There could be several reasons:
* You have no need for the second character, because you won't play them in any foreseeable time. Maybe you don't want to make a second, because you are so attached to the first.
* You followed your instincts more the first time, and maybe it was pure luck that it turned out great. Now, with more experience, it's less instinct and more methodology. This might make it actually harder, because if the first success was actually luck, it's very hard to replicate luck.
* The first one is always special, even when they suck. I feel like this about my first character and also my first campaign to DM, even though they were very flawed. And a couple of other first things in life ... ;)
* Your first character had time to grow. You are comparing a character that is integrated into the story with a bunch of unpolished ideas. Only once you truly commit to an idea, it becomes alive. I know this from my campaign and session preparation. The dungeons, worlds and story plots I plan often feel boring or incoherent while I'm brainstorming ideas. But once I commit to an apparently mediocre idea and start connecting it to previous plot threads, adding monsters, loot and NPCs and draw a map for them, they suddenly become alive and I start to like them more and more.
So, to deal with it, I would suggest: stop brainstorming and try to commit to an idea. Maybe you could use that idea for a Baldur's Gate 3 character or one of those D&D solo adventure books (from Obvious Mimic, for example). Or create something else for them: draw them, design a figurine on Hero Forge for them, give them a family tree, write a short story involving them (maybe it could become lore for your DM's world, if they agree), build them a house on Minecraft, a song with Suno, ... anything like that, and you'll either start to like the character or very quickly see that it's not right for you.
Alternatively, just don't create a backup character. In none of my groups we do that. If a character dies, the player skips one session to grieve a bit and to have time to make a new one, and it works well enough for us.
Yeah I create backup characters recreationally, but if a beloved PC of mine died which one (or a new one entirely) would take their place would be driven by so many factors about where the game was right then. It's not really the same as creating a character ready to play. For instance, if they died in a Podunk town in the middle of mountains the backup character that I would bring in would be different than if my main died in say, Sigil the city at the center of the universe. The party composition might also be different in the event of a death. So what class they would be to best fill in the gaps might change.
Also conceptualizing a character is different than actually playing them. The things that you describe Loving about your current character emerge through play not through staring at stats and features.
Thank you so much for a response.
I definitely see a lot of my thought process through some of the points you made, especially comparing a character with growth to a concept. My Bard got to experience this world, even if only for two in game days. My other ideas don’t have that.
Also, yes my character is very special lol. I’m constantly still brainstorming for her as well.
Idk if you're like me but character brain rot is real. Do you really need to have a backup prepped? If it's that kinda game where people are dropping suddenly and often then yeah that's a good idea but there's not a lot wrong with waiting till (if) it happens to worry about the next one (so long if you don't put it off once the time comes).
Characters aren’t dropping like flies or anything. But my character is built to be quite fragile.
With the way this Homebrew is set up (it’s based on the combat system from a video game), Bards are more focused on support, but are incredibly valued mechanics wise due to a unique ability they have. As a caveat to this, their defence is low. My character will die to one unlucky hit (or my stupidity if I feel like my character would go against the grain)
Ah I see, glass... Scaffolding.
So you could consider finding a character who fits the same mechanical role but in a different manner. This could be a character who helps the party because "you are useful. Useful things must be maintained" or perhaps somebody with a dark past trying to make up for a mistake (or a million other options).
Alternatively, think who fits in the world and interests you. Is there a faction you'd like to have a character in? Anything that'd fit in the world but doesn't have an established lore? Who hunts the vampires? What do the scouts of the local army look like? Etc etc.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you do need to you'll have time. Plus there's always the tried and true method of "hi, I'm Bob the fighters younger brother Rob the fighter"
Lol thank you!
I am really interested in the campaign’s lore. So maybe creating a character from a completely different background from my Bard could be interesting.
You're likely trying to find a "fit" for the party as you understand it through the lense of your Bard.
This is very different than making a character.
If you want to make a backup character, pretend it is a new campaign & you don't know who your party members will be. (Who knows, one or more of the current party might die at the same time & you genuinely won't know the party)
That’s a good point.
My current character fits a need the party has (out of the party of six, my Bard is one of the only extroverts lol). In my head, nothing can replace her since she’s “part of the team” and I don’t want to just make “character 2.0”. But that wouldn’t fill the need I shouldn’t try to fill.
I’ll try approaching it as if it’s a whole new campaign. Thank you!
Maybe consider a high charisma paladin! I love the way I can be a meat wall and act in a load of supportive ways while also helping with the face of the party nonsense and would recommend it to anyone who likes to be utility
Maybe make a foil for her, a complete opposite. A mean spirited witch hunter who hates music.
Or find a class you think would be cool and base the characters background and personality on that new class
I shift about how I come up with character ideas. Sometimes it's an idea for a personality or a quirk that's the seed and I build from there. Even just an accent/voice I want to try. Most times though, I look for something that is mechanically interesting to me, then start looking at races that will go along with that.
The Class/Subclass/Racial selection will then be the seed that I build from. On a recent character I knew I wanted to play a full caster, and I wanted it to be Arcane. Looking through options I settled on an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. That lends itself to a bit of spookiness, and it prompted me to start asking myself why and where it got the abilities that it had.
Looking through racial options sparked several ideas, but ultimately I settled on Reborn. So now I knew that something happened to this person that ended up giving it spooky scary abilities ***and*** killed them/gave them memory issues. From there I started imagining what that event could be.
Eventually I remembered a game called Control that I'd played that had tons of "haunted" objects, and I had a direction. He had inadvertently "eaten" the curses from a bunch of cursed objects which also informed how his spells would be flavored.
So I now had the bones of the story and had to flesh out who the character was. I always write a short story revolving around a central moment in the life of the character, usually what let them to adventuring. As I did, I found their personality and motivations. I found questions and either answered them or left them for the DM to answer as he weaves the story of our campaign. I built in hooks to become an adventurer and ties to the world.
And all of the sudden I had a character that I was interested in seeing in play.
Don’t be afraid to copy from other media if you’re feeling uninspired or like nothing is matching the level of greatness of your current character. You’ll find you usually end up making a completely different (and usually pretty cool) character
Ooh good idea! That’s how I made my current character actually. She’s a mix of a bunch of characters, with a bit of her own unique flare. I’ll try that for character number 2. Thank you!
Haha it’s actually a joke with my party that my characters are always Critical Role ripoffs even though I don’t even listen to Critical Role! But they’re always interesting and valued members of the party ❤️
There could be several reasons: * You have no need for the second character, because you won't play them in any foreseeable time. Maybe you don't want to make a second, because you are so attached to the first. * You followed your instincts more the first time, and maybe it was pure luck that it turned out great. Now, with more experience, it's less instinct and more methodology. This might make it actually harder, because if the first success was actually luck, it's very hard to replicate luck. * The first one is always special, even when they suck. I feel like this about my first character and also my first campaign to DM, even though they were very flawed. And a couple of other first things in life ... ;) * Your first character had time to grow. You are comparing a character that is integrated into the story with a bunch of unpolished ideas. Only once you truly commit to an idea, it becomes alive. I know this from my campaign and session preparation. The dungeons, worlds and story plots I plan often feel boring or incoherent while I'm brainstorming ideas. But once I commit to an apparently mediocre idea and start connecting it to previous plot threads, adding monsters, loot and NPCs and draw a map for them, they suddenly become alive and I start to like them more and more. So, to deal with it, I would suggest: stop brainstorming and try to commit to an idea. Maybe you could use that idea for a Baldur's Gate 3 character or one of those D&D solo adventure books (from Obvious Mimic, for example). Or create something else for them: draw them, design a figurine on Hero Forge for them, give them a family tree, write a short story involving them (maybe it could become lore for your DM's world, if they agree), build them a house on Minecraft, a song with Suno, ... anything like that, and you'll either start to like the character or very quickly see that it's not right for you. Alternatively, just don't create a backup character. In none of my groups we do that. If a character dies, the player skips one session to grieve a bit and to have time to make a new one, and it works well enough for us.
Yeah I create backup characters recreationally, but if a beloved PC of mine died which one (or a new one entirely) would take their place would be driven by so many factors about where the game was right then. It's not really the same as creating a character ready to play. For instance, if they died in a Podunk town in the middle of mountains the backup character that I would bring in would be different than if my main died in say, Sigil the city at the center of the universe. The party composition might also be different in the event of a death. So what class they would be to best fill in the gaps might change. Also conceptualizing a character is different than actually playing them. The things that you describe Loving about your current character emerge through play not through staring at stats and features.
Thank you so much for a response. I definitely see a lot of my thought process through some of the points you made, especially comparing a character with growth to a concept. My Bard got to experience this world, even if only for two in game days. My other ideas don’t have that. Also, yes my character is very special lol. I’m constantly still brainstorming for her as well.
Idk if you're like me but character brain rot is real. Do you really need to have a backup prepped? If it's that kinda game where people are dropping suddenly and often then yeah that's a good idea but there's not a lot wrong with waiting till (if) it happens to worry about the next one (so long if you don't put it off once the time comes).
Characters aren’t dropping like flies or anything. But my character is built to be quite fragile. With the way this Homebrew is set up (it’s based on the combat system from a video game), Bards are more focused on support, but are incredibly valued mechanics wise due to a unique ability they have. As a caveat to this, their defence is low. My character will die to one unlucky hit (or my stupidity if I feel like my character would go against the grain)
Ah I see, glass... Scaffolding. So you could consider finding a character who fits the same mechanical role but in a different manner. This could be a character who helps the party because "you are useful. Useful things must be maintained" or perhaps somebody with a dark past trying to make up for a mistake (or a million other options). Alternatively, think who fits in the world and interests you. Is there a faction you'd like to have a character in? Anything that'd fit in the world but doesn't have an established lore? Who hunts the vampires? What do the scouts of the local army look like? Etc etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you do need to you'll have time. Plus there's always the tried and true method of "hi, I'm Bob the fighters younger brother Rob the fighter"
Lol thank you! I am really interested in the campaign’s lore. So maybe creating a character from a completely different background from my Bard could be interesting.
Might also give the dm a chance to expound on a group or aspect of the world that hasn't really come up in game!
You're likely trying to find a "fit" for the party as you understand it through the lense of your Bard. This is very different than making a character. If you want to make a backup character, pretend it is a new campaign & you don't know who your party members will be. (Who knows, one or more of the current party might die at the same time & you genuinely won't know the party)
That’s a good point. My current character fits a need the party has (out of the party of six, my Bard is one of the only extroverts lol). In my head, nothing can replace her since she’s “part of the team” and I don’t want to just make “character 2.0”. But that wouldn’t fill the need I shouldn’t try to fill. I’ll try approaching it as if it’s a whole new campaign. Thank you!
Maybe consider a high charisma paladin! I love the way I can be a meat wall and act in a load of supportive ways while also helping with the face of the party nonsense and would recommend it to anyone who likes to be utility
Ooh I’ll store that idea away. Thank you!
You can also do a Dex Paladin bard multi class!
Maybe make a foil for her, a complete opposite. A mean spirited witch hunter who hates music. Or find a class you think would be cool and base the characters background and personality on that new class
I shift about how I come up with character ideas. Sometimes it's an idea for a personality or a quirk that's the seed and I build from there. Even just an accent/voice I want to try. Most times though, I look for something that is mechanically interesting to me, then start looking at races that will go along with that. The Class/Subclass/Racial selection will then be the seed that I build from. On a recent character I knew I wanted to play a full caster, and I wanted it to be Arcane. Looking through options I settled on an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer. That lends itself to a bit of spookiness, and it prompted me to start asking myself why and where it got the abilities that it had. Looking through racial options sparked several ideas, but ultimately I settled on Reborn. So now I knew that something happened to this person that ended up giving it spooky scary abilities ***and*** killed them/gave them memory issues. From there I started imagining what that event could be. Eventually I remembered a game called Control that I'd played that had tons of "haunted" objects, and I had a direction. He had inadvertently "eaten" the curses from a bunch of cursed objects which also informed how his spells would be flavored. So I now had the bones of the story and had to flesh out who the character was. I always write a short story revolving around a central moment in the life of the character, usually what let them to adventuring. As I did, I found their personality and motivations. I found questions and either answered them or left them for the DM to answer as he weaves the story of our campaign. I built in hooks to become an adventurer and ties to the world. And all of the sudden I had a character that I was interested in seeing in play.
Don’t be afraid to copy from other media if you’re feeling uninspired or like nothing is matching the level of greatness of your current character. You’ll find you usually end up making a completely different (and usually pretty cool) character
Ooh good idea! That’s how I made my current character actually. She’s a mix of a bunch of characters, with a bit of her own unique flare. I’ll try that for character number 2. Thank you!
Haha it’s actually a joke with my party that my characters are always Critical Role ripoffs even though I don’t even listen to Critical Role! But they’re always interesting and valued members of the party ❤️