How do you deal with Character creap?

[HabeneroHN]

So when I joined PFS some months ago I made one character and played him. Now I have 4, 3 more in progress and every time I make a new character the very act of it sets me up with 3 new ideas for more.

I could play every day and still not play all these PC ideas.

How do you deal with having more characters than you can potentially play?

[Jeff Merola]

I stat them out anyway, then when I get around to actually starting a new character I look at my pile of statted stuff to see what catches my fancy at that moment.

[ElyasRavenwood]

Hello my name is Myles. I have a problem. I um keep making characters. I have 27 registered characters. The last character i made was three weeks ago... I still want to make more characters.....

Habenero,
I guess I don't worry about it. 2 new scenarios are published every month. There will always be more credit.

I guess what I do is a focus on one character for a while...then I either get board of that character or i have a new character idea.....so I go make another.

Sometimes I have left a character alone for 2 years. Then I remember this character, dust him off and have fun playing him or her.

I guess in short the only way I deal with it is to make more characters

I have 2 characters at 14 level
I have 3 characters at 11 level
I have 2 characters at 9th level
I have 2 characters at 8th level
I have 2 characters at 6th level
I have 1 character at 7th level
I have 2 characters at 6th level
I have 1 character at 5th level
I have 1 character at 4th level
I have 5 characters at 3rd level
I have 4 characters at 2nd level
I have 3 characters at 1st level

I will continue to make more characters. I am at a point where I don't have sufficient XP from stuff I have not played to level up all of my characters but I'm not too worried. There will always be more scenarios put out.....lets say 25 scenarios per year. So that's 25 playing credits and 25 GMing credits.

I hope this helps.

Elyas

[Sior]

Well, I'm not so far gone as Myles there, but I have 15 characters (only 11 of them I've played, 2 of those 11 are retired, and another of the 11 I just stopped playing at level 2 or 3). What I had tried to do from the get-go is make sure I have at least two characters in any given tier, preferably one in each possible sub-tier. This means keeping all characters at every other level as best as I can.

So as of right now I have:
4 lvl 1s, all never been played
3 lvl 2s, one I don't play, one I'm waiting to apply module credit
2 lvl 3s
2 lvl 6s
1 lvl 7
1 lvl 9
2 lvl 12s, one of which is going through Eyes of the Ten retirement arc.

My 'problem' is I like basic builds. I don't go for the most powerful. That's just too much work ;-) Still, I have fun!

[jalroy]

I have similar problem. Many concepts and ideas that I want to play or try out but only so many games I can play. Have made a number of lvl 1 characters that some day may try out, but try to focus on certain characters to see them improve and develop. Presently working on getting some of those lvl 1 character to lvl 2 before switching to the next one on the list. Good thing is they often run low lvl tables in my area. Still sometimes a decision which character to play. Good to have options though and keep those creative juices flowing.

[Fromper]

I keep trying out new character ideas, too, but I don't always like every character enough to play them a lot. I have my favorites. It's not usually the mechanical concepts that determine my favorites, though. It's more likely to be which ones I have a "voice" and personality for at the table.

But I'm currently up to 15 registered characters, 12 of which I've actually played at least once. Of the 3 I haven't played, 2 of them are level 2 on GM credits. I have specific ideas for another 2 I'd like to build, and general ideas for at least half a dozen more that I'll probably get to eventually.

[Nefreet]

Likewise, I try to keep my characters about 2 levels apart, so I always have an option to play no matter what table is getting mustered. I'll be retiring my 5th character this Tuesday. After that I'll still have an 11, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, and a bunch of 2s.

After I've played a character for a few levels, if I don't like the direction they're going, I'll just pile GM credit on them for a while and bring them out again after I've had some time to think about them. One of my 11s has only been played 9 times.

I also try to play each character at the highest sub-tier possible. For example, if I have an 8th level character, I won't play it in a 7-11 game. I'll try to milk out as many 8-9 sub-tier games as I can, then toss him straight into 10-11.

I also GM a lot of intro scenarios, and Thornkeep: Accursed Halls, so I don't have to waste my first couple levels playing in 1-5s.

Modules are killer for trying to bridge an awkward gap, like levels 3, 6, and 9.

[Deanoth]

Dealing with character creep.. I just don't make many. Right now I have 3 characters. I GM more then I play so it is not that big a deal. So I guess for me the best way to deal with it is to GM! :)

So GM more hehe

[Disturbed1]

Ive got a dozen or so characters, 4 more with numbers and GM credit that I havent built, and about 4 more ideas.

Meh, dont worry about it. :)

[MeriDoc-]

I think its less a factor than release of stories. If you wish to play the "fiend" storyline you're spread over 3 years. If you want the Disappeared line its also 3 years.

I end up having something similar as defined above. A chelaxian at every level so I dont miss out on a favorite story. But my character who wants payback for A, has to pass the baton two or thee times till B happens.

[Shooting Star]

I have a:

• Lvl 7 Human Gunslinger was my first character.
  
• Lvl 5 Nagaji Aspirant. I liked the idea of making a heavily armored "Druid" who casts wizard spells.
  
• Level 4 Dhampir Moon Oracle with a Wolf.
  
• Level 3 Teifling Beastbrood Dual-Cursed Oracle. To drive DMs crazy rerolling!
  
• 2 Level 1s
  

I've always been an alt-aholic. In MMOs I'm always last to max level. I get enamored with an idea and need to get that idea out of my system before I can return to "progression".

[Silbeg]

Not really that bad of a problem to have, unless you are so heavily focused on level 1s and 2s that you don't have anything to play for scenarios that are not 1-5.

I currently have:
1 lvl 13 (Human Gunslinger 5/Inquisitor 8)
1 lvl 10 (Human rogue)
1 lvl 9 (tiefling conjurer)(holding for Bonekeep 3 at Con of the North)
1 lvl 7 (human paladin)
1 lvl 6 (human battle oracle)
1 lvl 4 (human inquisitor)
1 lvl 3 (halfling druid)
1 lvl 2 (human warpriest)
l 1vl 1 (undine watersinger)

I seem to have another issue... 7 of my 9 characters are divine oriented.

[The Morphling]

I tend to get characters to between 5 and 7 and then move on because I get excited about a new idea. My -1 is nearing level 12, but my -2, -3, -4, and -5 are all between 5 and 7.

(My -2 may have finally graduated to 8, but it's been a long time since I've played him and I don't remember.)

[Righty_]

Ill tag in
# at level
1 at 18 (pending19)
1 at 13
1 at 12
1 at 11
1 at 9
4-5 at 6-8
0 at 3
1 at 1
Dozen at zero

[Fromper]

Well if we're all going to post counts:

Level 14 - 1
Level 8 - 1
Level 7 - 1
Level 6 - 1
Level 5 - 1
Level 4 - 3
Level 2 - 6
Level 1 - 1

The level 1 doesn't have any xp, but I'm scheduled to play him next week. I really need to get one of the level 2s up to 3, just so I have a PC at every level from 1-8.

[nosig]

How do I deal with Character creap? I try to have fun playing my PCs... if one get's to be no/less fun, I play different PCs. In this I kind of treat them as foods or tv shows or styles of novels. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a Ham Sandwich and a SF novel... other times it's soup and a history book.

This means I have PCs that will go years without my playing them... (I may put a few chronicles from judging on them and level them to see if this sparks interest in them again...)...

But I have 15 active PCs (that have chronicles on them). Some haven't been played in a while - only to be picked up when I'm at a convention and played 3 or more games.

I do have one friend who only plays one PC until retirement... then goes back to start something new, playing the new one exclusively until "leveled out". But I consider him to be the exception...