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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 3:00PM
#1
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Date Joined:
Sep 16, 2006
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I'm anticipating running a one-shot of GW next week, and I've become worried about logistics. Specifically, how long does character creation take with only 1 book at the table? How do people interact with their Novice Powers?--there isn't enough room on the sheet to write out what they do, and with only 1 book, it seems power-lookup could take forever.
So how has this worked in your games? Any tips? Thanks!
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 3:06PM
#2
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2008
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I put together a quick 4-page printout with character creation rules on it. Then I printed out the half-sheet origins. Creation time took about an hour since there were a lot of questions about different things from both a non-gamer and D&D 4e perspective. I would just go to your local copy shop, photocopy the pages of your book with the relevant tables needed based on the "Making Characters" steps. And get the origin half-sheets printed. Unfortunately, I had to print off a bunch of the half-sheets because I was expecting 7-8 people to show up and needed enough in case the dice were screwy and everyone started off as a cockroach  You could provide a deck of cards with 2 copies of each origin (3x5 index cards should work fine) and have the characters randomly draw 2 of those cards. If they happen to draw the same origin twice, give them the Engineered Human half-sheet with their primary. Remove the copies of that origin and allow the next person to pick. This way, everyone will be different and you'll only need to print out multiple copies of the Engineered Human half sheet. Doing it this way will let them all see more of the game. You could also point them to an online random character generator and have them create their character that way. Print off the results and go. Character creation would go MUCH faster that way.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 3:46PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Aug 14, 2005
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With some quick prep, it goes pretty fast. Even without preparing ahead of time, its pretty fast. I'd say maybe 10mins per player, tops. Its an advantage that creation is random. Nobody has to spend time optimizing or making choices. Its just 'Roll X die, and write down what I tell you'. You can make the process a little snazzier if you follow Excalibur's suggestions of preparing a little, especially if you intend to play mutiple one-shots or shorts. In this forum there are a few threads with useful things in them - namely, Origin Half-Sheets or Origin Power Cards. AH_Anarchy's fantasitc power cards can be found here: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... His also have B&W versions as well as fancy color ones. Some nice and easy cards for Origin Traits can be found here: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... (And I swear I saw somewhere that Excaliber had posted his stuff, but I couldnt find them). In addition, I'll plug my own thread for GW Community Origins if you want more options community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...Alternatively, you can make your own stuff as well if you have the time & inclination. The cards help because it gives you something to hand out to people so they don't have to waste time copying powers down.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 4:15PM
#4
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2008
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I have posted some stuff, mainly D&D Encounters-styled character sheets for Gamma World. The original post is here: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...I am working on a way to create these randomly through a web browser (Firefox is best then Opera, Chrome, Safari, and maybe IE if I can get through the issues with Microsoft's junk). This tool will probably allow for entering characters using my campaign's house rules and for leveling up your characters as well. The key is that you need to know the rules a bit beforehand so if players ask questions you can answer them. With a little prep work ahead of time, character generation can be quick and you can reuse the handouts over and over again.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 4:19PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Aug 28, 2009
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Follow the links everyone has given you, and you should be fine.
I printed the origin cards out, turned them upside down, and told each player to pick two. That way, there was no duplication.
If you are running Trouble in Freesboro, I would replace the Blood Bird Swarm with a couple of individual Blood Birds, or even just one. That monster is insane; as a level 4 soldier with an AC of 19 and a damaging aura, it kills PCs. And dying in the first encounter is not fun.
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GW Card List: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26023881/Card_List
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 4:49PM
#6
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Date Joined:
Sep 26, 2001
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Specifically, how long does character creation take with only 1 book at the table?
I ran twice, for six players each time. The first time took a little over an hour, the second a bit under. So, about an hour.
How do people interact with their Novice Powers?--there isn't enough room on the sheet to write out what they do, and with only 1 book, it seems power-lookup could take forever.
So how has this worked in your games? Any tips? Thanks!
The character sheets have the basics on how to build your character. You need to handle the rolls for origins and starting gear. If your players are fairly comfortable with D&D, the rest should come easily. There are some 'cheat sheets' with all the 1-st level stuff for each origin. What I did was print them out on stickers, and have players randomly pick them, then just stick them right on the character sheet (there's just enough room in the origin section.
Love 4e? Concerned about its future? Join the Old Guard of 4e"You want The Tooth? You can't handle The Tooth!" - Dahlver-Nar. "If magic is unrestrained in the campaign, D&D quickly degenerates into a weird wizard show where players get bored quickly" - E. Gary Gygax
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3 years ago ::
Oct 29, 2010 - 5:18PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Sep 16, 2006
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If you are running Trouble in Freesboro, I would replace the Blood Bird Swarm with a couple of individual Blood Birds, or even just one. That monster is insane; as a level 4 soldier with an AC of 19 and a damaging aura, it kills PCs. And dying in the first encounter is not fun.
I'm not running Trouble in Freesboro, as I don't have it only have a PDF of it and I'd rather run the intro adventure in the book. Thanks for the tip, though. If the game goes well hopefully we'll play again and I'm sure I'll use TiF.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 30, 2010 - 4:27AM
#8
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I put together a quick 4-page printout with character creation rules on it.
It would be nice if you could share this so that I don't have to do what you've already done. 
Marv (Finarvyn)Master of Mutants (MA and GW) Playtesting D&D Next and liking it! OD&D player since 1975
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3 years ago ::
Oct 30, 2010 - 6:46AM
#9
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Date Joined:
Oct 30, 2010
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The Freesboro adventure allots one hour for chargen. Once a group has done it once or twice, it becomes a lot quicker. More books also obviously helps and not just for chargen.
To avoid that issue altogether during my demo, I just provided a bunch of pregens including an engineered human. I specifically avoided duplications in origins so folks could see the actual spread in action.
That said, character generation is one of the cooler aspects of the game, almost a game unto itself.
A regularly meeting group would have a blast with this since in-jokes and all that stuff help play into the fun of making up weird PCs.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 30, 2010 - 7:36AM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 16, 2008
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I put together a quick 4-page printout with character creation rules on it.
It would be nice if you could share this so that I don't have to do what you've already done.
I have uploaded the character creation packet that I used for Gamma World Game Day. You should be able to use this for 99% of character creation. I did not include the extra gear stuff, we didn't bother with it on Game Day as per the instructions.
You can find it here: www.lyonesse.info/gammaworld/CreatingYou...
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