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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 12:20PM
#101
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Players don't generally need to refer to fluff during gameplay and certainly shouldn't let it bog down game play.
I couldn't disagree more strongly. Gameplay includes roleplay. And it absolutely helps to have a reminder about your character's fluff to aid you in your roleplay. I think it is as vital as having a reminder about your character's mechanical benefits.
Your character sheet is not simply a list of numbers. The world is not made of numbers. It's made of stories. The character sheet should be a guide not just to the numbers, but to the story you are tellign through your character.
How often do you refer to your game sheet to find your character's gender, eye color, hair color, etc?
ummm, never?
Perhaps specific background details might be referred to but these are not the fluff that you are strongly disgreeing with me on. Next time you check your character sheet for gender, let me know.
Just last session I checked my character sheet for finding my character's height and weight.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 12:41PM
#102
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Date Joined:
Feb 17, 2010
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Height and weight has been useful in a number of circumstances. Weakened bridges, deeper water, carrying another player, jumping to reach something, etc.
Aside from carrying another player (encumberance), that's all improvisational. I could as easily improvise a situation in which a character's hair or eye color is important -- the messiah of a remote tribe is depicted in oral tradition as having features like those of a character in group. Maybe it's less less common and less likely to come up, but it's equally valid.
If you really want to argue that weight is mechanical, then it's ridiculously broken in the current rules. One of the PCs in my group weighs around 40 lbs. -- another character could pick her up and carry her under one arm, except for the fact that she's carrying over 90 lbs. of gear without breaking a sweat, which is even more ridiculous.
Alignment has had various mechanical effects in many editions of D&D. Detect Alignment, attacks vs good or evil creatures, etc.
But it has none now. Personally, "Detect alignment" makes as much sense to me as "detect background" or "detect specialty;" same goes for "attack vs. evil" and "attack vs. Charlatan." Alignment is an RP concepts; it doesn't have a concrete presence in the world except as it affects PC and NPC actions and interactions. The same cannot be said for Background, which at least makes sense in character; I might point to a fellow PC and say in-character, "He's a bounty hunter," but I would never say in-character, "He's chaotic neutral."
Alignment is no more mechanical than background and specialty. Less, in fact, because background and specialty at least have the potential to refer to a set suite of features.
See my earlier post if you're still confused as to why it's useful and important to have a Description block summarizing a character's key RP features.
I want "punch magic in the face" to be a maneuver
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 1:53PM
#103
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A character sheet isn't just a table of mechanics though, it ought to be a full description of your character. Name, race, class features, skills, feats, physical description... It's all part and parcel of who your character is.
If someone doesn't want to filli n particular fields, that up to them. Personally, I find it useful in creating the character concept to go through and fill that stuff out - writing down their height/weight/hair-eye color makes me visualize them, and cements their image in my mind. Mechanical implications or not, it's a part of who they are. There's more to a character than simple mechanics.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 1:56PM
#104
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Date Joined:
Jun 22, 2008
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Aside from carrying another player (encumberance), that's all improvisational.
So jumping to grab a rope at a certain height is not a mechanic?
Carrying capacities for players, mounts, and even perhaps bridges are a mechanicas well.
Sure you could make up something about blue eyes but you are pretty flimsy in trying to argue your point here and just being argumentative.
Alignment is no more mechanical than background and specialty. Less, in fact, because background and specialty at least have the potential to refer to a set suite of features.
Actually no. Take a look at some spells and magic items. They still have mechanical effects with regard to alignment.
Holy Avenger - An evil creature that touches the weapon experiences strong revulsion. If it maintains contact with the weapon for 1 round, the creature takes 3d6 psychic damage. That creature continues to take this damage each time it starts its turn holding or carrying the weapon.
Alignment is a mechanic that can have effects occur. Specialty and background are fluff with roleplaying uses.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 1:59PM
#105
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Date Joined:
Jun 22, 2008
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Players don't generally need to refer to fluff during gameplay and certainly shouldn't let it bog down game play.
I couldn't disagree more strongly. Gameplay includes roleplay. And it absolutely helps to have a reminder about your character's fluff to aid you in your roleplay. I think it is as vital as having a reminder about your character's mechanical benefits.
Your character sheet is not simply a list of numbers. The world is not made of numbers. It's made of stories. The character sheet should be a guide not just to the numbers, but to the story you are tellign through your character.
How often do you refer to your game sheet to find your character's gender, eye color, hair color, etc?
ummm, never?
Perhaps specific background details might be referred to but these are not the fluff that you are strongly disgreeing with me on. Next time you check your character sheet for gender, let me know.
Just last session I checked my character sheet for finding my character's height and weight.
I agree with height and weight. Those are usable mechanics for jumping, reaching, wading through water, seeing over obstacles, riding mounts, carrying other players, walking across weakened structure, etc.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 2:02PM
#106
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Date Joined:
Aug 25, 2007
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The two choices at character creation would be as follows:
Choice #1:
a) Choose a Race and Class (you must take the suggested equipment)
b) Choose a Background (you must take the suggested equipment)
c) Choose a Speciality (needs some small additional boon here)
d) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
Choice #2:
a) Choose a Race and Class (you cannot take the suggested equipment)
b) Choose a 4 skills
c) Choose a feat
d) Spend 175 GP and remaining resources.
(I added this for clerity)
personaly i think there will be 3 options:
basic :
a) chose race
b) chose class, background and specialty and starting equipment would have been pre selected with class.
c) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
standard:
a) Choose a Race
b) Chose class (you must take the suggested equipment)
c) Choose a Background (you must take the suggested equipment)
d) Choose a Speciality
e) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
advanced:
a) Choose a Race
b) Choose class
c) choose 4 skills or 3 skills and 1 trait
d) select feats
e) Spend 175 GP and remaining resources. (choose spells etc.)
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 2:26PM
#107
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- Forum Guide
- Hero Craftsman Gold Medalist
- Master Dungeon Master
Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2005
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How often do you refer to your game sheet to find your character's gender, eye color, hair color, etc?
Before every session to keep all my charcacters straight. Some are male, some rfemale, some elven, dwarven, human, etc. Som e are tlal, some are short. Some are rail thin and others are pudgy. I always check the physical description of my characters and the personality notes I made so as to make sure I play the character consistently and having a picture in my head of the physical description of my character helps me.
You don't want it? Fine. Leave it blank of make yourself a flavor-free character sheet.
This is just another example of "If I don't need it, nobody does" syndrome.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 2:36PM
#108
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Date Joined:
Jun 22, 2008
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How often do you refer to your game sheet to find your character's gender, eye color, hair color, etc?
Before every session to keep all my charcacters straight. Some are male, some rfemale, some elven, dwarven, human, etc. Som e are tlal, some are short. Some are rail thin and others are pudgy. I always check the physical description of my characters and the personality notes I made so as to make sure I play the character consistently and having a picture in my head of the physical description of my character helps me.
You don't want it? Fine. Leave it blank of make yourself a flavor-free character sheet.
This is just another example of "If I don't need it, nobody does" syndrome.
I have played lizardfolk, anthropomorphic animals, arachnids, dragons, plant creatures, golems, etc.
Gender, eye color, and hair color do not fit. I prefer a blank spot for a physical description and another for background. Fluff like gender, eye color, hair color, origin, background, specialty, etc. can all go in those spaces along with hundreds of other details that you can create.
This is an example of "The character sheet should be broad enough for imaginative and original characters" and not "If I don't need it, nobody does"
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 2:49PM
#109
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Date Joined:
Jun 22, 2008
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The two choices at character creation would be as follows:
Choice #1:
a) Choose a Race and Class (you must take the suggested equipment)
b) Choose a Background (you must take the suggested equipment)
c) Choose a Speciality (needs some small additional boon here)
d) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
Choice #2:
a) Choose a Race and Class (you cannot take the suggested equipment)
b) Choose a 4 skills
c) Choose a feat
d) Spend 175 GP and remaining resources.
(I added this for clerity)
personaly i think there will be 3 options:
basic :
a) chose race
b) chose class, background and specialty and starting equipment would have been pre selected with class.
c) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
standard:
a) Choose a Race
b) Chose class (you must take the suggested equipment)
c) Choose a Background (you must take the suggested equipment)
d) Choose a Speciality
e) Spend remaining resources (extra GP, choose spells etc.)
advanced:
a) Choose a Race
b) Choose class
c) choose 4 skills or 3 skills and 1 trait
d) select feats
e) Spend 175 GP and remaining resources. (choose spells etc.)
I actually like this. I would prefer a final option however.
Customized:
a) Develop a Racial background
1. Choose racial makeup (including hybrids, bloodlines, etc.)
2. Choose racial culture (distinct from inherent race)
3. Choose a home environment (woods, mountains, hills, city, underground, etc.)
b) Develop a class or multiclass (possibly using a point buy system or a system which allows interchangeable parts from the various classes)
1. Choose a theme
2. Choose a source of power
c) choose a background (and receive 4 skills and a trait) or pick 4 skills (but no trait)
d) choose a specialty (and receive an interesting final feat that is unavailable a la carte) or select a feat (or feats if starting at higher level)
e) Spend 175 GP. (choose spells, maeuvers, skill tricks, etc. based on newly designed character)
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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 8:02PM
#110
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Date Joined:
Jul 31, 2007
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Two things:
First, where is this 175g figure coming from? The character creation document says you get 150 gold for equipment, which already makes backgrounds and specialties worth more, as a number of them total up to well over 150g.
Second, to those who are arguing that only preset specialties deserve some sort of special trait bonus, what would you do for an elf Thief Rogue with the Thug background? Does he lose the potential for two skills because of his racial skills? Or can he supplement those things in which he's already proficient with something else to fill the gap?
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