Characters
Introduction
OK, so you have an idea on what kind of campaign you want to run, rates of
advancement, wealth, the world and so on. On to a very important part of the
game, probably the most important, the characters. In a way this section also
covers the players. As far as characters go you as the DM have some decisions
to make. In general, it does not really matter how powerful the characters
are by way of stats. After all, as a DM, you can control the world and do
anything you want with them. Since you have this essentially unlimited capability
anyway, you have to realise that DM'ing a game is not a contest. Despite wanting
to give the impression that you will kill characters if they do something
stupid, your only jopb is to present the world the way it is, with all it's
challenges for the PC's. Together with the players you will weave a tale,
one that you probably had not expected either.
The Characters
One of the things you do want to keep track of however is that all the characters
are comparatively just as powerful. It creates envy and displeasure within
the group if one of the PC's handles every situation because they can do anything
at all. You want to present situations to challenge every different character.
In preparing for your campaign it's a good idea to give the players general
guidelines on what kind of characters you want. A Ranger/Barbarian character
is not going to have fun for very long in a politically based urban campaign,
while beautiful Bards and Rogues are much more at home in a setting like that.
Likewise a group built around influencing people and flashiness is going to
be annoyed by constantly battling undead, because there's no emotion in it.
Their enemies do not react to them with any sort of complexity which is generally
annoying when you play characters that have a strong social buildup.
Character
Creation
You have a pretty good idea of your campaign by now, roughly how long it will
run, how fast the players will acquire magic items, money and experience.
You also know the general flavour, the recurring adversaries they are likely
to come across. Taking this into account it may be a good idea to use these
basic ideas to put together guidelines. Stuff like, which alignments are allowed,
a rough idea whether for instance magic, roleplaying or combat oriented and
so on. Balancing the party with someone from each profession may seem like
a good idea, but on the other hand, a obvious lack in the group buildup will
create oppurtunities for you as a DM to challenge them with relatively simple
problems. A group without significant magical ability has a serious problem
with a raging river for instance, even if they are 20th level.
Oddities
If a player wants to play a weird combination which doesn't make sense to
you, demand an extensive character history. You want to know how this oddity
came to be and if the player comes up with a good story, which also indicates
clearly how he or she will be playing this character by all means do allow
it. There are a few things you want to weigh up first though.
1. Is this character being put together as an interesting roleplaying concept,
or is it just a powergaming thing? Bear in mind that even a powergaming thing
can be forced into an interesting playing concept with enough character history.
But, that depends on the player. If the wood elven ranger suddenly starts
trying on suits of magical full plate... well, there's likely to be something
wrong. Feel free to have a character ostracised if they start behaving strangely.
There is only one judge in the game, and that's you, the DM. Don't abuse this
power, but being the DM means you have to make judgement calls on what's going
on in the game on every level.
2. What will be the effect on the rest of the party? How will this character
fit in, if at all and will the game stay playable. You are the DM, the boss,
and you are free to disallow a character without reason. In the interests
of harmony however, it's often a good idea to give grounds for your decision
though. Now, playability is a valid ground. If you don't think a character
will fit in to the group, the campaign or the world, disallow it.
3. Will this character still be fun to play in 10 levels? This is an interesting
problem, and it limits the "playable" characters alot. If you intend
to have the players play the same characters throughout the campaign, then
it's an important point. This isn't critical ofcourse, as you can see in the
"Character Trees" section below.
Character
Trees
This is a means to allow a greater variety of characters in your game. It
allows more extreme characters to be played which are more specifically suited
to various situations. However, it's a very difficult thing to juggle. Getting
all these characters interacting in the same world is a very difficult thing.
Also getting the players to play their characters truly independent of one
another is extremely difficult. This is a solution which can be misused just
as much as what it can potentially add to the game. I only really recommend
it for experienced, role-playing oriented players. In our games we use a number
of house rules which also cover the subject of Character Trees. You can download
a copy of these rules here (Word 2k
format).
Characters
vs. NPCs
If you make the choice to have NPC's traipsing around your campaign world
together with the PC's then it is important the NPC's don't consistently upstage
the PC's. While it can serve a valuable purpose to create a situation where
the PC's understand that they are in over their heads and they can go on an
adventure to find the guy who can do it, remember that the PC's are the heroes.
Having a 9th level NPC thief messing around in a 5th level party, means that
the PC thief is consistently upstaged... at least, unless the NPC thief has
some reason to stay in the background. Stay on guard for this. Don't let NPC's
steal the show. If they're evil, the bad guys it's a different matter ofcourse.
Use every oppurtunity to impress upon the PC's how badass their enemies are.
Conclusion
Right, that's the basic primer on characters, on what to allow and what not
to. It also offers some ideas on dealing with various character problems.
As with all aspects of DM'ing... what you want to remember is that it's your
game and you are the boss. You decide what happens and if you don't like the
way the game is going you're going to have to act and fix it.