How do you choose a class?

[RenleyRenfield]

For games like D&D and Pathfinder (but possibly even PBTA with its Playbooks...)

What do you look for when you are selecting a Class?

For games like Call of Cthulhu or GURPS or HERO or other such no-class systems = how you do know what will be fun to play as a character if there are no set classes or powers??

 

[aco175]

I try to come up with a concept that I think will be fun to play or that will fit in with what the others are playing. If I show up and make something first, I go with something I think will be cool. If I show up last I play a cleric.

 

[Deset Gled]

It's generally a recursive process. The basic steps are:

--
Pregame discussion.

Rough character idea.
Class selection.
Experimental build.
Review, rinse, repeat.

Session 0.

Refined character idea.
Final class selection.
Build finalization.
Review, rinse, repeat.

Start gameplay.
--

I generally like to have two or three partially prepped ideas to present at session 0.

In a classless system, there is simply no class selection step.

 

[prabe]

I typically have some idea/s about what job/s (or role/s, whatever) I want to do among the PCs, or I have an idea for some mechanical thing I want to explore; I make choices based on that. For example, I know I want to make a Brick in a Supers game, or I have some specific spellchucker idea/s I want to mess around with. Most of the time I end up choosing the job/s or role/s after everyone else has, but sometimes I have something I wanna look into regardless.

 

[DeviousQuail]

I put party dynamics at the forefront. Being the DM a lot, I like to let others choose their characters first and then make my character with that information. Let my fellow players drive it a bit since I get to do that so much when I'm on the other side of the screen.

After that, I try to make my new character different from my previous or other current ones in either mechanics, role/style, or both. Recently it was jolly Beast Barb -> merciless War Wizard -> caretaker Grave Cleric. And that's just the 5e games.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My process is essentially the same, regardless of whether the RPG uses classes or is classless.

I contemplate what the GM has told me about the campaign. Then I try to figure out what kinds of adventures might be had in such a world, and what kind of protagonists might be fun to play in such a setting.

At that point, one of the following happens:

1) I design a brand-new character for the campaign
2) I choose a character that I’ve designed in the past that would work in that campaign, and model it within the relevant RPG & campaign mechanics.
3) I combine 1 & 2
4) as above, but I design or choose a character that fits in the narrower constraints of filling a void that the party still has to fill.

All that said, I’m not necessarily just designing a PC to fit a jigsaw puzzle piece within the party. I’m always looking to design a PC that I will find fun to play in the here & now. Even in the case of a situation noted in 4 (above), I’m going to choose to do so in a way that won’t bore me.

Sometimes, that means leaning into a stereotype; sometimes it’s something most players haven’t seen before.

And the inspirations can come from anywhere: music, art, written fiction, historical reenactments, a single unusual weapon or piece of gear, etc.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Like the others have said... I follow similar processes. As a usually-DMer, I am up for playing any and all character types since I play so infrequently. Which means I too let the other players make their choices first and then I will see what spaces are open creatively around them. I will then get the details of the setting the game is taking place from the DM and what the initial focus is for the group/game... and make character choices that specifically make sense and are easily a part of the set-up the DM has given us. One, because it makes it easier on the DM to do so, rather than making them try and figure out how some weird-ass combination of like a Dhampyr Armorer Artificer fits in to a tiny village militia campaign start could work. And two... by making a choice that is exactly the sort of character / class / species that would make sense for that campaign start, I have a better guarantee that my PC will be directly impacted and directly influence the happenings in the game. It's a bit selfish of me in that regard... but I figure if the other players have a hardon for just choosing the weirdest combinations that make little to no sense in the campaign we are playing because "it'll be cool to play"... then they don't need to worry about getting their PC tied directly into the story too. I'll take on that end of the game while they just play "cool class/species combo".

 

[RenleyRenfield]

What RPG game did anyone have trouble figuring out what to play, or what seemed like it might be fun? (setting aside rules or core systems... just talking at the character creation stage here...)

 

[FrogReaver]

What RPG game did anyone have trouble figuring out what to play, or what seemed like it might be fun? (setting aside rules or core systems... just talking at the character creation stage here...)

For me, All of them

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Often I try to get into a career that has a chance of giving me the skills I want. Sometimes that goes very sideways, and I get my favorite characters that way...