The purpose of DnD is to have fun. That is it. So what ever you want to play character wise is pretty much fine with me. However, your choice has to be balanced with the other choices. It isn’t fair to the other players if you have special advantages that make you the best or most capable in more than your fair share of situations. And the character should be playable in the campaign. For example, an evil psychopath is NOT an appropriate traveling companion for a Paladin or Cleric of Good. (Not that it would not be interesting to play, but how much fun is it going to be for the other players?)
I like to have a general history for each character active in a campaign. An essay format is preferred. In this essay, try to explain how this character fits into the present campaign. Your character history should be at least half a page long and answer basic questions. Examples are:
· When and where was he/she born. Who are his/her parents? Are they still alive? How about brothers and sisters? Maybe even a complete family tree.
· Where were you trained? Who was his/her master, teacher, or trainer? Was this at an institute or school? What areas of specialization are they known for?
· Why or how did your character select his special talents or other class related choices (a ranger’s favored enemy, a wizard’s school of specialization, etc.)
· If your character is not first level, what adventures has he already been on?
· Appearance, notable features, e.g., scares.
I like to use this information to help shape the campaign, and your character gets extra experience when I do.
I like the new third edition experience rules. In summary, every 13-14 encounters should result in a level increase. An encounter can be defeating a monster (not necessarily killing it!), successfully by-passing a trap, or otherwise overcoming some challenge. I am a conspiracy nut, so I am adding solving plot puzzles a form of challenge. On average you should expect one significant plot puzzle per experience level.
I also believe in rewarding making the game session fun. In particular, that means an encounter bonus for role playing when the encounter would have gone better had you not. The bonus takes the form of an increase of the encounter level by +1 or +2 with reguard to your experience award. I also consider it role-playing when I use part of your character’s history to design an encounter or plot twist. Good role-playing can be offset by what is known as meta-game thinking (for example, correctly identifying that cat-like creature with wings is a manticore when your character has a 7 intelligence and no wilderness lore, etc. Russ, why didn’t it attack us with its tail spikes?).
· Scumbag. You are the scum of the earth. Rape, pillaging, murder for hire are all tasks you look forward to if the pay is good. All that being said, you do co-operate to achieve big goals.
· All Fighter. The party is in the service of the King. Each member has a unique ability that sets him apart from the usual guardsman. The assignments are varied and interesting.
· All Rogue. Stealing from the local merchants puts food on your family’s table. Never too much that they notice, and avoiding killing if at all possible. The most interesting part of this business is that your tips usually come from the victim’s competitors.
· Play Yourself. Use DnD tools to rate your abilities and figure out your class and alignment options. The adventure starts in your favorite watering hole which is how you know each other.
· Experimental. I have always thought that the combat system could be adapted to the spell casting / psionic manifestation systems to create an even more unified combat system. In this campaign, those ideas are put to the test.
Copyright © 2002 John Lipp