How Do You Build Your Character?

Character Creation Over the Years

I've seen a lot of game systems. I've seen a lot of RPGs come and go - we're talking well over a hundred here. This means we've seen a lot of ways character creation can be done, and has been done.

The 'roll, assign, choose race, choose class' kind, with D&D, Palladium, etc. We've seen skill-heavy games (Call of Cthulhu), we've seen games with no skill lists at all (4e Kult). We've seen point-buy systems (Big Eyes, Small Mouth and Mutants and Masterminds come to mind), and we've even seen a few hybrids (Legend of the Five Rings, 7th Sea) where you make selections, then you spend points for rounding the character out.

Each has their strengths and weaknesses, but one trend I saw come up in the last few years was ... sort of a 'pre-package' deal. You make a limited number of choices, and those pretty much make your character for you. Masks come to mind, but so does the 2nd edition of 7th Sea and TORG, and sort of the Avatar: the last Airbender RPG that is coming out soon.

Essentially, not using any specific game, it goes like this:
1) Choose Nation.  You get this attribute bonus and choose one of two skill bonuses.
2) Choose Race.  You get this attribute bonus and choose one of two skill bonuses.
3) Choose Archetype.  You get this bonus and choose one of two skill bonuses.
4) Pick 3 Merits. These Merits must match your nation, race, or archetype.
Done.

So what if you don't want the archetypes listed there? What if you want to make a different character entirely?

For example, 2e 7th Sea. I am a huge fan of 7th Sea. When I saw the deep world building that was coming out with 2nd Edition, I was thrilled to bits. Then I tried to convert some 1e characters over to 2e to give it a spin - I learn game systems by character creation and conversion.

Well. One of my characters came through okay. A few key elements about the character were lost in the translation - certain merits simply didn't exist, and there were some rules in 1e which never made it to 2e.

Then I went to convert my other character. I couldn't. It was literally impossible to make the character at all, because the pre-packaged roles didn't take into account a character being ... well... multiple roles.

An Avalonian (sure), Son of Lugh (doesn't exist) who was trained in the Pugilism school (doesn't exist), Claymore school (doesn't exist), and Archer school (doesn't exist). You could sort of go 'Avalonian, Glamour Mage, Pick a Fighting Style', but ... that's as far as you'll be able to go.

TORG was another one who got bit by the pre-package bug. My character ideas just wouldn't fit into the game anymore.  Core Earth Werewolf? Nope.  How about a Core Earther with Pulp Powers, Gun-Fu, and Ninjutsu?  Yeah, not happening.

As you might guess, I love messing around with a game engine and seeing what kind of characters can be made. In Pathfinder, a Bramble Elf, Verdant Sorceress, who uses the Druid spell list but restricts herself to healing and plant-based spells. An artificer who is restricted to making constructs and develops a clockwork familiar and animal companion to fight for him? How about an android monk who has throwing weapons for her flurry attacks rather than unarmed attacks? Or a barbarian who uses oversized weapons, fights giants, and calls up the spirits of the dead to fight by their side when they rage?

I can totally get that some players want to just get the character made and go - there's a few games like that which I enjoy, but I tend to consider such games to be, for want of a better word, 'light'. You're restricted in what you can make and what you can do, and ... well, sometimes you just can't make the characters that you envision for the game.

Masks comes to mind. It's a superhero game. I love superhero games. So I looked at it, and noticed it has 'playbooks'. Pre-defined roles, with options for your power sets, and certain background triggers to help move you forward in your story.

Except... the character I wanted to use (and enjoyed in other games such as Mutants and Masterminds, Silver Age Sentinels, Marvel Heroic, and Marvel FASERIP) simply can't be built using Masks. There's one Playbook which ... almost fit, except the power set wasn't available, and the 'background aspects' for the character didn't fit at all.

"If I want to be a technical character, why are my abilities unpowered? Also, why do I have to have these specific issues with the world around me?" Heh. I have in my stable a ghost-character. Died in the underworld, was raised there, and can now summon the undead and throw hexes and curses with the best of them.  (And yes, she's a hero, thank you very much). Masks has a sort-of playbook she could use, but it doesn't fit her power set, or her background and history. At all.

I guess you need to go in with a clean slate in most of these cases. Look to see what's available and build around that, rather than looking at the world itself and going 'what do I want to play'. The game's trying to set up very specific stories, and you need to be on-board with that or you're going to be disappointed.  Some games are more open, but that puts more work on the players to figure out how they're going to fit into the game, rather than the game doing that part, and letting you jump in with a character that's ready to go.

That's not bad.
It's not my thing, but it's not bad.
And I'm willing to bet there's players and GMs who have a blast playing those games - and more power to them, I hope they continue to have a blast. That's the entire point of RPGs, after all. It's definitely great for some of my friends who suffer from decision paralysis, or dyscalculia.

So, what's your preference?
Point-Buy? (eg: Mutants and Masterminds)
Roll-And-Pick (eg: AD&D)
Package? (eg: Masks)
Mix? (eg: Legend of the Five Rings)
Open? (eg: Shadowrun)