Random Character Creation

[FredGarber]

Some random character generation was good, and some was bad:
Traveller was great - I liked the idea of trying to come up with a reason "what happened that he got cashiered out so early?"
I didn't like the Cyberpunk system - I would spend a whole game session building a lifepath - and then get shot in the head and need to start all over again.
D20 was a question of which house rules we used to cheat up our starting scores - I wanted Heroic Fantasy, not Moorcock.

On the other hand, point buy systems , Hero in particular, sometimes took so long that we would spend hours wading through the design system before actually playing - and then sometimes we'd get shot in the head and have to do it all over again.  Sometimes it was so important to design the character right the first time - If I felt that my current character wasn't happy with his chosen career, there was no way to change it without an unrealistic expenditure of XP nuggets -> Try turning a GURPS heavy-armor warrior into a scout sometimes.

To me, random generation is good when it determines the Tools your character uses to succeed, and not the chance of success.  But then, I'm a big believer in games where you don't Suck at the start and have to buy Effectiveness as you play.

[Frank Tarcikowski]

I]me<demands<pieces<and<

"I'm bored, so I'll make a character for fun" (optional addition - Wife: "What are you doing, honey?", Me: "Nothing!")

I love thatdemands<pieces<and<

"I'm bored, so I'll make a character for fun" (optional addition - Wife: "What are you doing, honey?", Me: "Nothing!")

I love that.

[Frank Tarcikowski]