I've been a D&D player and GM for almost 15 years. I've played long campaigns and short campaigns, gone through several GMs and stories, and I always had the same problem. I always want to change characters after a couple of sessions. I went through all the basic character classes, most races in every single combination possible, and, honestly, it's becoming quite a burden, since every single time I end up dissatisfied with my character and want to switch, either consciously or subconsciously. I've tried to adress it and fix it, and made some progress, however, the problem still remains.
So, that's why I've decided to write here and ask for help - how can I design a good character, one that I'm satisfied with? One with enough depth and work that I don't end up playing a basic one-liner type of character? How can I deal with my stupid thing with wanting to change characters? I like to stick to the classic races and classes, and I've played mostly 3/3.5e and currently 5e. Is there any way I can even fix my problem? Any opinions and tips are welcome :)
Play in a couple of different campaigns at the same time so you can play different types of characters? DM more so you can switch characters constantly?
I had/have the same problem, every time I made a character I would see something else I liked or I'd remember one of the many ideas I had in the past and want to do that.
In the end the only thing I found satisfying was to quit thinking about the campaign/adventure/module I was going to play and instead focus on playing a character. As DMs, especially ones that have played forever behind the screen, the numbers and uniqueness of combinations don't matter. Instead we need something that will allow us to flex our creative muscles while still being "stuck in one place" with a singular character sheet. I started to forget about the "perfect" or "unique" combinations and instead went with an idea on who/what the character was and represented.
Fizban: pre-generated wizard LMoP. I played him completely based on the background information on his character sheet. He was pretentious, arrogant, a know-it-all, socially inept, and quite effeminate. Rather than trying to make him the face of the group and nuke everything, I decided that he abhorred killing, that was going to be my challenge as a player. I spent the entire module casting things like grease, gust of wind, mage hand, minor illusion, and any other non-combat spell in ways that would give my players the win. I kept out of fights, redirected attacks, and aided combat as best I could without providing any direct damage. Heck I only cast fire sphere because I wasn't going to let my party member get eaten.
Aerik: NPC turned PC. My players begged me to turn Aerik into a PC for CoS, so I had to come up with some reason for him to have existed outside of the world I created him for. I figured I'd use the story of CoS to explain why Aerik is the way he is in Loromir. Basically I chose to make CoS as Aerik's origin story, so now I have an invested interest in making sure that this, now PC, stays alive no matter what.
Nykthos: Dragonborn Sorc. I created this character by rolling dice for race/class. After that I decided I wanted to base his personality off of the idea that he was a charlatan in the most extreme of senses. He hides from battle, doing just enough to make it look like he's participating. He manipulates players and NPCs in to doing his dirty work. He will find every reason to down play his abilities so someone else has to pick up the slack. Heck he even convinced a ship captain that he was a Wind Speaker and Navigator...thank goodness for being able to cast spells. The best part about this character is trying to play it of for real, I've yet to have a single player roll an insight toward my actions.
---
In the end, don't challenge the book or game, challenge yourself as a player/actor/story teller, and see if you find that a bit more engaging.
1.-Multi-classing- of course, this could put you into an even worse "more of the same" issue, as you delay level increases in order to compensate for the MC.
2.-Hire an NPC to run with your character. If the DM will allow your Halfling Rogue to have a fighter NPC, the fighter can carry more climbing gear, and rogue equipment
There's a certain excitement from creating a shiny new character. I love creating characters, either as a backup in games I play or as NPCs in the game I run. But I've yet to abandon a character because I'm invested in seeing their story to completion. It seems like your main issue is that you don't have enough RP-ing in your game, or you're not enjoying it.
How much do you RP in your groups? I feel like RP, not just for your character's own arc and development, but with other players is huge for me. Can my lawful good paladin be a drag to play sometimes? Yes. He's a total stick in the mud. But it a party full of chaotic characters, he plays a great straight-man and we sometimes get hilarious outcomes because of it. Some of the most rewarding scenes come not from combat but from PC interactions. I would say this: find something that makes your character special to you and an overarching goal so you're always looking forward with your character, and not sideways on that new optimized build you heard about.
What do you want your character, ultimately, to achieve? Will it be his personality development as he's exposed to the unconventional methods of his fellow PCs? Are you part of an organization and trying to gain prestige? Or is it a new ability you get at the next level (or, as Payshunts suggested, a new class all together?)? The thing about classes and races is that they ARE completely interchangeable, as far as character personality are concerned. My players were so focused on optimized build that for my campaign I had them draw race and class out of a hat. A dragonborn rogue? How the heck will that work? Well, half the fun is figuring that out, isn't it?
It's a situation that many of us feel quite the opposite to, with a couple missions under the PC's belt, XP, skills, resources, and levels increase, making the character
You have to figure out why you always want to change characters. Is it boredom? Is it optimization (trying to find the perfect build that has no weaknesses and many strengths)? Is it lack of attachment/depth in your character? Is it seeing the other players do something cool and wanting to do that? Is it playing for a few sessions and realizing your limits, then thinking that another class can go beyond those limits, thus you want to play that instead, but again find the "shortcomings" of that class instead? Ask yourself these questions, take time and think about it. None of these are bad feelings, but you have to understand what you're feeling to figure out how to "deal" with it.
My guess, from your two short paragraphs on the subject, is that you're in a group and want to be thehero, the main character, the protagonist, not just one in a group of them. It's the reason you're in a fantasy game anyway, right, to do what you can't do in real life. Someone does something cool and you want to have the feeling of everyone seeing/being envious of the cool thing you just did instead. If this is in fact the case, don't take it as a bad thing, it isn't. You might want to try a solo campaign with another DM, or even just a group of you and one other, to get that feeling you're desiring. Or, you can try to realize that it's awesome when everyone gets their turn in the spotlight, and just know that if you hadn't had it in a while, it's surely coming soon. It has to be in a game like this, it's just the way it works, everyone gets their shot. I'm currently playing a knowledge cleric in which I rolled horrible stats (16 WIS is my high, with 15 CON, 6 DEX, 6 CHA, 8 INT, 10 STR). Everyone else in the campaign took the standard array. I'm somehow still alive at level 5, and we are encountering our big bad for the 2nd time after he "let us escape" the first time after obliterating us in a few short rounds. We're all terrified, and I can't even kill Kobolds, but I cast Suggestion and he rolls a Nat 1. That's where we left off but he is currently leading us to his treasure. It felt awesome, and I'll be happy if that's my characters one memorable thing, even if he dies next session or survives until the end of the campaign.
All characters are fictitious and bear no resemblance......................blah, blah, blah.
What a load of pickled kobold eyes.
Base a character on yourself (loosely), but a better version of you. Choose an actor who is going to play you in this roleplay film of your other life. Decide what is missing in your life, and have attaining that be your character's focus.
Invest in that character, never break character, never let other players break your immersion. Try to be the most memorable character in the group (Without hogging the limelight!)
Alternatively, play Descent or Runebound or Talisman or any other boardgame that has multiple characters to choose from. You can play one, then choose a different one next time. Or maybe you are tired of using the same strategies repeatedly - play a few strategy games and see if that helps scratch the itch. As a DM, you are used to having lot's of choices. None of them really matter. As a player, you get less choices, but they are usually of more import.
As a DM, if I knew you were suffering from not getting attached to a character, I would allow you to find a cool item that another character would take if you changed characters/suffered PC death. New characters do not start with magic items in my campaigns.
You don't design a good character - you dream them, then live them. Design is for the boffins.
Ha, I'm the same. Thus most of my characters burn brightly and get killed quickly (or in one case turned evil). My last character was a Way of Shadow High Elf monk that didn't last two levels - I started him on Level 3 and by end of Level 4 he was dead. The previous character accidentally turned evil by level 3. Indeed some of my characters haven't lasted a session.
It doesn't help my usual attitude to anything combat wise is "way of the shotgun" (ie up close and personal) and that my preferred role play style is based on Lemmy from Motörhead. Thus a stoic monk or knowledgeable wizard or a self opinionated elf or honourable dwarf doesn't really work for me and gets boring quickly.
So my next character is a human fighter from the slums with a propensity for drinking, women and all the other fun stuff.
Me too! I've even switched after a few sessions just to wish I hadn't. I know your pain!
In the past I've come up with ways to switch. One campaign my character got pretty rich and opened up an art gallery. On another campaign I got my character killed.
Few thoughts:
1. Understand that all classes and subclasses are pretty cool and try to focus on what makes yours cool.
2. Spend a lot of time with your character before you start playing to make sure that's the right fit for you this time.
3. Play shorter campaigns. This isn't an issue for a single session campaign or one that only lasts a month. It's when things get real long that I think this problem is at it's worst.
4. Find inventive ways to make the character more interesting. Drinking problem? Closet Pyromaniac? Huge cheater at cards? Gambling addict could be fun. Maybe your dwarf has a charisma score of 8 but thinks he's Casanova and tries to be the face of the party. There are so many RP possibilities and finding good ones can make you connect with your character and not want to throw him/her off a cliff after a few sessions!
I think the key for me is to always be inventive and find ways to do the same things differently.
Great post. I totally agree with what you are saying Though sometimes the character just doesn't fit despite it initially sounding cool - eg the High elf ninja monk who just ended up a terrible bore.
Yeah the high elf ninja monk only sounds ok. But the high elf ninja monk that has an existential crisis realizing he's super boring and becomes a huge nihilist (think robot from Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)!? Now that sounds like a good time.
Or maybe the High elf Ninja Monk who actually drank a ton and is actually a drunken master now? Great! Not so subtle anymore but tons of good drunken fun to be had there. If your GM won't let you switch, then you have a drunk ninja that sounds just as fun.
What about a high elf ninja monk charlatan that is always trying to steal from temples? This might be my favorite.
OP, you need to realize that enjoying a character to the fullest isn't something that happens right away. All characters are shallow when you build them, because what makes them not shallow is what happens when you play the character, not when you roll it up.
So yeah, the first bunch of sessions will be spent, by everyone, saying some stock phrases and being cardboad cut-outs. Until you get to know the character, until things happen in the game that distinguish that character from all other Race/Class-identical characters. It doesn't matter what level you start at, either. Start at 1st level, you'll get a fleshed out complex character that's interesting to play by maybe 4th, 5th level? Start at 12th level, you'll get that around 14th maybe?
You just need to stop thinking that what makes your character interesting are the numbers and abilities. Numbers and abilities (that everyone else has) are boring. Depth gained through playing the game is interesting :)
I LIKE to play character that is having success. I get frustrated with a character that is constantly failing.
This usually is a DM issue where the DM does not understand the PC class and its abilities or they just want to stomp on any idea that interferes with their planned railroad track.
Current (adventure league) DM dropped a bag of holding full of gold on each 3rd level PC and said "Buy anything you want from the DMG" (stipulations on how long it would take to get it based on rarity.. so we picked stuff that would take 2 weeks or less and everyone still has at least 2/3 of the gold)
I suggested my Druid PC wanted a ring of spell storing. Simple item that is easy to deal with and does not really over-power a Druid. DM said I needed to buy a staff of swarming insects
DM won't let the staff work... There's never insects to make giant. And there's never room for the insect plague without killing other PCs.
DM constantly says I can't use my druid abilities. He said "You do not understand what you see through the eyes of the creature you changed into as beast form." (trying to identify items in backpacks I opened with claws because he wouldn't let us untie them and we needed to open them to get a knife...)
I LIKE to play character that is having success. I get frustrated with a character that is constantly failing.
This usually is a DM issue where the DM does not understand the PC class and its abilities or they just want to stomp on any idea that interferes with their planned railroad track.
Current (adventure league) DM dropped a bag of holding full of gold on each 3rd level PC and said "Buy anything you want from the DMG" (stipulations on how long it would take to get it based on rarity.. so we picked stuff that would take 2 weeks or less and everyone still has at least 2/3 of the gold)
I suggested my Druid PC wanted a ring of spell storing. Simple item that is easy to deal with and does not really over-power a Druid. DM said I needed to buy a staff of swarming insects
DM won't let the staff work... There's never insects to make giant. And there's never room for the insect plague without killing other PCs.
DM constantly says I can't use my druid abilities. He said "You do not understand what you see through the eyes of the creature you changed into as beast form." (trying to identify items in backpacks I opened with claws because he wouldn't let us untie them and we needed to open them to get a knife...)
I now hate to play my druid...
Ouch. I've had DMs/GMs with that mentality before. "These players are going to get captured, and that's that." Listened to some friends play in a Star Wars campaign where, week after week, the GM prevented them from having any weapons at all. No knives, no blasters, nothing. Killed a bad guy with a blaster? Oh, the blaster broke. No roll.
I LIKE to play character that is having success. I get frustrated with a character that is constantly failing.
This usually is a DM issue where the DM does not understand the PC class and its abilities or they just want to stomp on any idea that interferes with their planned railroad track.
Current (adventure league) DM dropped a bag of holding full of gold on each 3rd level PC and said "Buy anything you want from the DMG" (stipulations on how long it would take to get it based on rarity.. so we picked stuff that would take 2 weeks or less and everyone still has at least 2/3 of the gold)
I suggested my Druid PC wanted a ring of spell storing. Simple item that is easy to deal with and does not really over-power a Druid. DM said I needed to buy a staff of swarming insects
DM won't let the staff work... There's never insects to make giant. And there's never room for the insect plague without killing other PCs.
DM constantly says I can't use my druid abilities. He said "You do not understand what you see through the eyes of the creature you changed into as beast form." (trying to identify items in backpacks I opened with claws because he wouldn't let us untie them and we needed to open them to get a knife...)
I now hate to play my druid...
Honestly, that sounds like an a**hole DM. Druid is my favorite class because of how much you can do. Sadly when a DM doesn't allow me to do thing that are clearly laid out in the players handbook for me to do it kills my enjoyment of the whole game. I hope you can find a different DM because that guy doesn't sound fun.
I had a DM once be completely opposed to me playing a Paladin and he went out of his way to ensure the character died in the first session (and this being AD&D meant death was a lot easier to achieve than now).
I don't know how OP creates characters, I get the impression they do it by choosing classes/race first and then coming up with the rest.
Maybe come up with an idea for a character first (background, personality, goals, etc) and then assign a class and race to them afterwards. Not necessarily a class and/or race that compliments your idea mechanically, just one you think would suit the character. I usually do this with my characters and the class/race I pick isn't always what's best/optimal for the idea, it's just what I think the character I've come up with feels like it should be.
Even this way I still get the urge to swap characters and try something new BUT I at least still enjoy the character I'm currently playing too. To me, having a game with so much variation in what you could play as (especially if you're happy to use homebrew content) you're bound to at some point feel you really want to try something else.
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I've been a D&D player and GM for almost 15 years. I've played long campaigns and short campaigns, gone through several GMs and stories, and I always had the same problem. I always want to change characters after a couple of sessions. I went through all the basic character classes, most races in every single combination possible, and, honestly, it's becoming quite a burden, since every single time I end up dissatisfied with my character and want to switch, either consciously or subconsciously. I've tried to adress it and fix it, and made some progress, however, the problem still remains.
So, that's why I've decided to write here and ask for help - how can I design a good character, one that I'm satisfied with? One with enough depth and work that I don't end up playing a basic one-liner type of character? How can I deal with my stupid thing with wanting to change characters? I like to stick to the classic races and classes, and I've played mostly 3/3.5e and currently 5e. Is there any way I can even fix my problem? Any opinions and tips are welcome :)
Play in a couple of different campaigns at the same time so you can play different types of characters? DM more so you can switch characters constantly?
Professional computer geek
I had/have the same problem, every time I made a character I would see something else I liked or I'd remember one of the many ideas I had in the past and want to do that.
In the end the only thing I found satisfying was to quit thinking about the campaign/adventure/module I was going to play and instead focus on playing a character. As DMs, especially ones that have played forever behind the screen, the numbers and uniqueness of combinations don't matter. Instead we need something that will allow us to flex our creative muscles while still being "stuck in one place" with a singular character sheet. I started to forget about the "perfect" or "unique" combinations and instead went with an idea on who/what the character was and represented.
Fizban: pre-generated wizard LMoP. I played him completely based on the background information on his character sheet. He was pretentious, arrogant, a know-it-all, socially inept, and quite effeminate. Rather than trying to make him the face of the group and nuke everything, I decided that he abhorred killing, that was going to be my challenge as a player. I spent the entire module casting things like grease, gust of wind, mage hand, minor illusion, and any other non-combat spell in ways that would give my players the win. I kept out of fights, redirected attacks, and aided combat as best I could without providing any direct damage. Heck I only cast fire sphere because I wasn't going to let my party member get eaten.
Aerik: NPC turned PC. My players begged me to turn Aerik into a PC for CoS, so I had to come up with some reason for him to have existed outside of the world I created him for. I figured I'd use the story of CoS to explain why Aerik is the way he is in Loromir. Basically I chose to make CoS as Aerik's origin story, so now I have an invested interest in making sure that this, now PC, stays alive no matter what.
Nykthos: Dragonborn Sorc. I created this character by rolling dice for race/class. After that I decided I wanted to base his personality off of the idea that he was a charlatan in the most extreme of senses. He hides from battle, doing just enough to make it look like he's participating. He manipulates players and NPCs in to doing his dirty work. He will find every reason to down play his abilities so someone else has to pick up the slack. Heck he even convinced a ship captain that he was a Wind Speaker and Navigator...thank goodness for being able to cast spells. The best part about this character is trying to play it of for real, I've yet to have a single player roll an insight toward my actions.
---
In the end, don't challenge the book or game, challenge yourself as a player/actor/story teller, and see if you find that a bit more engaging.
Two things to try:
1.-Multi-classing- of course, this could put you into an even worse "more of the same" issue, as you delay level increases in order to compensate for the MC.
2.-Hire an NPC to run with your character. If the DM will allow your Halfling Rogue to have a fighter NPC, the fighter can carry more climbing gear, and rogue equipment
without being as easily encumbered, for example..
There's a certain excitement from creating a shiny new character. I love creating characters, either as a backup in games I play or as NPCs in the game I run. But I've yet to abandon a character because I'm invested in seeing their story to completion. It seems like your main issue is that you don't have enough RP-ing in your game, or you're not enjoying it.
How much do you RP in your groups? I feel like RP, not just for your character's own arc and development, but with other players is huge for me. Can my lawful good paladin be a drag to play sometimes? Yes. He's a total stick in the mud. But it a party full of chaotic characters, he plays a great straight-man and we sometimes get hilarious outcomes because of it. Some of the most rewarding scenes come not from combat but from PC interactions. I would say this: find something that makes your character special to you and an overarching goal so you're always looking forward with your character, and not sideways on that new optimized build you heard about.
What do you want your character, ultimately, to achieve? Will it be his personality development as he's exposed to the unconventional methods of his fellow PCs? Are you part of an organization and trying to gain prestige? Or is it a new ability you get at the next level (or, as Payshunts suggested, a new class all together?)? The thing about classes and races is that they ARE completely interchangeable, as far as character personality are concerned. My players were so focused on optimized build that for my campaign I had them draw race and class out of a hat. A dragonborn rogue? How the heck will that work? Well, half the fun is figuring that out, isn't it?
It's a situation that many of us feel quite the opposite to, with a couple missions under the PC's belt, XP, skills, resources, and levels increase, making the character
more valuable, with time.
You have to figure out why you always want to change characters. Is it boredom? Is it optimization (trying to find the perfect build that has no weaknesses and many strengths)? Is it lack of attachment/depth in your character? Is it seeing the other players do something cool and wanting to do that? Is it playing for a few sessions and realizing your limits, then thinking that another class can go beyond those limits, thus you want to play that instead, but again find the "shortcomings" of that class instead? Ask yourself these questions, take time and think about it. None of these are bad feelings, but you have to understand what you're feeling to figure out how to "deal" with it.
My guess, from your two short paragraphs on the subject, is that you're in a group and want to be the hero, the main character, the protagonist, not just one in a group of them. It's the reason you're in a fantasy game anyway, right, to do what you can't do in real life. Someone does something cool and you want to have the feeling of everyone seeing/being envious of the cool thing you just did instead. If this is in fact the case, don't take it as a bad thing, it isn't. You might want to try a solo campaign with another DM, or even just a group of you and one other, to get that feeling you're desiring. Or, you can try to realize that it's awesome when everyone gets their turn in the spotlight, and just know that if you hadn't had it in a while, it's surely coming soon. It has to be in a game like this, it's just the way it works, everyone gets their shot. I'm currently playing a knowledge cleric in which I rolled horrible stats (16 WIS is my high, with 15 CON, 6 DEX, 6 CHA, 8 INT, 10 STR). Everyone else in the campaign took the standard array. I'm somehow still alive at level 5, and we are encountering our big bad for the 2nd time after he "let us escape" the first time after obliterating us in a few short rounds. We're all terrified, and I can't even kill Kobolds, but I cast Suggestion and he rolls a Nat 1. That's where we left off but he is currently leading us to his treasure. It felt awesome, and I'll be happy if that's my characters one memorable thing, even if he dies next session or survives until the end of the campaign.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
All characters are fictitious and bear no resemblance......................blah, blah, blah.
What a load of pickled kobold eyes.
Base a character on yourself (loosely), but a better version of you. Choose an actor who is going to play you in this roleplay film of your other life.
Decide what is missing in your life, and have attaining that be your character's focus.
Invest in that character, never break character, never let other players break your immersion. Try to be the most memorable character in the group (Without hogging the limelight!)
Alternatively, play Descent or Runebound or Talisman or any other boardgame that has multiple characters to choose from. You can play one, then choose a different one next time. Or maybe you are tired of using the same strategies repeatedly - play a few strategy games and see if that helps scratch the itch. As a DM, you are used to having lot's of choices. None of them really matter. As a player, you get less choices, but they are usually of more import.
As a DM, if I knew you were suffering from not getting attached to a character, I would allow you to find a cool item that another character would take if you changed characters/suffered PC death. New characters do not start with magic items in my campaigns.
You don't design a good character - you dream them, then live them.
Design is for the boffins.
Roleplaying since Runequest.
Ha, I'm the same. Thus most of my characters burn brightly and get killed quickly (or in one case turned evil). My last character was a Way of Shadow High Elf monk that didn't last two levels - I started him on Level 3 and by end of Level 4 he was dead. The previous character accidentally turned evil by level 3. Indeed some of my characters haven't lasted a session.
It doesn't help my usual attitude to anything combat wise is "way of the shotgun" (ie up close and personal) and that my preferred role play style is based on Lemmy from Motörhead. Thus a stoic monk or knowledgeable wizard or a self opinionated elf or honourable dwarf doesn't really work for me and gets boring quickly.
So my next character is a human fighter from the slums with a propensity for drinking, women and all the other fun stuff.
Me too! I've even switched after a few sessions just to wish I hadn't. I know your pain!
In the past I've come up with ways to switch. One campaign my character got pretty rich and opened up an art gallery. On another campaign I got my character killed.
Few thoughts:
1. Understand that all classes and subclasses are pretty cool and try to focus on what makes yours cool.
2. Spend a lot of time with your character before you start playing to make sure that's the right fit for you this time.
3. Play shorter campaigns. This isn't an issue for a single session campaign or one that only lasts a month. It's when things get real long that I think this problem is at it's worst.
4. Find inventive ways to make the character more interesting. Drinking problem? Closet Pyromaniac? Huge cheater at cards? Gambling addict could be fun. Maybe your dwarf has a charisma score of 8 but thinks he's Casanova and tries to be the face of the party. There are so many RP possibilities and finding good ones can make you connect with your character and not want to throw him/her off a cliff after a few sessions!
I think the key for me is to always be inventive and find ways to do the same things differently.
Kendis,
Great post. I totally agree with what you are saying Though sometimes the character just doesn't fit despite it initially sounding cool - eg the High elf ninja monk who just ended up a terrible bore.
Yeah the high elf ninja monk only sounds ok. But the high elf ninja monk that has an existential crisis realizing he's super boring and becomes a huge nihilist (think robot from Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)!? Now that sounds like a good time.
Or maybe the High elf Ninja Monk who actually drank a ton and is actually a drunken master now? Great! Not so subtle anymore but tons of good drunken fun to be had there. If your GM won't let you switch, then you have a drunk ninja that sounds just as fun.
What about a high elf ninja monk charlatan that is always trying to steal from temples? This might be my favorite.
Now we're talking. Alas he is very dead, having just recently been gutted by a half dragon. Next time perhaps!
@ DenisK
Fighter man, Fighter Man, does whatever a fighter can!
:p
OP, you need to realize that enjoying a character to the fullest isn't something that happens right away. All characters are shallow when you build them, because what makes them not shallow is what happens when you play the character, not when you roll it up.
So yeah, the first bunch of sessions will be spent, by everyone, saying some stock phrases and being cardboad cut-outs. Until you get to know the character, until things happen in the game that distinguish that character from all other Race/Class-identical characters. It doesn't matter what level you start at, either. Start at 1st level, you'll get a fleshed out complex character that's interesting to play by maybe 4th, 5th level? Start at 12th level, you'll get that around 14th maybe?
You just need to stop thinking that what makes your character interesting are the numbers and abilities. Numbers and abilities (that everyone else has) are boring. Depth gained through playing the game is interesting :)
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
I LIKE to play character that is having success.
I get frustrated with a character that is constantly failing.
This usually is a DM issue where the DM does not understand the PC class and its abilities or they just want to stomp on any idea that interferes with their planned railroad track.
Current (adventure league) DM dropped a bag of holding full of gold on each 3rd level PC and said "Buy anything you want from the DMG" (stipulations on how long it would take to get it based on rarity.. so we picked stuff that would take 2 weeks or less and everyone still has at least 2/3 of the gold)
I suggested my Druid PC wanted a ring of spell storing. Simple item that is easy to deal with and does not really over-power a Druid.
DM said I needed to buy a staff of swarming insects
DM won't let the staff work... There's never insects to make giant. And there's never room for the insect plague without killing other PCs.
DM constantly says I can't use my druid abilities.
He said "You do not understand what you see through the eyes of the creature you changed into as beast form." (trying to identify items in backpacks I opened with claws because he wouldn't let us untie them and we needed to open them to get a knife...)
I now hate to play my druid...
Ouch. I've had DMs/GMs with that mentality before. "These players are going to get captured, and that's that." Listened to some friends play in a Star Wars campaign where, week after week, the GM prevented them from having any weapons at all. No knives, no blasters, nothing. Killed a bad guy with a blaster? Oh, the blaster broke. No roll.
Yuk. Move on from the DM if you can.
Looking for new subclasses, spells, magic items, feats, and races? Opinions welcome :)
Honestly, that sounds like an a**hole DM. Druid is my favorite class because of how much you can do. Sadly when a DM doesn't allow me to do thing that are clearly laid out in the players handbook for me to do it kills my enjoyment of the whole game. I hope you can find a different DM because that guy doesn't sound fun.
I had a DM once be completely opposed to me playing a Paladin and he went out of his way to ensure the character died in the first session (and this being AD&D meant death was a lot easier to achieve than now).
I don't know how OP creates characters, I get the impression they do it by choosing classes/race first and then coming up with the rest.
Maybe come up with an idea for a character first (background, personality, goals, etc) and then assign a class and race to them afterwards. Not necessarily a class and/or race that compliments your idea mechanically, just one you think would suit the character. I usually do this with my characters and the class/race I pick isn't always what's best/optimal for the idea, it's just what I think the character I've come up with feels like it should be.
Even this way I still get the urge to swap characters and try something new BUT I at least still enjoy the character I'm currently playing too. To me, having a game with so much variation in what you could play as (especially if you're happy to use homebrew content) you're bound to at some point feel you really want to try something else.