Using Pregens for PbP Recruitment - Question for All


Online Campaigns General Discussion


I am considering starting up just one more PbP and have a question before I post anything in the recruitment thread.

What do you folks think of requiring folks to choose from a list of partial pregenerated characters?

As an example, I would like to have a Paladin, Cleric, Sorcerer, Ranger and a Bard for this PbP, and would provide a template for each of the classes, allowing an applicant to pick which one they were interested in and providing a character sheet based on that.

Here are the pregens:

Paladin:

Name:
Race: Human
Deity:
Gender:
Alignment: LG
Class: Paladin
Favored Class: Paladin
Favored Class Bonus:
Ability Scores: Str: 16, Dex: 13, Con: 14, Int: 12, Wis: 10, cHa: 14
Trait(1):
Feat(2):
Skill(4): Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Other(s) x2
Bonus Language(1):
Gold: 300
Equipment:
Personality:
Description:
History/Background:
Why you accepted the call:

Cleric:

Name:
Race: Human
Deity:
Domains:
Gender:
Alignment:
Class: Cleric
Favored Class: Cleric
Favored Class Bonus:
Ability Scores: Str: 14, Dex: 10, Con: 14, Int: 10, Wis: 16, cHa: 14
Trait(1):
Feat(2):
Skill(3): Knowledge (Religion), Other(s) x2
Gold: 240
Equipment:
Personality:
Description:
History/Background:
Why you accepted the call:

Sorcerer:

Name:
Race: Human
Deity:
Gender:
Alignment:
Class:
Favored Class: Sorcerer
Favored Class Bonus:
Ability Scores: Str: 10, Dex: 14, Con: 13, Int: 12, Wis: 10, cHa: 18
Trait(1):
Feat(2):
Skill(4): Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, Other(s) x2
Bonus Language(1):
Gold: 120
Equipment:
Personality:
Description:
History/Background:
Why you accepted the call:

Ranger:

Name:
Race: Human
Deity:
Gender:
Alignment:
Class: Ranger
Favored Class: Ranger
Favored Class Bonus:
Ability Scores: Str: 16, Dex: 14, Con: 14, Int: 10, Wis: 14, cHa: 10
Trait(1): Trap Finder (from Mummys Mask Players Guide)
Feat(2):
Skill(7): Climb, Disable Device, Stealth, Survival, Swim, Other(s) x2
Gold: 300
Equipment:
Personality:
Description:
History/Background:
Why you accepted the call:
Think Switch Hitter Ranger from Treantmonk Guide to Rangers

Bard:

Name:
Race: Human
Deity:
Gender:
Alignment:
Class: Bard
Favored Class: Bard
Favored Class Bonus:
Ability Scores: Str: 11, Dex: 14, Con: 12, Int: 12, Wis: 10, cHa: 16
Trait(1):
Feat(2):
Skill(8): Diplomacy, Linguistics, Perception, [Knowledge or Perform or Other(s)] (x5)
Bonus Language(1):
Gold: 180
Equipment:
Personality:
Description:
History/Background:
Why you accepted the call:

I know that some are going to hate this idea, some will be "meh" about it, and some might like it, but please lets try to be respectful of everyones opinion.

thanks, -- david

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Hey David --

As a player, I would likely choose to pass on a game with this sort of restriction on character creation from the outset. I don't mind occasionally playing a PFS scenario with a pregenerated character, but I personally love coming up with my own characters, and making them as quirky as heck.

I don't mind creating a character to fill a party gap, but I don't want to be told what class to pick in fulfilling that role. So... you want a full arcane caster, and you tell me that I must play a sorcerer to do so? While I personally prefer sorcerers to wizards, there are a lot of players who might feel differently.

I think that if you were dealing with a complete group of newcomers, your pregenerated characters aren't a bad idea. But for most of the experienced players that I've met on the PbP games on this site, character creation is something they want to do for themselves.

As GM, you get to set the world, and the rules for character creation. That's your right. But I think that you may be losing out on a lot of creativity if you make such a strict limit on what your characters can play.

Hmm


Short answer: You'd likely get enough interest to get the campaign up and running.

Longer answer: You'd also filter out a fair proportion of people that wouldn't be interested in the concept.

Only answer that matters: PbPs live, breathe and die by the DM. If it's something you're interested in - go for it.


I think it could work.

I have a box of pregenerated 'quirks' that I draw one or two out at random and give with a pregen. These are a little things like "Afraid of Snakes" or "Has issues with one parent" or "Believes that Self Denial is Abundantly Rewarded"
They are vague but also not always the sort of thing people think about. I find with pregens players often play the stereotype of the class instead of trying to get inside the character's head, and giving some unusual points really helps in that regard.

Just my 2c


Thank you for your responses.

I am going to think about this more, but probably come to a middle ground, ie. state the "group" (warrior, divine, arcane, skill, other) that I am looking for and let folks create their own PCs, but giving enough information in the recruitment post to steer folks into providing PCs that will meet the needs of the campaign.

-- david


Not sure what the best recruitment method(s) are....

I have been thinking about that for when I eventually do another recruitment thread. The private recruitment is actually looking better and better to me.

The player pool then becomes people you are in games with, players you run games for and DM's whose games you play in. So many people try PBP and then discover that it is not a good fit for them.

Replacing players in an ongoing game.
Lurkers sometimes see it come up in the discussion thread and throw themselves into consideration (thus no recruitment is ever posted).
I like for the Players to see if they know anyone who is interested first.

Community / Forums / Online Campaigns / General Discussion / Using Pregens for PbP Recruitment - Question for All All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in General Discussion