|
So, I have a serious problem with changing my mind on what character I want to play. Before the campaign started, I must have gone through at least 20 or more concepts that I wanted to play, and now after the campaign started (it's about 3 sessions in) I already want to change my character again. It's not a problem with my character not doing enough, the character does very well gameplay-wise. Just one minute I want to be a fighter, the next minute I want to be an illusionist, next evoker, then a hexblade, then a bard.
With my previous DM, this wasn't that much of a problem. Anytime I wanted to play a different character, my first character would take a day off. I would switch between them on a session-by-session basis. But, this is my first campaign with this DM, and I don't think he would be too happy about my decision to retire my current character and pick up another. Especially if it might happen again.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Similar problems? Maybe some little tricks to keep my own attention?
Play the Factotum class from Dungeonscape. They're quite potent now with the addition of the Font of Inspiration feat from the Wizards website. That way, your role can change whenever you want. Wanna be a frontliner? Put your inspiration points into attack and damage. Evoker? Done. Healer? Check. Sneaky-stabby type? You got it. Illusionist? Sure!
They can even turn undead...and if this is a campaign that takes your party into higher levels, the Factotum can copy ANY extraordinary ability from ANY class...and not just from one class at a time! :D
I thought it would be a neat idea to play a Factotum with multiple personality disorder, with each personality represented by certain manifested class abilities...feel free to run with it. That way you don't have to play with the same abilities every time, OR even as the same person!
Edit: Oooooh, I just thought of a perfect race for this character! Changeling! With the changeling's shapeshift ability, each personality could even be of a different race or gender!
How's THAT for variety?
The binder from Tome of Magic is also versatile in what roles it can play.
But, this is my first campaign with this DM, and I don't think he would be too happy about my decision to retire my current character and pick up another. Especially if it might happen again.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Similar problems? Maybe some little tricks to keep my own attention?
Why don't you ask him about it? It's not good for anyone if there are players who aren't interested in the game because they dislike their characters. Most DMs are therefore willing to work with their players to address that issue, in order to create a game that is enjoyable for everyone.
And if worse comes to worst, "accidentally" fail some Saving Throws, or forget to wear your armor, or something.
Of course, I once played in a zombie apocalypse d20 Modern campaign where my Tough Hero firefighter got in a major gun fight while only wearing his boxers. And he did OK.
But talk to your DM first. If you're too scared to talk to him about this, maybe it's not the best campaign fit for you.
|
Does anyone have any suggestions? Similar problems? Maybe some little tricks to keep my own attention?
I have the same problem. We'd play GURPS and others would play the same characters for a year or more, and I'd have gone through a minimum of a half-dozen different characters.
For me the problem goes two ways;
In some games, like most superhero games or point-based games, I can start with a character that has a full raft of abilities that I want, and there really isn't necessarily anything I want to do next. Even with a PL 6 in Mutants & Masterminds, I tend to build them 'finished,' with all of the relevant abilities, so that the process of leveling up just gives them 'more of the same, but bigger.'
In other games, like Vampire or D&D, the starting character is so darned limited that I lose patience after a few months of not being able to do any of the cool stuff I'd like to do. The character *could* progress and 'get fun,' but I'm unwilling to endure the months of *not having fun* before I get to that point...
The key (for me) is to create a character that changes notably as it increases in levels. The different tactics of a spellcaster in D&D help to ensure that a 5th level Wizard isn't as likely to be using the same tactics every round that he was using at 1st level, and he'll be doing something else entirely at 10th level. With other classes, that just incrementally get slightly better at what they were doing at 1st level, like Fighters or Rogues or Warlocks, my interest wanes faster. Something like a Binder or Archivist goes even further in that direction, due to the number of options, or various 'builds' that you can not only create, but modify on the fly (by binding another vestige, or using spells from the Clerical Domain lists or Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Adept, Blackguard, etc. lists). A character that does one thing well, and will continue doing that one thing even better, tends to bore the crap out of me. Ooh, ooh, extra Sneak Attack dice! Whoopty-doo.
Of the core classes, the Cleric, Druid and (generalist) Wizard hold my interest longest, as they are the most flexible and able to play differently session to session and level to level.
The Factotum might also be an option, particularly if mixed with other stuff, like the Chameleon PrC (Races of Destiny?) and / or Human Paragon levels (Unearthed Arcana).
If your DM is amenable to the idea, you could even have your character suffer from some unique curse that places him 'unstuck in time.' He's become a sort of Eternal Champion like Elric/Corum/etc. from the Moorcock novels, each a sideways reflection of an archetypal individual, allowing you to swap out your character class and attributes on occasion, so long as your new character retains the same Point-Buy and Experience totals as everyone else. He's the same person, but re-imagined in the morning as he 'wakes up' as someone else, with the same name and face, but different abilities and memories. The picture of the 'rebuilt' character from PH2 p 196 might end up being your character portrait, as he might be a Fighter one day, and a Sorcerer the next. The catch would be that the character couldn't cherry-pick a particular class depending on the circumstances. He'd only change at night, while sleeping, and the change would have to be pre-approved by the DM. If the adventure is undead-heavy, suddenly deciding to play a Turn-optimized Cleric (or Dread Necromancer!) might be forbidden, as that would be unbalancing.
Alternately, perhaps it would be an option, but the 'Eternal Champion' would always be one level behind everyone else, to put a cost on this increased utility, making him less the 'Eternal Champion' and more the 'Perfect Cohort.' :)
No suggestions from me at this time, just chiming in to say that I'm glad to see others "suffer" from the same "condition" - I was afraid I was the only one.
I'll be watching this thread closely, hopefully lots of suggestions will be forthcoming. :-)
|
|
Well, he wanted us to have our characters all worked out a week before the campaign started so he could find a way to work all of us in. I'm playing a Gnome Beguiler right now and we're second level (we started at 2nd). He kept making mention that he really didn't want us to change our minds at the last minute, because me and the other member of our previous group had come up with so many different concepts. The thing is, I didn't really flesh this character out as much as I normally do because it was the last thing I came up with before he said "stick with it", so this character really feels like just a collection of numbers on paper. I didn't really work on the description or personality for him. I just slapped "Chaotic Neutral" on him and called it a day. So he works fine mechanically, but it's not quite so much fun in the roleplaying aspect of it. But then again, I always did have that problem with gnomes.
I don't have anything helpful to say, however I've seen this "problem" often. The only concrete advice I can give is to make sure you get some time DMing. In my experience it's a good outlet for those who want to play lots and lots of different characters (LDO...).
It doesnt really help you want to play one character for ages, but having that outlet (and really fleshing out the NPCs in your campaigns/adventures) may satisfy your longing to flit from class to class.
I agree, you should talk to your Dm if anything. Other than that, try multiclassing him or take some to time to let him grow on you, you never know if he can get fun.
I too suffer from D&D character add. I have too many "great" concepts and never enough games to play them. My biggest problem is that I tend to get stuck playing a fighter type everytime we actually get a game that goes anywhere, and when I play a wizard of cleric (my first choice) it always seems to be the game that falls apart... :P
|
|
Also, there are 9 people in the group currently, with a tenth coming in next session. So, I'm not necessarily filling a gap that would go unfilled if I were to change.
Funny thing is, we only have 1 cleric and he's far from the "healbot" steriotype. I doubt he's going to cast a single "cure" spell the whole game. So far he's only asked for donations to his "church" and pretended to cast spells for people. But I digress.
I'm not sure this "solution" would work for anybody else, but it works for myself and my gaming friends...
At any one time we are running numerous parties. I am currently playing (between two groups of gamers) a kalashtar psion in an Eberron campaign running through Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, a human rogue/swashbuckler/shadowdancer in a homebrew, a human paladin going through Fortress of the Yuan-ti, a warforged warblade in another Eberron party, an evil human dread necromancer adventuring through Shattered Gates of Slaughterguard, a human spiked chain fighter in Barrow of the Forgotten King, a human warlock in a homebrew, and a dwarven warmage in ANOTHER homebrew. There are more than half a dozen parties we've played previously that have been set on the back burner for the time being, and any of these could be started up again at a moment's notice. And it's not like these are shallow parties that we play for a little while and then discard. The aforementioned rogue/swashbuckler/shadowdancer was the first 3.0 character I ever played, and he's been in play for over 7 years!
I'm also preparing to run/play a Midnight campaign, a Shackled City campaign, and an Undermountain campaign. It seems that my friends and myself all have the TC's "problem"...we want to try out everything!
I sometimes have the same problem. For me it usually lasts until I find a character that allows me to really "get into character". Sometimes I have to play the character a little bit, but more often when I finally find the right build and personality it just clicks. Of course until then I have to keep trying different things until that happens.
If it's like that for you, I do have some advice. Don't like so much of "the character gets x, y and z powers and these levels". Look at the build you are interested in and thing "Why". Why does this guy adventure? What is his background? What are his goals? Things like that are what build a real character.
Have you ever played a game where you stuck with one character for a long time?
Well, he wanted us to have our characters all worked out a week before the campaign started so he could find a way to work all of us in. I'm playing a Gnome Beguiler right now and we're second level (we started at 2nd). He kept making mention that he really didn't want us to change our minds at the last minute, because me and the other member of our previous group had come up with so many different concepts. The thing is, I didn't really flesh this character out as much as I normally do because it was the last thing I came up with before he said "stick with it", so this character really feels like just a collection of numbers on paper. I didn't really work on the description or personality for him. I just slapped "Chaotic Neutral" on him and called it a day. So he works fine mechanically, but it's not quite so much fun in the roleplaying aspect of it. But then again, I always did have that problem with gnomes.
It sounds like you ended up with a charcter that you did have a firm grip on their concept. If changing would be too much of an issue for the DM you may want to spend some time reading up on gnomes and then work on a written background or character traits. The PHII has a lot of stuff on fleshing out a charater. Come up with some personality traits that are a little odd but add flavor to the character. Or flaws that you want to see the character overcome during his adventuring life. If the numbers are sound them coming up with a personality that needs growth or refinement.
My wife played a gnome beguiler for a short period of time and enjoyed it. She started out as a daughter of a locksmith who craved adventure. It made her overly curious and a little reckless at the beginning of her adventuring carreer. She developed into a more think before you act character as time went on. Development like that.
You could say that you start out as a user type. People are your pawns and you manipulate them as you see fit. Through working with a group you could figure out that what you are doing was wrong and go from using charm based spells to more illusion so that you are not directly manipulating people. I have the same problem and usually try and breath new life into them by looking really closely at their personality.
|
|
The longest I stuck with a character was roughly half a year, which was my first character, and also that's when the campaign ended. It kinda just fell apart and then we rotated being DM for our own campaigns for awhile, most of them short-lived campaigns. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it, but I haven't really had a chance to play one character for a long time. Then in the one campaign when we actually played 5 days a week (that rate only lasted a couple of weeks) I got to play 4 different characters depending on my whim as it was a mission-style campaign. The characters were part of an organization, so it was really easy to explain why one guy was there one day, and a different guy was there the next day.
I think I'm going to try to stick with this character for now. I've just been using my own personality for the character (even though I tend more towards neutral good if I were to pick an alignment for myself), but I think I can start getting away from that and play it the way I originally intended (heavy use of charm spells and such. I chose Skill Focus [bluff] as my first level feat; I haven't cast a single charm spell and I've only had to make 1 bluff check so far in 4 sessions). I just need to separate the character's actions from my own and then I can start having fun