Quote from: chaosvoyager;546900I rarely find character generators to be surprising or interesting. I'd certainly use them if they were.

Play more Traveller.

Quote from: John Morrow;546966Play more Traveller.

Ditto.

or WFRP.

or MERP. Shit, i remember when i first got the game, i created about 30 characters just for the hell of it.

Quote from: One Horse Town;546970or WFRP.

Yeah, that was going to be my next recommendation but I decided to keep it short and simple.

What's up with that, in fact? Aren't people creating characters for fun anymore? It's one of the best ways to get the game system short of actual play, too.

Quote from: Benoist;546973What's up with that, in fact? Aren't people creating characters for fun anymore? It's one of the best ways to get the game system short of actual play, too.

My latest one is the DCC RPG.

When it's fun creating characters, you can almost guarantee that the game will also be fun.

Quote from: Benoist;546973What's up with that, in fact? Aren't people creating characters for fun anymore? It's one of the best ways to get the game system short of actual play, too.

And to flesh out your stable of npcs.

Quote from: One Horse Town;546970or WFRP.

or MERP. Shit, i remember when i first got the game, i created about 30 characters just for the hell of it.

I did this constantly for MERPS. It is RM that Marleycat understands.

Quote from: One Horse Town;546970or WFRP.

or MERP. Shit, i remember when i first got the game, i created about 30 characters just for the hell of it.

I did this constantly for MERPS. It is RM that Marleycat understands.

It's my sweetspot for complexity.

Quote from: chaosvoyager;546900What if that fanwank consists of events generated by the game's lifepath and character generation system?

That's the best of all possible worlds for me - a background generated by actual play.

Quote from: TristramEvans;546947Monte Cook: I don't like making characters so I won't let any of my players make their own characters anymore.

Me: Who the hell is Monte Cook besides someone I won't ever let be a GM for me?

Yeah, him and a fuck-load of people on this thread.

Generating MERP characters was awesome, no doubt about it.

Monte Cook is clearly a lost desperate man flailing around for some sense of direction.

As for character creation, it can usually be one of the highlights of the game, if its done right.  And because it sets the tone in that sense for everything else in the game, its really important that it be done right!

RPGPundit

Quote from: Benoist;541528So here are the questions: (1) do you like character generation yourself?,

That question is a bit too wide, because it has the same problem as asking if you like combat. The only reasonable answer would be: it depends on the system. In some games chargen is great fun, in others is so-so, and in some others is a fucking chore.

Quote(2) Would you play/enjoy an RPG that only allowed pregens?

Yeah, why not.

Quote(3) do you agree with Monte Cook there is more room for games which explore the concepts he's talking about there, with loads of pregens, choices of development not frontloaded at generation, etc?

I think that pregens are OK and that most games should include them, as long as they are properly made pre-gens (by this I mean PCs created according to the actual rules, by people who understand those rules, not like the shitty PCs of Shadowrun).

Quote(4) some other thoughts to share on the topic of character gen, pregens etc?

In one of my crews (the Cthulhu group) all players love pregens because they know I make them interesting, with lots of meat, properly balanced, and they like to get straight into the action. And after a couple sessions, each player has made the PC its own.

I think that pregens are a great choice for the first time a player or a group tries a game.

Quote from: Imperator;547726I think that pregens are a great choice for the first time a player or a group tries a game.

Totally agree.