Comments on: Better Characters through Career Planning http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.php Never Adventure Alone Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:02:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: sixinchmoth http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.php/comment-page-1#comment-49 sixinchmoth Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:38:00 +0000 http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.html#comment-49 Ideally, there ought not to be a conflict betwixt being "real" to the character in the session and having a character with a clear and effective plan. Stupid Ranger (if I may presume to speak for our dear host) and I have at various times in the last couple campaigns played characters whose concept of character (back-story, personality, etc) was so clear there was a real sense of plan with these characters, but also they were (and are) firmly grounded in role playing. Ideally, there ought not to be a conflict betwixt being “real” to the character in the session and having a character with a clear and effective plan. Stupid Ranger (if I may presume to speak for our dear host) and I have at various times in the last couple campaigns played characters whose concept of character (back-story, personality, etc) was so clear there was a real sense of plan with these characters, but also they were (and are) firmly grounded in role playing.

]]> By: Stupid Ranger http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.php/comment-page-1#comment-48 Stupid Ranger Thu, 06 Sep 2007 23:12:00 +0000 http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.html#comment-48 I haven't been keeping up with the 4E announcements much... I would prefer to be surprised myself.<br/><br/>In our group, we have had some bad luck with characters developed purely on a roleplaying premise; while fun, they didn't have the same abilities most characters had of the same level and made things somewhat difficult at time.<br/><br/>I personally don't consider career planning to be min-maxing; I strive to develop a balanced character that's fun to play. And for me, having some goal like a prestige class really helps me stay in character. I haven’t been keeping up with the 4E announcements much… I would prefer to be surprised myself.

In our group, we have had some bad luck with characters developed purely on a roleplaying premise; while fun, they didn’t have the same abilities most characters had of the same level and made things somewhat difficult at time.

I personally don’t consider career planning to be min-maxing; I strive to develop a balanced character that’s fun to play. And for me, having some goal like a prestige class really helps me stay in character.

]]> By: Adaen of Bridgewater http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.php/comment-page-1#comment-42 Adaen of Bridgewater Thu, 06 Sep 2007 03:16:00 +0000 http://www.stupidranger.com/2007/08/better-characters-through-career-planning.html#comment-42 Though I do this myself, I view the need for the whole "career planning" methodology to be one of the biggest short-comings of D&D 3E. It leaves a big gap between character development decisions that one makes for "role-playing reasons" and those made for "character effectiveness". Making too many purely "role-playing" character development decisions usually results in a pretty crappy character who lags behind characters who are carefully planned out. Call it min-maxing, or whatever, but it is very much encouraged by the design of the core d20 system. I wonder how 4E will work to address this....<br/><br/>~AoB Though I do this myself, I view the need for the whole “career planning” methodology to be one of the biggest short-comings of D&D 3E. It leaves a big gap between character development decisions that one makes for “role-playing reasons” and those made for “character effectiveness”. Making too many purely “role-playing” character development decisions usually results in a pretty crappy character who lags behind characters who are carefully planned out. Call it min-maxing, or whatever, but it is very much encouraged by the design of the core d20 system. I wonder how 4E will work to address this….

~AoB

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