Character Creation Problem: No Classes or Templates

[Mike Holmes]

The problem of archetypes (which are the same as templates, possibly with more pizzaz) is that, while great for beginners, after a while players want to play characters of their own design. Archetypes usually only bend so far. Then you get a player trying to create a banker character from a hacker archetype.

What I propose is sort of Archetypes in chunks that can be swapped out for greater flexibility.

OTOH, if you want to force certain Archetypes to be played, that's certainly a valid option. This works best for very focused games.

Mike

[ks13]

OTOH, if you want to force certain Archetypes to be played, that's certainly a valid option. This works best for very focused games.

I'm working towards much more open choices in terms of character types. Very specific Archetypes, templates, or a long list of completed character examples strikes me as going away from that. I want to the players to create characters based on what's possible, not what is available. While I certainly need a couple of solid examples, I think it is the procedure/method and tools presented in chargen that will get me there.

Now the idea of mini-templates, and specifically Mike's "Archetypes in chunks", could be a very useful tool. I like this quite a bit because I can see it being integrated easily within the game. All of my broad skill groups are listed in one of 6 general categories (e.g. Knowledge, Combat, Nature, etc.), and each category can have a number of these packages. Futhermore, I can also create a list of Culture/Society packages aside from the general skill packages. This takes care of the cultural templates I was going to include.

Given the workings of chargen, I plan to keep these packages as example only, not something specific that a player buys. I don't want every character with the same package to have the exact same set of skills. Then again, if the packages are setup such that they offer choices (eg get X and Y and choose skill A, B, or C), then I could have them as an actual part of character creation. As players, are there any preferences? Keep them strictly as examples or make them a part of character build?