As the title says, how do you usually go about designing your characters? Do you come up with a spiffy name and build from there? Come up with a cool mechanical/story concept you want to play then build the story/mechanics? Do you look through every class and race every time you want to make a new character? What's your whole process?
Personally I usually have a story concept or just a cool name I want to use and then I start thumbing through archetypes and feats trying to find a build to match.
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My character design process depends on whether I'm actually building for a campaign or if I'm just theorycrafting a build for fun.
If I'm creating one for a campaign, I usually talk to the GM to get a gist of the campaign. If they're inspired by a source material, I try to make my character fit into that material fairly well. Then I talk to the other people in the party to make try and make a character that will fit into the party (haven't had a 5 bard party yet sadly). By then I usually have enough of a concept to build a character and choose a role.
When I get down to the nitty gritty I consider my classes, possible archetypes, races, and if I want to multiclass or Variant multiclass (or both). Once that's decided, I fill in the feat slots left with relevant feats to my build, choose appropriate alternate racial traits and regular traits. Lastly, I do equipment (I generally dislike being overly reliant on equipment, which may need to be something I work on).
If I'm just theorycrafting, I usually start by noticing a possible interesting mechanic combination or cool mechanical concept I want to fulfill. For instance, I have created builds for a raging Kineticist, a charisma-based Alchemist, and a fighter that uses disposable weapons. Then I do the nitty gritty, as described above (except often leaving out equipment, I get a bit lazy!).
It's not a perfect process but I think it's fun! I consider character creation to be one-third of Pathfinder, so for me, creating a character is playing the game as much as fighting or role-playing.
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If I'm playing in an AP then I read the player's guide first. So I can build a character appropriate to the setting.
Then I brainstorm a couple of concepts for the 4 pillars Martial/Skill/Arcane/Divine. Usually using traits from the player's guide as a focus for the beam. This will usually be just a one sentence concept with a campaign trait tagged.
Then I talk to the other players and find out what they are most interested in playing to see if there are any gaps in the party. If there's a clear gap I'll pick a class based on that. If not then I'll pick whatever idea sings to me, I'll work up stats and basics and if I can imagine doing cool stuff I run with it, or move on to the next idea.
Then I try to create a name that sounds funny at first, but gets less funny each time you hear it. (example: Hollow Graves [B.Nec] Necromancer, Ash Q'Asheem and Sharumander Summoner).
Then I write ONE paragraph which tells the GM:
Who I am.
Where I come from.
What I want.
Why I can't have it.
Then that's that.
Usually, I start with a vague mechanical concept - sometimes it's a class or a particular toolset I want to try, but far more often it's a party role (damage, status removal, etc.) or combination of roles not covered by the rest of the party. (I almost invariably plan my character around what everyone else is doing - it's just my personality.) Then, I'll find a class/combination of classes that gives me the tools I need to fit that role. I'm not big on 1-20 build planning, but I'll get together what I need to fit the basics of the role I'm filling.
From there, I'll take whatever source material I can get my hands on (AP player's guide, campaign setting write-ups, GM information, etc.) and look for neat parts of the source I can take and run with in order to tie them in and make them a part of the proceedings. And from there...the writing starts. I don't necessarily show all my backstory/description/etc. to everyone (or anyone) in the game, but I find that having as complete a picture of their past as possible helps me to play them more fully and intriguingly. I usually go in intending to only do a few paragraphs...and it inevitably turns into several pages. It's just a thing with me, apparently.
Once the character's come alive to me, I'll re-tweak the mechanics to fit - sometimes it's just as simple as adding a couple of traits that seem appropriate or redistributing point-buy slightly, but I've had times where characters have completely changed classes because the former class didn't seem to fit as well once their story came to light. It goes back and forth between crunch and fluff a couple more times until everything seems to be clicking, them boom! Character.
I start with the region and build a character from there. In Pathfinder, I've had characters from the Mana Wastes, Varisia, the Darklands and the Mwangi Expanse. After that, I figure out what class I need for the party and begin massaging it all back and forth until a character takes shape.
It really varies for me.
If there's a particular AP that I'm interested in, I'll usually look at the Player's Guide and brainstorm from there based on the Campaign Traits available.
Sometimes I randomly come up with a vague concept, like 'wannabe paladin' or 'El Kabong as a goblin' and then keep a watch out for games that I think such a character would fit. The wannabe paladin might work for a Wrath of the Righteous game or any number of APs while El Kagoblin might be better-suited to a homebrew game or an AP with a GM willing to entertain oddball characters.
From time to time I'll start from the mechanics side. Each time I make a new character, I like to look at classes I've yet to try and see if anything inspires me.
No matter where the concept comes from, I'll usually fill in race, feats, skills, etc. based on the background I have in mind, the setting, and any potential 'end goals' I might have in mind.
I prefer rolling stats in order and then building a character from there, based on what gets suggested to me. Sometimes I'll switch a pair if something doesn't quite fit.
I generally first pick a class, then choose a race (often based around "fixing" mis allocated stats) Then I'll think a bit about what region of golarion the PC comes from and what his background is. Then I'll go through and do the mechanical stuff based on those three guidelines.
I pretty much never plan beyond level one except in the broadest sense.
Each character is developed differently for me. Sometimes I'll build a character around a concept, in the case that I'm particularly interested in a specific class, archetype, or PrC, and other times I'll come up with the character first and then have to figure out how best to build them mechanically. A lot of times, I'll get a little inspiration from the AP I'll be playing the character in. Sometimes, I'll find my inspiration from a guide someone has written for the character I'm considering playing (for instance, I knew I wanted to play an alchemist for Iron Gods, but had no idea what kind I wanted to play. As I read N.Jolly's guide, I came to my goblin Grenadier + Winged Marauder build.)
Tammy just happened.
Two main ways.
I have existing characters that I came up with for other things. They've generally got something that I'd like to be able to represent thematically or mechanically. Lauren, for instance, is associated with silence and suffocation. Originally, that meant a Void Wizard or a Witch with Silence through patron selection. With Kineticist, Lauren now works well as an Aerokineticist with at-will suffocating silence when she hits level twelve. She might be going back to Witch once the new archetype comes out that gets abilities to stitch people's mouths shut. (Sure, there's the spell, but it's cooler to get it without sacrificing spell slots.)
Other characters are built from a design goal. For instance, I like Sorcerer, but it's a terrible class to play at low levels. As a result, I designed a cowardly kitsune Sylvan Sorcerer with a wolf animal companion to make fights interesting and Realistic Likeness to keep out-of-combat stuff fun. That gave me the mechanical framework on which to hang the rest of the character.
Mostly I just work on a concept that I want to play, but for some AP's I try to work a concept that fits the theme.
Usually I have an inspiration, often a picture, I imagine a scene going from or leading to the picture. Then creating the character is how the character got there. These characters tend to not be well optimized, pity. Bringing in a replacement character is similar, but it is heavily influenced by, "Why am I here?" and sometimes, sadly, "Why would I associate with these people?" I have created, no, more accurately, designed characters to be able to do something specific, like being a top healer, or killer of men, or whatever. I get really bored with these characters pretty quickly. I find play more interesting trying to find a way to allow my character to deal with situations as well as they can with the "toolset" they have, rather than have such an efficient toolset that encounters can be forced into my particular idiom.
I like Pathfinder because, at this point, you can build pretty much any concept. I dislike it because it encourages and supports a culture that discourages sub-optimal builds, and seriously discourages sub-optimal approaches to dealing with encounters. Every character becomes a mission specialist, every adventure, an Operation, generally Gray or Black.
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If I'm playing: I start with a piece of art I like, then I try to match a character to it. Sometimes, I'll pick a class before I pick the art; while other times, I start with the picture.
If I'm the GM: I rebuild everything based on what the original adventure called for, updating with newer material where I see fit.
-Skeld
Mine is a little convoluted. I play solo*, so the adventures we play are decided as I build the character, and there is no time constraints in build time...
Usually I start with a mechanic or subsystem. I'll get a new class or entire subsystem (Spheres of Power, Path of War ect.) and get inspired and think I want to make a character using that.
Then my mind looks for other things that work with it - while at the same time coming up with background and personality. This is where broad character ideas solidify - gender, alignment,general idea of what kinds of abilities and feats to choose.
Then I start putting it on paper. As I do that, I also start browsing the internet for artwork. At this point, while basic structure and personality are basically set details are fluid - so I could be inspired by art and change something, or I come up with a great background detail, that changes mechanical specifics. This is also when we start looking at what adventures/path we want to run, and once that is settled, that guides the character specifics.
I talk with the wife (my solo GM) and talk about what I have, and she often inspires ideas.
Then I get down to final character write up with spell choices equipment and whatnot and begin to play.
* with solo play we use Gestalt and Mythic, and Ultimate Charisma - so a lot more mechanical planning and choices when I build.
My character design process depends on whether I'm actually building for a campaign or if I'm just theorycrafting a build for fun.
{Good explanation of campaign-inspired characters}{Good explanation of design-concept-inspired characters}
{. . .}
Pretty much your methods, but for the campaign-spawned ideas I often like to throw in a clash . . . But it's a clash that makes sense in a weird way, like for instance, for Second Darkness, a Drow who DOESN'T know much about Drow society down under, because she's surface-raised, and mom and dad were overprotective and wouldn't tell her much about their old home. This can lead to a mechanically suboptimal start, so I try to optimize hard from that point on to get something respectable -- no snowflake that is going to melt at the first hint of bad breath, but instead a carbide mineral lattice forged in the atmosphere of a dying star. By the way, artwork also influenced this character design -- I looked exhaustively through the avatar icons for Drow, and only one came close to fitting the personality and appearance I wanted, and it happened to be female, so there she is, instead of a he (also note that I had to split her Messageboards entry, because apparently Paizo Messageboards has a 65536(?) character limit for character sheets.)
I also have the other branch of character design, starting with a mechanical concept, such as a Halfling debuffing Witch making heavy use of Jinx (and it sounds like the upcoming Horror book is going to even have an alternate racial trait or feat for Halflings that makes them look like creepy dolls, being a perfect fit for this). Then I realized this would actually be pretty good both thematically and mechanically for Giantslayer -- especially for an all-Halfling or at least all Small + Dwarf party.
Haven't yet gotten the chance to put these into practice, though. Need to get past the combination of family medical emergencies, work emergencies, and delayed maintenance (including needing a new computer) first. (Last actual gaming was in the early 2000s, and mostly in the 1990s.)
^Speaking of which, the Messageboards Avatar Icons set could use some more variety. Last time I did an exhaustive check (which admittedly was quite a while ago), some concepts seem difficult, even when not doing anything nearly as weird as what I posted above -- for instance, Humans seem to be short on Icons for people who don't look like they came from Avistan, and some common Animals are also missing or in short supply, for instance needing a lot more types of dogs and cats, as well as other Animals commonly used for Familiars and Animal Companions.
Mechanics and role always come first for me. I pick a role I haven't played in awhile, then a class wthat meets that role, then I go look for cool mechanics to support that role. Personality comes last, designed to fit the character I've created.
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1) What does the party need so far? Often times the people with whom I play don't care about, or understand, solid party composition, so I'll wait and see. Typically, damage-dealing roles get picked up pretty quickly, so I'm usually left with Support or Control.
2) How can I fill my role in a way that fits the setting/campaign? I want my character to have an in-game reason for going on X/Y/Z adventure, or joining this group of ragamuffins, and thematic characters help me do just that.
3) Can I accomplish my role in a way that both fits the setting AND uses frequently unused mechanics by my group? I want to avoid stepping on toes, and also want to showcase the sheer variety that characters can have on a roleplaying AND mechanical level. Trip/Dirty Trick specialist that still does reasonable damage? That's Control out the wazoo. Bodyguard/Aid Another specialist for support? A cleric wishes he could heal the amount of damage I effectively heal/deal. I could even do that AS a cleric if I wished.
4) Can I do all of those things without invalidating other characters? Even if my other group members are quite suboptimal (which happens quite frequently), I want to allow them to do their thing without feeling obsolete. I avoid entirely playing the same class, and mechanically similar characters are avoided as well. It narrows down my options alot, especially when I really want to play a certain concept, but it forces me to think outside the box more, and helps everyone else feel important.
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- Figure out the class, and maybe the race
- Figure out how I want the character to fit into the campaign
- Play with archetypes and traits in Hero Lab. I'm not sure how much archetypes really help from a crunch point of view, and I do think for an archetype concept there are often better ways of building the character than to use the archetype, but they do help tailor the idea of a character, so I like them
- Think of a name (this is a big deal, in terms of importance the character, but usually quite quick)
- Write a short introduction from the character's perspective - for me this is the key thing - taking into account all the background generated by the chargen process. The usual focus is the character's earliest or most formative memories.
- Write a further more practical para on how the character looks, behaves etc. from an onlooker's point of view.
- Probably go round and revise a couple of times, but to be honest that tends to be more on fairly basic mechanical stuff, especially gear.
Introductions for some characters:
That was my mother, I think. A trophy from Taldor, sold in the Great Market. Bought by … someone. No, by something. By my father. A monster.
I never knew either of them. My mother died as I was born, covered in sigils and consumed in the fire, the fire that’s always been reserved for our kind. The priests did their best, observed every guidance, fulfilled the ritual of saving. Now, I might even walk in the sun. But such rituals can only ever save the child. The mother is always lost.
She was lost at the moment my father acquired her, perhaps at the moment the slavers took her from … from where? I like to think of some peaceful Taldan farm, perilously close to the Qadiran border, but bathed in temperate seasons, cycles of blossom, fruitfulness, leaf-fall and snow. I have never seen the snow.
I never knew my father, but I know his kind. Old and dry as the Qadir sands, faithless and feral, slaves - in their own way - to the hunger and the thirst, for blood.
The priests called me Jibril, for the angel. They taught me my nature. I am become an angel of death and undeath: a devout, determined, destroyer. This is my calling: to seek out these abominations, to destroy them, to defy them as they defy death itself.
That we may be slaves no more.
I know this: one parent, elven - long lived, graceful, wise; the other, human - brave, painfully mortal, impulsive. I knew neither. Nor did I know childhood friends, toys, pets. I woke that morning burned afresh, along with all about me.
I had acquaintances, of course. Small, dark wisps of smoke accompany me at all times, tugging and murmuring at my shoulder. Call me to spark, to smoulder, to smoke. Urge me, finally, to fire and flame.
In my dreams, I see them still, my parents: smiling tenderly at me, reaching out, for soft, peaceful moments. Then the sparks fall like rain, about them and upon them. The blaze devours them. Everything must eventually spiral into flame.
And thus we are consumed - before we wake.
The sudden realisation of being. In one movement he sits up, sloughing off the liquid in which he had bathed and been reborn. He is in some kind of cradle, in a clearing, in a wood. The cradle is the size of a fully grown human figure. His size. It’s traced in circuits, once glowing, now fading. There are whispers in the darkened trees beyond.
He pulls himself stiffly from the cradle onto the ground below. At the foot of the cradle, there are some simple clothes. He puts them on, slowly, first leggings, then a shirt and over that a rough smock. As he finishes pulling the smock over his head, he notices a figure nearby, emerged from the woods. Another apparently-human form. It wears a long cloak, but its face is visible. Circuits, like those on the cradle, trace across its face, suddenly glowing with fear and urgency. The figure screams:
RUN!
He runs, keeps running, behind him the sound of human voices, of horses, of hounds, of armour, of weapons. The woods are set afire. He continues to run.
Eventually, he finds himself by a river. Whoever else was with him in the wood is nowhere near. Only the sounds of animals and - in the distance - the sight of the smoke in the burning forest. All he has are rags. On the undershirt is a label, with a name and a number - Creon 17. He is, he decides, the next Creon.
He remembers the lean years. With the gangs on the Brevoy border, far away from the Technic League. Learning the bow, and how to concentrate on nothing but the kill. Seeing, time and again, the glowing circuits trace his own skin, mend and raise him when he was hurt. Seeing the fear and hatred this aroused in those he had thought to be his friends. Learning, ultimately, to hide, as best he could, his true identity.
If he stops concentrating, there are other memories, not his own - not quite, at least. Of long metal corridors, of windows onto nothing, of centuries of darkness. Of the things that dwell in the void beyond, that can creep as far as the windows and reach through them, that can take crewmen - or change them utterly - with a thought or a whim.
He believes in nothing but the memories. No gods for him. The memories hold a secret, the whispers of past lives form a pattern. There are answers in the woods, in the rivers, in the forgotten places. He’ll find those answers - all of them.
At night, in dreams, sometimes the voices haunt me. Hidden, shadowed, cloaked in an essence of darkness. I know then, that for all they seek, they seek me still; and I am, thereby, consoled.
Brother Caleb’s parting words hang in Jonas’ mind, as the gate to the shrine closes behind him and then slowly begins to shimmer from existence.
Thus far, Jonas has only known the Cult, the Belief. They call it many names: the Void that Binds; the True Abyss; the Inevitable Path. The master and his brothers must surely wake, must fall upon the world like a crashing wave from the stars, and what lies beyond the stars. And the world would finally be cleansed.
Before even he was born, Jonas, like his father before him, - and his father’s father, for untold generations - was given to Yog Sothoth. In that time, before he quickened, he was branded and shaped for the tasks that now lie ahead. He must find a way to the other side of the world. He must seek the secrets of the stars. And, through those secrets, the Cult, the Belief, would ascend, and finally touch the edges of the Void that has called to them for so long.
Jonas sighs, the weight of the task already heavy on his shoulders. But there is no going back. He pulls his cloak about him, picks up his backpack. And sets forth.
First, of course, there was Jonas. Kabius Synd’s younger brother had always been the one, in whom were vested the hopes, the desires and for that matter the future of the Cult. Jonas carried the bloodline. And Jonas had been given since birth to be the cult’s emissary to Numeria, where it was rumoured could be found some kind of stairway to the stars.
So Jonas was sent forth.
But nothing had been heard from Jonas in over two years. And so Kabius - who had no destiny of his own, but to protect the shrine, to walk its border, to defend the threshold - was sent in turn to seek out his brother, to recover whatever secrets Jonas has found. Perhaps to save Jonas and bring him home, or alternatively and if necessary to kill him for what he may have become.
Kabius gets to his knees as the portal shimmers out of existence behind him. The snow flurries around him, caught by the biting chill wind, so that it blows in circles about him as it falls. He smiles grimly at the omen, reaches beneath his cloak and takes out the wooden symbol that hangs from a slender cord around his neck. He raises it to his lips and kisses the black spiral that is carved upon it.
His life is nothing. Jonas’ life is nothing. There is only He Who Waits Beyond the Gate.
Kabius stands, picks up his pack, and - without ever looking back - sets out from the mountain, in search of his brother.
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Kabius came about when the GM said he wanted a divine caster to make up the group, not an arcane one. But neither of the Synd brothers were actually picked up, scions of elder gods being a step too far (and I didn't think it worked to change the deity). They lie in wait.
By the way, as a GM, I also typically write a (usually longer) prologue, partly for the benefit of the players (and it often binds the starting group into the story) and partly for my own, figuring out what threads and NPCs are going to be important to provide a degree of momentum. I generally spend a fair bit of time on this.
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For my last character I started by looking at the party: Human sorcerer, dwarf monk and gnome bard/wizard with rogue cohort. I reasoned that he party needed a tank or a divine spellcaster. Now the theme of the party would be evil thieves guild, so I might also need some stealth. I was thinking of something like an Inquisitor, but we're playing 3.5 so in the end I chose cleric 6/prestige ranger 13. (Yes, I started in a campaign that was running for 4 years at level 19.) Oversized two-weapon fighting allowed me to dual wield dwarven waraxes, and thanks to Practiced Spellcaster and Natural Bond my caster level and animal companion weren't that far behind.
I then chose the Far Hills as my home region. (We're playing in the Forgotten Realms.) This was mainly because the dwarves from the Far Hills are known to fly around on Dire Bats, but also because they live relatively near to the Dragon Coast, where the campaign takes place.
To summarize
1: What does the party need?
2: Build a frame for that role.
3. Add the fluff.
4. Add the last details based on the fluff.
Now sometimes, it works out a little different and I come up with a build in a different way. Sometimes I just start with a build and start justifying feats and weapon choices in a story based way. This works much the same way as the previous method.
Sometimes I come up with the fluff first and that makes it a bit harder to get a good build. In both cases it's a bit harder to get them to fit in the campaign.
Which actually makes me want to run a campaign based on the background of the characters for once. It should give the players more authority on the setting as they are the ones designing the world around them.
For example: "Bor Bliksembijl is a young dwarf who set out on an adventure to collect enough money for a dower so he can marry the daughter of the head of his clan. When he returns he finds his ancestral home packed with monsters, his clan gone and the thunder and lightning axe relics missing."
It sets up Bor as an adventurer, while it also reveals that there is a missing dwarven clan. The DM can then fill up the blanks, like the monsters that are roaming the dwarven settlement. It also provides at least 2 quests. Bor has to find his clan, and he has to clear his ancestral home of monsters. The relics could potentially be another quest, though they can also be part of the first quest. Either way, the DM could easily build A BBEG specifically to wield those relics.
I check out my fellow players and decide then on what to play. In the unlikely case that someone else plays a healer, I am always a bit unsure what to pick...Fighter/Rogue types mostly. If nobody does, I pick the oracle :)
I pick race and fluff depending on what I know about the campaign and thats it.
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^Speaking of which, the Messageboards Avatar Icons set could use some more variety. Last time I did an exhaustive check (which admittedly was quite a while ago), some concepts seem difficult, even when not doing anything nearly as weird as what I posted above -- for instance, Humans seem to be short on Icons for people who don't look like they came from Avistan, and some common Animals are also missing or in short supply, for instance needing a lot more types of dogs and cats, as well as other Animals commonly used for Familiars and Animal Companions.
Yes, very much agreed. It would also be in Paizo's interest, I think, for all the various NPCs in the scenarios/modules/APs to be represented.
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1) What do I want to play?
2) Scrap that, we need a Cleric (which is generally in my top 2 of things I wanted to play anyway, so that's no hardship!).
3) Pick a god, based on some arbitrary and sometimes contradictory combination of 'what gods do I totally love, thematically' and 'what gods will the GM let me play (no Urgathoa, Set!)' and 'what gods have domains or 'freebie' spells or favored weapons that I want' and 'what alignment do I want to play.'
4) Boring mechanical crap. Ooh, where will I put those two skill points a level? Toughness as my feat? Yes, probably. I don't even care. It's a Cleric. There are no must-have feats, and a whole heap of Archetypes that make you worse than if you didn't take them. Add two traits, buy a chain shirt and a Morningstar (or something cooler if you picked a god like Erastil, who lets you use a longbow!).
5) Frustrated writer-worthy backstory about how this dude (or lady) became a Cleric of X, that offers suggestions as to what they want for the future and what they are doing adventuring instead of being a stay at home village priest or temple sitter. Sample;
“My mother was pureblood Garundi, as was I, it seemed, and she would fiercely elbow aside other slaves when it came time to take our daily gruel, making sure that we both got fair portions. And then she would always give me extra from her own bowl, telling me that I must grow strong and tall to escape this life.”
“I have no knowledge of the years, but I was somewhere between a child and a man when her wishes came true, and I escaped the life of a field-slave, to a life more beautiful and terrible than she could ever have known. The agents of the Lords came in the night, as always, and selected a half-dozen of us, all young boys who had grown strong and tall despite the harsh conditions. We were brought before the Dark Lady, who never told us her name, not in the three years I ended up serving her.”
“We had to unlearn some things, and learn still others. A slave was never to avert his gaze from the Dark Lady’s face. She demanded that her slaves look her in the eye, and show no sign of fear or doubt, or, especially, anger or impatience. Two of us died absorbing such basic lessons, and over the next months, we quickly learned our place, and that we each were competition to the others, and that only one would survive at the end, breeding in us a fierce desperation to see the others fail and be slain, instead of ourselves.”
“I scarcely remember such days, as they were followed by years as the favorite, the Chalice of the Dark Lady. Other slaves might serve as Vessels, to slake her thirst from time to time, but only I slept in her chambers and brushed her hair and massaged scented oils into her cold flesh. While the other slaves wore white linen, for slaves were allowed no other color of cloth upon their frame, I was draped in snow-colored silks, often mere scarves and sashes, for the Lords and Ladies did enjoy the sight of bare flesh, and jewelry of flashing silver. While the other slaves fed upon bread and rice and thick beer, I was allowed the taste of meat, the flesh of swine and geese and lambs, seasoned with exotic spices and washed down with chilled wines and honeyed mead. The Lords and Ladies believed that they vicariously shared the tastes of these fine meals when they supped upon the blood of their Chalice, and who am I to discredit that belief? Perhaps a fine meal *does* enrichen the taste of the blood, and certainly the strong wines made the experience more bearable for the one serving as his master’s private larder…”
“Still, being the favored Vessel of a vampire is equal parts pain, as well as pleasure, as the Lords and Ladies had fearsome tempers, and my Dark Lady would carry a silken scarf of crimson, set with many tiny razors of obsidian, with which she would lash me when she had received distasteful news or her researches had gone poorly or merely when the savage mood came upon her. A Chalice, or any slave, for that matter, was forbidden to turn away in these times, and to do so, or raise an arm in defense, was a death-sentence, and a painful one at that. While my back remains untouched by the scars of the lash, where one would expect a slave to be beaten, my chest and stomach still have many fine scars where the obsidian razors snagged and dug deep.”
“I remember a time when she had received a social upset from a hated rival, and she beat me so long that the tiny obsidian razors had been shaken from the silk or dislodged within my flesh, and in the end she was just slapping me with a blood-drenched length of silk, growing ever more furious at her inability to inflict more punishment. I had to gently take the silk from her and go to her chambers to bring a fresh lash, razors intact, so that she could continue, but I had lost so much blood that I fell unconscious on the way back, only to awaken later in her chambers, to her gently removing the obsidian shards from my skin, and lapping at the blood that welled up.”
“But all things must end, and my time as Chalice came to an end when those damned Vudran slaves were brought into market. Other Lords and Ladies swore by their dusky taste and heady blood, and even imported Vudran chefs to prepare strongly-spiced meals in the Vudran style, which the Lords believed only strengthened the rich taste of Vudran blood. At great expense, my own Dark Lady purchased a half-dozen Vudran slaves, never one to be left behind the fashions of the times, and I helped to train them to learn their place, and, in so doing, to take my place. I knew that I would be discarded, and thought that my sentimental Lady would drain me completely, and then have my body burned, as was sometimes the way with favored Chalices.”
“While she was away, trying to acquire the services of a Vudran chef, I prayed for deliverance, to Urgathoa, the goddess praised by my Dark Lady, for I knew of no other. I filled a bowl of bone with my own blood, and smeared it on the walls outside of the small slave chamber I had usurped for this private purpose. As I intended, flies were soon drawn to the scent of blood, and were enticed into the room as well, swarming around the bowl of blood. I prayed, my stomach heavy with the strong meal and stronger drink I had consumed, ritually feasting in the tradition of the Pallid Princess, and my deliverance came when an uncontrollable urge came upon me. I snatched and seized at the flies buzzing around me, fattened on my own blood, and forced them down my own throat, consuming them in return, as they had fed from me. I remember draining my own blood from the bowl and cleaning the room, hiding all evidence of my ritual, and staggering out into the public areas, where I collapsed in a feverish state.”
“My Dark Lady returned to find me flush with sickness, and would not feed from me in that state. She ordered her new Vudran Vessels to wrap me in linen and hurl me into the streets, lest I infect them with my sickness, and that was the last I saw of that life.”
“The next days were a blur as I was always running, always hungering, always desperate and fearful of the uncertain future. The light of the sun blinded me, as I had not seen it for over three years, and I huddled in an alleyway, with garbage pulled up over myself, until the night came. My belly ached with hunger, as I had purged it several times during the day, and purged the fever as well. All that I could find was discarded waste, fragments of bone and spoiled vegetables, and I prayed once again to Urgathoa, stuffing my face with this foul fare. She answered my prayers, and I watched as spoiled food became, if not fresh, at least edible, within my hands, and I recognized that I had indeed been delivered through her blessings.”
“I traveled north, secure in my ability to transform famine into feast, devouring rotting carcasses of animals lost in the desert, or the bitter flesh of the cactus. When I thirsted, I found that I could but pray for water, and it would begin to flow from my hands like a river. It was in Osirion that I first contacted priests of the Pallid Princess, and learned of the many other blessings that she could bestow upon me.”
“But even Osirion proved to be unwelcoming to a pale stranger who bore the marks of being a servant of the walking dead, and a slave besides, and upon overhearing a few traveling companions remarking that I could fetch a decent price at market, if they were short on coin, I fled again, taking the first ship I found north. I used the prayers I had learned to purify the foodstuffs and drink of the merchantmen I found myself beholden to, and so earned my berth, as they sailed to Korvosa.”
“I was in Korvosa less than a day, hearing on the docks of the blot in the skies of Riddleport, and realizing that whatever force could blot the sun from the sky would be the answer to a vampire Lord’s prayers, and that if I ever wanted to become a Lord myself, I would have no better chance to locate a new Dark Lord to serve, here in the barbaric north, where one who was once a slave might yet become a Lord himself.”
6) Name. Generally an afterthought.
7) Find a picture. Either tailor backstory to suit the picture (easiest) or try to find a picture that works with the backstory (hardest, I've changed character race and gender just to match a good picture!).
Note: I almost never play 'builds' that 'come online' after a number of levels. I want to have fun *now* and am genetically incapable of deferring gratification until level X. Too many superhero games have spoiled me. I don't want to fly at level 5. I want to fly *now.* And so I tend to design 1st level characters that have abilities I want to use right out of the box. By 8th level, the character might not be as awesome as someone who suffered for several crap levels to get all their feats and level dips and whatnot in a row, but I had fun getting there, and there's little to stop my 8th level character from stepping in front of a charging bulette and my getting to write up a new 8th level character who skips all that boring prerequisite nonsense. :)
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This topic has made me realize how long since I created a PC for myself. I have been creating NPCs lately. The last PC I designed was Gaspar, a human alchemist, whose origin was that I wanted to try out the Alchemist class in the newly published Advanced Player's Guide. Before Gaspar was Abu, a gnome ranger, who I created to see what playing a Pathfinder gnome was like.
As illustrated above, my PCs are motivated by my curiosity. I start with a class or race I want to explore, and I fill out the character from there. Abu was a gnome in Rise of the Runelords, which started in Sandpoint, Varisia. He was probably from Sanos Forest. The information in Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting merely said that the gnomes of Sanos Forest were guarding a secret, so Abu was a young innocent who did not know the secret. I dreamed up the culture at the edge of the forest, and that defined Abu's ambitions. He was an idealistic young gnome who wanted to see the world, so he became a ranger so he could travel. Curiosity could be represented by above-average Intelligence, despite that attribute not being associated with an optimized ranger.
Later I made NPCs, for Rise of the Runelords (I took over as GM and retired Abu at 8th level), for Jade Regent, and for Iron Gods. Three of them were GMPCs: they started as background NPCs defined in the adventure, and I had to flesh them out so that they could join the party. The most recent was Val Baine. The plot hook for Fires of Creation, the first module in Iron Gods, is that the wizard Khonnir Baine is missing and the party is offered a reward to find him. Val Baine is his sympathetic 13-year-old daughter. But two PCs, Elric and Boffin, took the Local Ties trait that made them friends of Khonnir and Val. Fitting them in skewed the timeline so that Val aged to 17. And when the town council suggested that the three-member party gain some more help, the party invited Val, because she deserved a chance to search for her father. I had to construct Val as (1) a daughter of a wizard, (2) Kellid (barbarian) ethnicity, (3) friend of two party members, and (4) based on what she had done already. She became a bloodrager with the Unpredictable trait for a high Bluff check and a homebrew archetype that gave her cantrips. She thought that she was casting cantrips from her apprentice wizard's spellbook, but really it was bloodline magic. She is still in the party at 8th level, acting like a perky gunslinger barbarian.
Other NPCs arose to fill in gaps. The party needed information on a haunted valley in Scrapwall, so I created Lost, an human occultist. She guarded her secrets very carefully, hence she was hiding in Scrapwall, but had a Spirit Purge spell that let her safely loot in the haunted valley. The party needed a trustworthy guide, so I created Mrs. Fisby, a ratfolk rogue. The party's ally Redtooth assigned her to guide the party on a stealthy mission, and she kept running errands for them afterwards. The party needed some fun at a beer festival, so I created Dewey, a human brawler. A former gladiator who ended up in Scrapwall by mischance, he liked to challenge festival goers to a fistfight for fun and betting. The party needed a pilot for their spaceship (our Iron Gods campaign has gone extreme), so I created DW5, an expert robot, later renamed Dwalin by dwarf Boffin. This geological-survey robot was recovered by the Lords of Rust in their recent excavations, mistook Boffin for an Androffan captain due to Boffin's access card, and found Boffin a better boss than the Lords of Rust.
For these characters, I start with their role in the story, figure out what kind of person would fulfill that role in an interesting manner, and construct that person using whichever Pathfinder races, classes, archetypes, and feats I can cobble together.
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I only really play for PFS, so I never know what kind of game or party I will have. Except that we're fighting humans more often than anything else. So, I'll pick a concept for a character, then do searches on Herolab and Nethys for everything related to that concept. Throw it all on a character and see what fits. Then start cropping things down until I can fit it into a leveling scheme.
Since PFS ends after level 11, I generally have a character's entire progression planned out before they ever get played. I'll revise as I go along, but always have a plan for where I'm going.
Then I start making art for the character, and put it onto a useful table tent with the most important stats on the back.
Let's see, the concepts I've used so far:
1. Dex based fighter - how can I get the most dex and dex-to-damage? Mutagen, urban rage, dervish dance bard, agile elven curve blade, 2 levels ranger to get power attack with low strength...
2. High-damage per shot muskets. Musket master + inquisitor
4. high shots per round. Pistolero, 2 double-barreled pistols, white-haired witch for reloading.
5. Negative energy channeling
6. Cold caster
7. Storm Kindler's whirlwind ability. bloodrage, monk, wild shape into huge.
8. Scattershot-magus.
9. intimidation. Thug rogue, 2 orders of cockatrice, rest in inquisitor
10. positive channel
11. offensive transmutation spells. Bonuses to touch attacks.
12. Only one level in any class. Must be classes with good first level abilities that synergize well.
17. Sneak attack
18. Adjacent pistol attacks. Gulch gunner, swashbuckler parry, armor class.
19. Mounted charger
20. Ray specialist
21. Always flying. This one's build was actually inspired entirely by a chronicle sheet from a specific scenario. I had been planning on making an always flying character, and the scenario granted a rocket-pack, and a chainsaw. So the character became entirely about being able to make the most use of those items and then got the GM credit to earn them.
I think we can all agree, we need new avatar images. If only to keep me occupied so I don't crank out another 20 aliases out of boredom. :-)
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This is assuming I'm making a character for a campaign (not just making one for fun).
1. Grill the GM for information on everything.
2. Remember that I can't make a sorcerer because this one girl in my group Never. Stops. Playing. Sorcerer.
3. Start making a character that makes sense for the setting, what we're doing, etc.
4. Finish making the character mechanically.
5. Choose a name and appearance related stuff.
6. Find out no one can heal.
7. Make another healing cleric/oracle/whatever so we don't die horribly.
8. Choose a name and appearance related stuff.
9. Write their backstory and a description of their appearance.
10. Be sad and bored.
1. Basic concept. Who the hell am I going to pretend to be? Where are they from, what do they hate, what do they love, all that stuff. Generally informed by basic campaign background- if we're all supposed to be loyal members of the Church of the Flying Purple Hippo, then my "madman who likes beating people to death with the severed wings of flying purple hippos" concept should probably wait.
2. See what everybody else is making.
3. Pick a class/race combination that lets me run with my concept while not being exactly what everyone else has. For Strange Aeons, I'll be running a somewhat loopy, mystically inclined lady who takes a lot of notes and relies upon magic for defense, so she's probably not going to be a fighter, as an example.
4. Mechanical choices within the class/race selected that reflect the concept while not being actively useless. Optimization is never something I worry about (especially since we roll, rather than point-buy, so things get a little crazy sometimes), except insofar as my character's primary stat probably shouldn't be their dirt-worst, and forcing the restof the party to carry you around is just rude (unless that's the idea and everyone's okay with it).
5. Play character until they either die or the campaign ends.
6. Start over.
What is everyone else playing if they have decided, pick something I like that can keep the group somewhat balanced, are there any specific mechanics I like/recently found out about?
Also for my kingmaker campaign, I used the character builder and really enjoyed the back story that resulted.
He's a half orc, 4th child of 7,royal bloodline, struck out to find his own glory, currently the leader (can't remember what rank kingmaker starts you as, baron? ) and he's a barbarian. He was kidnapped by slavers as a child, and took the vengeance story feat, so the GM made the boss of the first book that slaver.
For a campaign, I grab something out of the drawer.
For creation, I find an interesting ability or combination or trick or gimmick or whatever, and build a character around that. After that I fill in a backstory.
Sometimes I choose a traditional character class that I haven't played in the current edition yet. Sometimes I choose a new character class I have ever played before. Sometimes I have a cool figurine I am painting and design the character around that. Obviously, party composition plays a part in everything.
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I see what the group needs(from my standpoint - I do not talk to players within the game on what they need as I feel I am a better judge of what's missing then most people in the forums. Not to mention no one tells me what to do, if I decide to fill the group gap, it will be on my terms-not the way the group thinks I should play). I may consider asking people I know and trust in RL what they think of my character choice, but never the group I will be playing with in question.
I.e if someone in the group asks for a rogue, they will get anything but a rogue. Like they might get an urban ranger, investigator, or seeker oracle. If they ask for a cleric, they might end up with a witch, shaman or oracle instead. If they ask for a bard, they'll probably end up with an evangelist cleric, sensei monk, or exemplar (brawler archtype).
Then I'll think about what classes would best cover the group gap, read the AP guide, then decide with the AP guide which of my earlier choices are the best fit, then start filling in backstory, fluff and all that.
I generally create characters for fun before I join any specific campaigns. First, I usually decide what I want to play mechanically. Is there some specific combination of feats/classes/skills that I want to try? Then I think about what kind of a person would have these skills, and flesh out a character from there with a detailed backstory.
Then, when I go to possibly join a campaign, I look at the characters I've built for one that would fit well from a backstory perspective, and tweak them slightly to make them fit in.
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1. "What mechanical space do I want to play around in?"
2. "Ok, that space sucks. What other spaces are there?"
3. Fall down the character creation rabbit hole for several days.
4. "Alright, I suppose I can work with this."
5. "Ok, I've got a basic shtick. What sort of personality traits do I associate with each element of that shtick?"
6. "Given those personality traits, what mechanical elements become relevant?"
7. "Did I do that right? Maybe I should start over in another mechanical design space."
8. Repeat from 3.
Either I see interesting mechanics I want to try and then create character concepts that fit them... Or I think of an interesting character concept and then find the mechanics that fit it best... Class names be damned!
I start with a rough concept and a piece of cool artwork and work my way up from there.
- Appearnce & concept
- Name and personality
- backstory
- Game mechanics
I'm not saying I don't optimize, or make deliberate choices not to do so, but mechanics are the last thing I do when building a character. Rule of Cool & Concept tend to take priority over optimization if there is a direct conflict between the two.
It absolutely kills me how bad the mechanically horrible the stat line is for the double chained kama. I have artwork and a long standing character concept, but even I have a line I cannot cross :(
In general;
1) First things first: I roll up my stats.
My group rolls stats. 4d6/drop lowest. Repeat 7 times & keep 6 of them. Arrange as you please.
This gets done at the gaming table along side the other players.
2) We discuss the coming campaign/setting/etc & whatever sources we can use.
Sometimes we discuss character ideas. Many times we don't. The group I play with doesn't have any concerns about duplicating somebodies role/class/whatever. Almost any race/class/option is a go. The only restriction is that whatever you pick has to fit the campaign/setting
3) I look at the stats I've rolled & consider what classes they'd support.
I also consider what I haven't played, or played recently. I don't like to play the same type of character over & over.
Then I take steps 1-3 & mull them over in my head for a few days.
We only play every other week, so I've got some time.
When I've got an idea I write it up (no stats) & email it to the DM.
sometimes he'll have feedback I need to take into account, other times all I get is "OK".
4) Filling in the character sheet, picking feats, picking spells, etc.
5) Now I'll write up a short bio of the character. (this actually starts forming back in step 2)
6) Find appropriate miniature. :)
1) Find a picture that creates a muse.
2) Give the muse a class based on the muse's character and backstory.
3) Wait for a good campaign to throw the muse in.
4) Roll for stats.
5) Make minor adjustments before the game starts.