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+BUILDING BETTER CHARACTERS #1: THE SEVEN RULES OF CHARACTER CREATION
+
+/A couple sessions have gone by. You got the rulebook, you built a
+character, you played. But it hasn't been what you were after. Your
+character seems flat, you haven't gotten into it. Except to argue with
+the elf. You ask yourself ? did I do something wrong?/
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/Your party built their characters, you played, but they are always
+going their separate ways or arguing. The thief doesn't even associate
+with the party except to drool over their equipment. Something has to
+change if everyone is going to have fun./
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The art of building characters is not as simple as one might think.
+Every rulebook has the steps. Many of those rulebooks even talk about
+meta-gaming issues, background, personality, or whatever other pet
+theories the authors happen to have about what makes good characters.
+
+But let me simplify it just a little bit. Good characters are those
+characters that are fun to play. Not just for the player, but for the
+whole group (including the GM). This may sound like just a trademark of
+a good player, but really, what great player does not always come up
+with good characters? Even things that seem simple or sketchy just seem
+to come to life in these players. They know how to make good characters.
+
+And I am here to try and help /you/ make better characters.
+
+We are going to start with the basics: the seven rules of character
+creation. At least, the seven rules for creating characters in a
+campaign setting. (That is, where there is a group of more then one
+person, and there are going to be multiple adventures with the characters.)
+
+Rule 1: The character must work in a group
+Rule 2: The character must be fun for the player and the rest of the party
+Rule 3: The character must be good at heart
+Rule 4: The character must have a reason to go adventuring
+Rule 5: The character must fit the campaign style
+Rule 6: The character must have long term goals
+Rule 7: The player must be able to actually play the character
+
+The seven rules represent the most common (and most disastrous) mistakes
+that players make when designing characters. Sometimes these are just
+overlooked, or missed in the heat of character creation, but if the GM
+and the player can apply these rules to a character (and agree that they
+are in fact applicable to the character) then any subsequent problems
+lie on the shoulders of the player and the GM, not on the character.
+"But that's what my character would do..." is no longer an excuse for
+destroying party chemistry or backstabbing a fellow party member. The
+rules have been set.
+
+The seven rules are broken out into three sections: Getting along with
+people (rules 1,2,3), character composition (rules (4,5,6) and "the
+final gut check" (rule 7).
+
+
+ Section 1: Getting along with other people
+
+The first three rules apply to just making sure the /character/ (not the
+player) isn't disruptive to the group as a whole. Essentially, these
+rules exist to avoid the Neutral Evil Ninja Assasin Drow (NENAD), and
+all sub-species. (Not that I am singling out Neutral evil ninja assasin
+drow as poor characters, but well, I am.) So let's go through them.
+
+
+ Rule 1: The character must work in a group
+
+This is a logical aspect of the meta-game. You are planning a campaign.
+That campaign has multiple players. More then likely you plan on them
+being a group. So why let characters that dislike people or only work
+alone into such a group? In the most logical sense, they wouldn't go
+adventuring in a group and would hate it if they did. Watch out for
+characters that hate people, or are overly secretive and mysterious. Or
+classic thief types that never trust any party members and, in fact,
+remove trust from other party members.
+
+Not to say these sorts of characters can't be played. But make sure that
+when the NENAD attempts to join your campaign, that there is a good
+reason that they would stay with a group, work with a group, and might
+even be trusted by that group. Obviously, this is a GM judgement call in
+the end, just remember the concept. If they can't work in a group, the
+character isn't going to work in a (traditional) campaign.
+
+
+ Rule 2: The character must be fun for the player and the rest of
+ the party
+
+One assumes that people play characters that they find fun. NENAD are
+usually considered very fun /by the people playing them./ But usually it
+is best to think of the other players as well. Are they going to enjoy
+this character? This is really the flip side of rule 1; rule 1 makes it
+sound like characters should be dull and boring and fit it. But we don't
+want characters ending up with desk jobs in cubicle world. We want the
+mohawk wearing, leather jacketed rebel. Sure, while they have to "be
+able to be part of group" they also need to add a different dimension, a
+different personality, and a different /character/ to the group as a
+whole, so that the players have variety and spice in their role-playing.
+
+Some players find this very easy. The rest of us struggle to make sure
+that our character is adding to the combined story, has good lines, or
+is just a fun personality that people enjoy and remember. And don't take
+this as meaning that it is a character's duty to always entertain the
+other players. No, occasionally entertaining them is good enough. In
+fact, it is much better, as people have the most fun by /playing their
+own characters./ If you want to ruin someone's fun, play their character
+for them (or prevent their character from playing ? a closely related
+offense). This can be the fault of the GM or the player, but it is the
+quickest way to dissatisfied players and a point to pay specific
+attention to when designing your character. Now it is not always
+possible to avoid these conflicts, especially when you are unaware of
+other player's character choices, but keep it in mind even after play
+has begun.
+
+
+ Rule 3: The character must be good at heart
+
+Now I don't want to be preachy or anything, but just what were you
+expecting when you created that evil character that truly didn't care
+about other people? Were you expecting him to be smoothly integrated
+into the party? Did you expect him to be trusted? Were you surprised
+when he caused party turmoil? When your NENAD decided not to open the
+secret door and try and save the party from the rampaging barbarian <#>
+horde, did they accept the excuse that it was too risky?
+
+D&D takes care of this by making sure characters are good or neutral.
+But I don't think that is truly enough. This is not a question of
+overlying beliefs. This is a question of /will the character risk their
+life and livelihood to help another?/ This is about not being
+self-centered. This is about being someone that the party can trust when
+the ork dung hits the wind mill. This isn't something that you say
+during character description, it is something that you do and
+(hopefully) you do early on. If your character makes some sort of self
+sacrifice, even a small one, in the first session, the party is already
+on your side.
+
+A lot of players don't like this rule, but it is the very last rule that
+I bend. We are roleplaying to be heroes, so design a hero or don't play.
+Every single hero in books and movies was intrinsically good at heart,
+no matter how otherwise messed up, or they weren't a hero. It is the
+definition.
+
+
+ Conclusion
+
+In the next column I will continue the analysis of the seven rules with
+the remaining four. If you were intrigued by this column, you can check
+out my blog and role-playing resources at www.blackshieldgaming.com
+<http://www.blackshieldgaming.com>.
+
+Until next time.
+
+
+
+ARTICLE INFO <building.xml>
+
+*Building Better Characters #1*
+/The Seven Rules of Character Creation/
+2006-02-21
+
+by Greg Schneider
+
+/The first rules of campaign characters: getting along with others./
+
+
+RECENT ARTICLES
+
+#1: The Seven Rules of Character Creation
+<http://www.rpg.net/columns/building/building1.phtml>
+
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+RECENT DISCUSSIONS
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+*Thread Title* *Last Poster* *Last Post* *Replies*
+Does ANYONE agree?
+<http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=248154&goto=newpost>
+Strange Visitor
+<http://forum.rpg.net/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=9385> 03-07-2006
+09:27 AM 20
+There're only two rules...
+<http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=248028&goto=newpost>
+Bartmoss <http://forum.rpg.net/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=8578>
+03-02-2006 10:32 AM 10
+Disagree with Rule 3
+<http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=247415&goto=newpost>
+Maarzan <http://forum.rpg.net/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=1472>
+02-27-2006 08:42 AM 26
+#1: The Seven Rules of Character Creation
+<http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?threadid=247361&goto=newpost>
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