, comedically, and without any jargon. From the same people as We Have No Idea, in case that rings any bells at all.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
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This does seem like a good thread to sorta-de-lurk in.
My first character was also as a DM. It was a small group with no casters. I wasn't sure how dangerous that'd be, so I made an NPC Bard who was chronicling their adventures. (In hindsight, they probably would've been fine, since it was just a low-level adventure---Dragons of Icespire Peak---and I didn't plan on running the whole thing in any case. I also have no idea why I didn't just use the sidekick rules.) The campaign didn't get far, but Minnie the Minstrel went over surprisingly well for a DMPC. The plan was for her to be fairly quiet, but the players kept talking to her, so I had her start telling disconcertingly cheerful stories about past adventuring parties that died horribly to various sorts of monsters. It was a text game, so I still have some of it:
In hindsight, I... probably could've tried a little harder to make the dialogue sound fantasy-ish.
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
First, glad to see you posting. Welcome, welcome!
And as for making it sound more "fantasy-ish" - if your players were enjoying themselves, then you were doing fine!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Since D&D got a movie, will there ever be a Skyrim movie?
I'd like that.
Considering Bethesda is working with Amazon to make a Fallout television show, I do not think an Elder Scrolls show is outside the realm of possibility.
That said, the fantasy television market is pretty saturated right now. You have Game of Thrones, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Willow. There is a D&D show in the works. Netflix spent a lot of money to be the first entity to hold the film rights to all the Narnia books at once, but there has been little signs of movement on that front for almost a half decade. A Kingkiller Chronicles show and movies were in the works, but production drama might have delayed that. One could make the argument that the upcoming Dune television show focusing on the Bene Gesserit might count as fantasy, since Dune always leaned more heavily into the fantasy elements than science fiction. Same could be said of Star Wars—they’re mostly focusing on the science fiction elements and themes now, but a few shows this year deal more with the Jedi, so we could see a return to more fantasy storytelling.
All told, it would be a pretty hard market to break into. There’s lots of competition as everyone tries to make the next Game of Thrones-level financial behemoth.
Question for the day: when you're making a character, do you prefer to start with the mechanics of the build and then move on to RP elements like personality and backstory? Or do you start with a character concept you'd like to roleplay, and then find the mechanics (subclasses, feats etc.) that best fit the concept? Or do you not have a preference?
I'm asking because I think I've proved conclusively to myself I'm in the 'RP elements first' camp. I found One Weird Trick mechanically I wanted to try out, but then once I came up with a backstory I liked to make sense of the mechanics, I liked it so much I've actually considered ditching the original fighter/sorc build that sparked it just to get a chance to play the character who's now camped out in my head. (Fortunately, it doesn't look like I'll have to, as a friend says she's going to start an Exandria campaign he'd be a near-perfect fit for.)
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
That's a tough question, since I do it both ways. I'll often have a subclass I want to try out, and then work a personality around it, and they're usually fun to play. But I do think my more interesting characters are the ones that occasionally appear in my head with a fully formed personality, and then I fit the class around the character. The second way often works better long term. And I find myself less annoyed when the campaign ends before I get to try out the higher-level tricks. So, as I'm writing this, I guess I am finding out I prefer to have a character and fit a class around them.
Ooh, good question. I don't really know how to answer it besides: both. A lot of times the mechanics of the class and the personality develop congruently in my head. For example, I'm playing a Tempest Cleric whose family lineage is supposed to be from Thor himself and wants the world to know it. I couldn't tell you which of those concepts came first, but they fit together nicely. Sometimes when I'm just making characters for fun it will be a little more separate, starting with "what's a neat Warlock concept" or "what would a bugbear monk look like" and then the character comes later. But the ones I actually play usually have that simultaneous development.
Better hope they don’t ask for the complete Elder Scrolls lore dump, or they’ll have half the creative team down from brain overload
Either/or. Sometimes I have a specific character type I want to play, other times I’m looking at a specific mechanic or at playstyle
I’m definitely a mechanics first kinda hombre. While I can make a character both ways, and have, I find that I can come up with a character to fit any PC build and end up falling in love with it, but if I don’t like how the PC plays mechanically I’ll end up hating the character then. If I start with the mechanics I know I’ll be okay. Besides, I often discover who my character is as part of the building process, and end up fleshing it out over the first several sessions. So I honestly don’t know who they really are until I’m, like, a month or so into playing the. Plus, my absolute favorite way to make a character is to roll stats first in order and build up from there. I find I end up playing combinations of race/class that I might not normally pick that way because I usually pick a race that fills in deficiencies for the class instead of going all in on their main stat, so it always makes me excited to see how they turn out.
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I do not think I lean really one way or the other, and generally more inclined to treat them in tandem. Class choice might inform character ideas, ideas that might change class choice, and then new class features begetting more changes, etc. - or the reversal and starting with character ideas. I tend to keep refining the ideas until I feel satisfied or until the campaign starts (or until I decide I’ll just make them an NPC because prospects of not-DMing are low).
That said, I do try to stick to more support classes mechanically, which informs roleplaying choices as well - the compulsion to min-max is strong, and I find it is better for other players if I am not inadvertently outshining everyone in combat. 5e is kind of terrible for things like tanking (where there’s not many great options outside of Peace Domain Cleric) and healing (which doesn’t scale too well with monsters/if DM sticks to RAW stat blocks, fights don’t last that long anyway), so that’s a bit of a letdown, but hopeful some of the new focus on feats and customisation in OneD&D might add some worthwhile toys.
Sometimes I "pregame" a character idea and build the character around that. I also will just roll up a character and see what I can build and figure out the person and their story based on what I rolled up. As an aside, I think I learn more about the system the latter way, it's like letting the character generation mechanics run their course without any preconceived plan.
I'm also a big fan of games with "life path" character generation systems (Traveller I think invented the concept, and I believe it's used in almost all editions, original black box Cyberpunk did it better than I think the current Red edition though it took more time, are my two favorite examples), so in a non life path game I may be more open to rolling things up and then figuring out how the character landed that way afterward.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I can do both, however, as I am typically filling whatever roles might be needed in the group and let other players choose first, I tend to end up with the mechanical decision first and then building my character around it.
This way my current PC came into existance. The Eberron group was missing a frontline combatant, and I always wanted to play a Rune Knight. So, I chose Rune Knight Fighter and started reading through Eberron Campaign stuff, to get inspiration how to get Giant rune magic into the setting. Ended up with an prototype Warforged that has been built using scriptures and knowledge from excavated Xendrik ruins. The warforged had been partially destroyed during the fighting leading up to the Mourning. After being rebuild by some shady Artificier the warforged cannot remember anything from its creation. I roleplay level ups as repairs and reactivation of damaged systems. And I am very curious what my DM an I will unravel about my past and my origins.
A little of column A and a little of column B? I do tend to focus on a character idea first and then almost backport a build and the mechanics onto that character idea in a way that works for me. Of course, I also usually have a few bajillion build ideas floating around in my head pretty much all the time, so I usually come up with a match pretty quick.
I start with subclasses (or occasionally races) and read the flavor text until I find something that resonates with me. Then I build out the RP elements and go back in for the mechanics at the very end. More often than not, my characters are a twist on a key element of the flavor text.
Its pretty much both for me. Generally I start with a concept I want and then find the best mechanics to fit it. That being said, sometimes my "concepts" are less RP driven and more "weird mechanical niche" driven.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I'm 50/50, as sometimes I'll have a mechanic I want to try out (my Arcana Cleric, whose sole purpose is to have as many known Cleric spells as possible, by any power gaming, min-maxing, & cross-setting shenanigans necessary) and sometimes it's a concept that I hunt down ways to make happen as best I can thru mechanics (my Earth Genasi "Architect" Alchemist/Transmuter who rebuilds all those ruins that every adventure seems to have).
I'll jump the gun & put forward tomorrow's semi-related question: Do you make your character solo & the group is a mishmash of randoms, or do you table up first & create a team (potentially using the term very loosely) so you don't step on toes mechanically or creatively?
No answering before second breakfast and/or cup of coffee, as appropriate!
I have been really depressed for most of the latter half of last year; while I am not super depressed anymore, my current default emotional state is still lowkey sadness. Dance class is back in session again, and being there really helps me take my mind off of things, at least for a short while. Working out does not help my emotional state at all (my mind is bored as ****, so it just dwells on melancholic thoughts) and I absolutely hate working out too, but it does help boost my confidence when I am outside the gym (sometimes I feel my own arms and poke my own abs, and I am like "Damn bruh, life feels like shit, but at least something is going right!"). I have been sleeping over a lot lately at my friends' places, and having their company, playing games, watching movies, and eating with them definitely helps, but it also makes me feel worse at the same time.
My friends and I have been playing the Forest a lot. It is pretty fun with friends to build bases and fight cannibals. I cannot wait for Sons of the Forest to come out. I am also looking forward to getting Fire Emblem Engage and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes for my Switch. I also want to get all the Pokémon games I missed, but that is lower on the priority list.
I have not went stargazing in a while. I think I will go stargazing tomorrow night. I do not want to say it helps clear my head, but looking into space and seeing the stars sort of help me put things into perspective.
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Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
I’m sorry to hear things have been rough for you. I went through it pretty bad myself, but now I’m in therapy and it really helps a lot. I know we’re not close or anything, but if you ever need to “talk” about it, PM me.
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It will get better.
There. Now that that's out of the way, maybe a little bit of information that could actually be useful.
When I was going through easily the worst period of life, one of the biggest elements that helped me get out of it was actually Roguelikes. Roguelike being the category of games that are like the classic game Rogue (although many games that are called Roguelikes aren't a whole lot like Rogue, and games that are actually similar to Rogue are called Traditional Roguelikes now). Although there are a number of other core concepts to Roguelikes, the biggest one is easily the lack of saving. You can only have one save at a time, and it disappears the moment you die. No matter how much time you spend on a character, it disappears the moment you slip up. My depression mostly stemmed from a fear of loss and forgetting. I was afraid that my memories would be lost, my loved ones would be lost, my impact on the world would be lost. Of course, the hereditary Dementia in my family didn't help. When I started playing Roguelikes, each death felt like such a hard sting. Over time, however I learned not to fear losing. As I played more and more (and boy did I play a lot), the sting got lesser and lesser, and I started to fear change less. That acceptance of change noticeably translated to other aspects of my life. I can't claim it was the only thing that helped me, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was the biggest.
If you have a problem of a wandering mind (which I can sympathize with), then I recommend podcasts. Personally, I recommend Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, which is great if you have even the tiniest interest in physics (and if you don't, it's likely to start one). It's physics ideas explained simply, comedically, and without any jargon. From the same people as We Have No Idea, in case that rings any bells at all.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
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