Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Erol K. Bayburt wrote:
> >I'm hoping to start a new campaign with a bunch of new players soon,
>
> Are the "new players" new to gaming, or are they more-or-less
> experienced players who are just new to you as a GM?
Or new to the system? In particular, the first time people meet
point-buy chargen tends to throw 'em off a bit; the first time
they hit GURPS/HERO/etc complex-build systems, the first time
they meet diceless like Amber or Nobilis (or, uber-powerful,
like Amber-Nobilis)... each one *can* throw off even players who
had seemed "more-or-less experienced."
> > ... and recording the answers so that later I could create
> > their game stats.
>
> I personally have a galloping allergy to games where the GM creates
> the character for me. If any of your players have a similar allergy,
> you'll have a problem with the "so that later I could create their
> game stats" part.
IME, experienced GM's can create better, more-faithful PC renditions
of the player-concepts than utter-n00b-players can. I have repeatedly
seen the n00b-built-PC turn out horribly frustrating to the player,
once they have a better grasp on the game-mechanics (and sometimes,
the setting).
However, I too prefer player-built PCs to GM-built PC's. Substantially
so!
My solution has been to *permit* players to build if they want, but to
also *offer* (as a GM) to build for them, and (either way) to allow
tweaking the PC in-play. Sometimes, that's ****fting skills around;
sometimes, it's moving traits/attributes/etc; sometimes, it's altering
Feats/Virtues&Flaws/Edges/Etc. In this phase, I permit liberties that
in other contexts would give me the screaming-munchkin-heebie-jeebies.
It took me a while to overcome the S-M-H-J's but I've found this to
work quite well... YMMV.
> >What good methods can people suggest? What approaches should I avoid?
> Maybe ask: "What *kind* of fun are you looking for from the game?"
> "What conventions in fiction (and in gaming) do your really like, and
> which ones really annoy you?"
More concretely: what are your favorite stories & plotlines, favorite
characters, etc. And... WHY, what is it that you so enjoy about those?
--
Steve Saunders
to de-spam me, de-capitalize me
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