Results 1 to 11 of 11
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2017-12-08, 10:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2017
Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
I'm starting to feeling like this forms are huge waste of time. I was making characters for games often based on homebrews or setting, then it turns out that DM doesn't pick that character. Perchaps when I build up huge pail of then I will be able to just throw them into a new games coming up but untill then.. it feels bad..
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2017-12-08, 03:14 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Gender
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
Are you talking about characters you made for play-by-post games that were not selected by the person running the game?
If so, I'm inclined to agree from my own personal experience (not on GitP, but on other websites), that it's largely a waste of time. Even if your character is chosen for the game, The majority of PbP games either never get off the ground, or peter out due to someone not being able to keep up with posting in a timely fashion. There are exceptions of course, but those that do last tend to have the same players, so they aren't the ones that put out open calls. I don't think there's any way to predict whether a PbP game will last when you're first submitting a character.
As for what to do with the characters, I can think of a couple possibilities:
1. keep them on file and try applying to more games with them, refining the character concepts as needed to fit what those DMs are asking for.
2. make your own game and populate the world with the characters you've already created.
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2017-12-08, 03:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2017
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
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2017-12-08, 03:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Gender
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2017-12-08, 05:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
- Location
- San Francisco Bay area
- Gender
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
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That's exactly right, having a "stable" of PC's "ready-to-go" increases your chances to be picked, as the faster you can submit one the more likely it is that your PC will be accepted.
Here's some general advice on PbP gaming that while not true for every game is close enough to true that it may be of some use:
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2017-12-08, 05:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2017
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
thanks for a guide, it make ie sound like there it's no fun to play at all. Yet aside from metagaming/psychogaming it's what seems natural to do
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2017-12-08, 07:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Gender
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2017-12-10, 03:25 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2015
- Location
- San Francisco Bay area
- Gender
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
Sorry if I gave that impression, as I do find the playing fun (else I wouldn't bother), but I do find applying to play, and a lot of character creation tiresome.
FWLIW here are the PbP games that I've played most recently:
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2017-12-21, 10:18 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
I've had a similar dilemma. There were some characters I had in mind for fantasy RPGs that for whatever reason just didn't work. Not so much that I didn't think they worked as characters, just that they didn't work as game characters.
I started drawing a minicomic for a friend starring these reject characters instead. I hope to have three, or at least one issue done by her birthday in Febuary. (Wish me luck!) Anyway, if you're considering doing something like comics, short stories, novellas or whatnot, your characters might work OK for those.
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2017-12-22, 08:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Location
- Dallas, TX
- Gender
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
I design characters as a joint project with the GM. By the time he's firmed up, I've asked the GM about every decision not in the most basic set of rules, tried to get my character tied into the GM's world, and asked for advice on which skills or options fit in well with the GM's plans.
A character designed without GM input is the one most likely to not be compatible with the game, or the world, or the GM's approach.
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2017-12-23, 04:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2017
- Location
- England
- Gender
Re: Characters I never got to use, what to do with them>?
As someone who has designed more characters than I have played games of D&D my advice is to do something with them, whether it’s draw them, write about them, or generally give them a nice backstory. (I will admit to writing a description of two of my D&D characters in an exam once) If you like a character it’s a nice way to keep them alive till you get a chance to use them in a game. Keep a file or list of characters (or character concepts) that you want to use and if you need a new character use one of them.
That’s my opinion on the matter anywayOodles of doodles of doodles of oodles