Characters these days..., what happened to the intent Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Slymoon]

After being here for abit, (been Lurking for years) and reading about character builds and discussions, there seems to be an uncomfortable reality.

Characters seem to be built for the 'best build' syndrome. Everything is optimized 'why use X when you could use Y and be better for less'. It becomes an exercise in mathmatics, a formula, instead of building a character with a background that may actually not be built perfectly.

This may be just a forum based issue or may be brought on by conventions. The characters start epitomizing MMORPG character builds where the build of the month is based on what patches have done, or what spell, skill, combo, class is top of the damage charts.

Is this how characters are built in your games? Are all adepts based on 1 loss of magic for some bioware because mathmatically it costs less BPs and you get more?

What happened to the, 'I want to build Joe who is pure of mind and body and be damned what is mathmatically better'.

[Stahlseele]

in SR3 a 6 in any skill was good enough, because of combat and other pools to help with the important ones and knowledge skills being useable as bonus dice on those where the pools do not help . . and artwinkulation did give +1 dice to MANY skills . . and don't forget the very important difference of adjustable TARGET NUMBER . . even with a skill of 1, if you can drop the target number to, let's say 2 . . you can use 2 dice with an appropriate pool to roll one frigging 2 . . and that's pretty much likely i think . . if you are required to roll 3 successes with the TN of 2? well, crap . . no way if you ain't got no karma to spend/use . . another thing . . people complain about players making their characters up to bee GOOD at what they do . . one COULD consider this as good roleplaying more or less, because in the shadows, you are good at what you do, or you are nothing pretty soon . . from an in character point of view it STILL makes sense to get every last ounce of use out of available ressources, because it might mean that you get to live another day . .

[It trolls!]

. . another thing . . people complain about players making their characters up to bee GOOD at what they do . . one COULD consider this as good roleplaying more or less, because in the shadows, you are good at what you do, or you are nothing pretty soon . . from an in character point of view it STILL makes sense to get every last ounce of use out of available ressources, because it might mean that you get to live another day . .

I know I might sound repetitive, but good roleplaying is not tied to how good a character is at his job, but rather that his sheet is plausible and he's well-played. There are certain standards that I find apply universally, like "Don't squeeze BP from Allergies to Mars rocks or Incompetence: Nautic Mechanic in a desert campaign" and some details that vary from GM to GM. But people who tell you that your character has to be severely gimped for good roleplaying to ensue, are just elitist jerks. No more, no less.

[Vegetaman]

I know I might sound repetitive, but good roleplaying is not tied to how good a character is at his job, but rather that his sheet is plausible and he's well-played. There are certain standards that I find apply universally, like "Don't squeeze BP from Allergies to Mars rocks or Incompetence: Nautic Mechanic in a desert campaign" and some details that vary from GM to GM. But people who tell you that your character has to be severely gimped for good roleplaying to ensue, are just elitist jerks. No more, no less.

Severely gimped? No way. But everything in moderation. You have to find the balance between ultimate killing machine and fun to role play. Generic mass murderer elite #9013483843 has been run into the ground. Everybody tries to be a badass, but how many badasses are there really? It takes some good planning and role playing to make a truly badass character. IMO. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)