Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Most of the feedback I've received has been: "It takes too long to create a character."

So, what do players typically want?

Cop out answer? It depends.

Over the years I’ve done pretty much every option. 3d6 straight down, stat arrays, lifepath flow charts, point buy. There are advantages to all of them.

One thing about randomness is that it pushes you out of your comfort zone. Your character might not be exactly what you had planned, role play that. As someone who’s been gaming for a long time, this is nice to push me out of ruts. Downside is that some bum rolls on character creation night will haunt you for the rest of the campaign. You can also get some pretty bad power discrepancies in the party.

Fixed stat arrays gives your characters some strengths and weaknesses, and prevent the worst of min/maxing. But might not fit every character concept.

Point buy give you the most flexibility, but at the potential for abuse.

These days I think I prefer the array system.

(for D&D and pathfinder cored systems)

Rules light systems, like Savage Worlds or Cypher, there are less moving parts. Slap a few choices around, and start playing. Good for one shots. But also robust enough for longer games.

Complicated systems like Rolemaster or Champions have the appeal of being able to dial your character in exactly how you like. I particularly like the puzzle-like fun of designing powers in champs. But they are high grit systems where how well you know the system has more of an impact on your character then what they are supposed to be. So party power can be all over the place. In my last gaming group one of the players refused to play Rolemaster unless someone else helped her with her characters. Which was entirely reasonable.

--

As someone who primarily identifies as a wargamer vs. a roleplayer I have no problem pouring over the rules and options and taking my time to make a character. I enjoy the crunch. But for a lot of roleplayers the mechanics are just something that gets in the way of them playing their characters. And I agree with that more these days. While I like the crunch, sometimes you just want to play fast and loose. I’d rather be swinging from the chandeliers then counting 5’ squares to see if I can make the move.

If you're looking at how to create a system for RPG character generation, and the feedback is that people dislike the time investment, then I would interpret this as people wanting to start gaming as soon as possible.

I would recommend perhaps a "make as you go" style, where everyone gets a generic character, they have an idea in their head of what they are like, and then look at how they can build their character over the first session - sort of like the tutorial level in some games, where your abilities don't work until it's time to learn them.

How exactly does this work? I don't know. It's an idea, not a finished product. It will require that the system doesn't need too many careful decisions to make good characters, probably a standard array of stats, or a point-buy where every time you do a thing, you can spend one or two points being better at it. So you all start (using D&D) as 10 in each stat. When you are presented with a locked door, if you aim to kick it down, you can spend points improving strength, whereas if you try to pick the lock, you can spend points on Dex. That way, your character's skills will grow as you use them.

Spells might be similar - you lock the spell in as the choice the first time you use it. So a Wizard knows 3 cantrips, say, and the first time they say "I cast firebolt", the spell is locked in - they know it now, and the slot is used.

This would require either a very clear presentation of your options, or players who know this system well. I imagine that if you made an RPG around this concept, the spells could be presented in a way which makes it simple.

Levelling up might be similar, in this new system - you get points to spend on abilities, and can choose to unlock them at the time that you use them, so that you don't choose one thing then discover you would have preferred the other when it comes up.

I agree. Concentrate on the backstory, get playing as quickly as possible, personalise the stats while the game is already running, through progression systems. Little or no personalisation, tweaking and crunching numbers at the start is probably best.

Especially as a time consumming character creation process may easily prove to be time wasted as campaigns may fizzle out early for a variety of reasons, in- and out-game (as I have experienced many times).

Lifepath. I ADORE lifepath systems, I have ever since I first saw Traveller in the late 80s.

in that system you start at 16 and have one or more 4 year "terms of service" where you do particular jobs (that you may or may not qualify for based on your skills and stats) and roll for events that may give you additional skills or equipment or injuries and stuff like that

After 4 years you choose whether to stop character creation or you keep going, either in the same career or switch careers, and you keep going like that

So the same group can either have a 20-year-old single-term rookie or a grizzled retired vet with a long career behind him who has picked up some battle scars, or someone who has jumped around careers and picked up an eclectic mix of skills from the various places he's served.

That's not the only way to do lifepaths but I love it as a method builds your backstory along with the character

IMHO:

That is a correlation between the "lethality" and the "complexity" of character creation. The higher the lethality of a game, the easier it should be to make a character.

I also tend to think that character creation should naturally lead to role-playing opportunity. I.e. character beats, arc, traits can all be built into character design process. You will want to have sections that force people beyond the numbers of the character.

Thanks. I'm modifying my Character Creation to incorporate these ideas.

I have "classes" that only exist in character creation. After your Operative is complete you can customize your character into whatever you like through upgrading skills and gaining qualities.