Character Building: The Best You've Got

"And now, with your permission, I'm going to do my stuff."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm gonna do the best I can."

This is another "duh" topic but I felt like I should explain myself. Some of the things I said earlier like in MAD and SAD and our topic on Socialist Gaming contain a certain underlying thought: The idea that players should build the best possible character they can build. However, even theorycrafters I know rarely do exactly that. If you were ever wondering why mine, Walter E. Daleiard's, or anyone's characters are always so 'powerful' I hope this will lift the veil of methods at least a little.

Your first hint is that it's not because we endlessly read the books or memorize everything in them. I used to do that, but these days new books get read once, maybe twice unless I'm looking for something. It can help to remember what goes with what or where this stuff is in the books, but overall all you've got to do is make an attempt.

What I mean is, what we're doing when we build a character is finding and applying synergies. Excuse the corporate buzzword stuff, but that's what we're doing. It might help you to mentally(or physically) do one of those charts where you write one big word in the middle of the page then branch it out to lots of little associated words. Identify what your class is good at, then take feats, powers or skills to capitalize on that. The first big secret, though? A lot of the time we're declaring what we WANT to be good at, and seeing if the class can do it. That's fine. In fact, most people probably do this more than making the absolute 'best' possible choices they can. All you're really doing is shifting what word is in the middle of the page. After you've got that word down, find what works with it or makes it better. Just write all the shit down via association. I end up flipping through books a lot skimming for anything associated with one particular concept, like disarming, tripping, sneaking around, or being defensive.

In D20, your feats are usually your most important decisions. So, once you have a big sackful of feats that all work together, you apply them to your build. Then, you fill the holes with other important feats or things you want to be good at. Try to take your primary ideas or RP-driven choices and make the best of them. A Tiefling Fighter may not have the best STR, but they can take Armor of the Pit for +2 AC, leverage that DEX into TWF feats, or use INT to more easily hit Combat Expertise tree feats. Someone playing a goblin, with their +4 racial bonus and +4 size bonus to stealth has more incentive to take Stealthy or Skill Focus(Stealth) than someone without those, even if not a sneaky type. Course, if they don't have room, those bonuses they get can 'make up' for some neglect. The point is you don't always have to 'just accept' a substandard choice.

This dovetails nicely into the next two secrets. The first, mine, is really quick and simple. Plan your character ahead of time and put together a build path. This will eliminate confusion but also tell you if the character is even really going to work: If you're only 'finishing' your build at level 16...maybe time to let it go or rework the character. Course, with a lot of characters this isn't strictly necessary: A good build is not always a complicated or 'tight' one. That said, I've found preplanning is like 75% of my success.

The other secret is learned in part from our buddy Dale and in part from Flux. Before I lay it on the table, here's a question for you in very general terms. Consider the two following options:

A. 100% Offense, 0% Defense.
B. 70% Offense, 70% Defense.

This was a choice many people had to make in City of Heroes when selecting a class. Boy howdy, let me tell you, the immense vast majority picked B. Being the best at one thing is often not as good as being "good enough" at many things. B is not likely to notice their 30% lack in offense in most situations, and they'll spend much, much less time on the floor than A does. This isn't just offense and defense we're discussing, though. Being "pretty good" at several things will always make for a better character in a pen and paper game. Dale tries to be "good" at one thing, then seeks to 'plug' any weaknesses his characters have, whether it's a severely lacking save bonus, or even just not having any decent skills. That way, he can apply his character to many more situations than someone who threw all of their effort into being the best at something. Then usually someone bitches.

As a final little object lesson, here's an old character path I made and the 'thought process' of making it. Actually, since Unchained Rogue came out, this isn't even the best possible way to do this concept. Just bear with me, since it's a good example anyway.

Knife Master Rogue, First Version

I want to make a character who uses small weapons like daggers or kukri.
Sneak Attack makes up for a small weapon die.
Sneak Attack benefits from having as many attacks as possible.
So that would mean Two Weapon Fighting.
There's a Rogue archetype that gets bonus damage from using light blades.
That rogue archetype gives a bonus to sleight of hand.
Deft Palm and Underhanded both synergize with that.
Fighter has a 'close weapons fighter' archetype too.
Fighter will help me take those TWF feats and give me attack and damage feats.
the first damage feat cuts off at level 4, and I want as much sneak attack as possible anyway.
Trip goes well with TWF, I can blow offhand attacks on knocking people down.

I could go on, but I hope you 'get' why I stressed association and synergy. Most decisions made for whim or RP purposes can make for a good character anyway: Nobody HAS to suck to play a combination they feel like playing. I mean, it's not as though sucking makes you a better RPer or something. You just suck. Don't suck.