Players, Be Specific When Asking For Help With Your Characters

As someone who has run my share of RPGs, and who spends most of my time on forums and social media pages dedicated to various games, I've lost count of the number of players I've seen asking for advice on how to make a "good" character. What feats do you take to make a good fighter, what spells do you need to make a good wizard, what rogue talents make me the best rogue, and so on, and so forth.

The reason these requests always generate so many disagreements, though, is lack of specificity. Because what is "good" to one person giving advice is going to be useless to another, and vice versa. So if you take nothing else away from this week's update, remember this. Be specific when you ask for advice, and you might actually get tips that are useful for accomplishing your goals.

Narrow your goal, and you'll get targeted advice.

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What is "Good" Anyway?

The problem you'll run into when you ask for advice for making a "good" character (not capital-G Good, that's alignment, morality, etc.) is that there is no universal definition of what makes a character effective. Consider the age-old example of judging every animal by how well it can climb a tree... great if your goal is climbing trees smoothly and quickly, not so good if your goal is doing anything other than that.

I appreciate you can swim really well... but I need to leap this chasm.

Before the metaphor gets away from me, consider the question of what spells do you take to make a "good" wizard? You could ask a dozen different players, and get a dozen different answers. Some will lay out the best metamagic feats and evocation spells that will let you deal massive amounts of area-of-effect damage. Others will focus on spells that destroy single targets one at a time. Still others will lay out wizard spellbooks specifically made to weaken and debuff opponents, while different players will have a list that's entirely built to buff and protect their allies from harm.

All of these are valid options. The problem is that "good" is completely subjective here. One player heard it as, "make the biggest fireball/lightning bolt you can," while another heard, "reduce the enemy effectiveness so your allies can more easily mop them up." Another player heard, "one spell, one kill," while another interpreted it as, "turn your allies into titans!" None of these are wrong, but whether the listener's definition of a "good" build meshes with the definition of the person asking for advice can be sort of hit-or-miss.

That's why it's a good idea to think about what you actually want your character to be able to accomplish before you ask for advice. Whether you're going to a forum of 100k players, or just asking your Game Master for their input, results are always better when you ask specific questions.

For example:

- How do I deal the most damage with a melee weapon?

- What methods can I use as X class to increase my defense?

- What feats and archetypes for a cleric should I use to maximize my healing spells?

- What feats and rogue talents increase my ability to use the Stealth skill effectively?

You could get even more specific than these, or a little less specific if you have a particular goal (deal the most damage with a greatsword, for example) but you haven't locked in any specifics like class, species, etc. At the end of the day, however, you need to provide the parameters for what kind of advice you're actually looking for to be sure that you and your responders both have the same goals in mind.

You're probably still going to get your share of responders who ignore your specifics and just post what they think is a better solution (the "yeah, I know you're looking for fighter advice, but what you really want is a rogue/barbarian/alchemist with X, Y, and Z combos for this," folks) but it's easier to ignore them when they stepped outside the bounds that you laid for your request.

Speaking of "Better" Builds...

If you're looking for fresh tricks, I've got you covered.

I talked about this splat when it first dropped, but I don't want it vanishing into obscurity just yet. Sellswords of Sundara details 10 mercenary companies, providing their histories, uniform styles, combat doctrine, notable NPCs, as well as whispers and rumors about them to really add mystery to the game. And since we're talking about achieving specific goals today, each company has an archetype or subclass (depending on if you prefer the Pathfinder Classic or Dungeons and Dragons 5E version) that gives you unique abilities.

From characters who can be resurrected using animate dead, to monks that can punch spells out of the air, to old soldiers who can turn their age negatives into bonuses, there's all kinds of fun things in here you should check out. If you want a more in-depth discussion, take a look at my last Crunch post Breaking Down The New Tricks Available in "Sellswords of Sundara"!

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Don't Use Character Build Guides If You Aren't Familiar With The System

Thanks to the Internet, it's now possible for players to do more research than ever before when it comes to how to build their ideal character concept. We can talk with other players on social media, chat in forums, ask questions in discussion groups, and get references for everything we ever wanted to know. Additionally, we also have players writing their own guides for how to execute ideal character concepts. If you've ever been to my Character Conversions page, you've seen all 48 of the guides I've written for everything from Game of Thrones, to The Avengers, D.C. comics characters, and badasses of history.

Like this crazy son of a bitch right here!

A fun fact about all those conversions... my Character Conversions page is the most visited page on this blog, closely followed by my Crunch page. That makes sense, though. Since I primarily write about Pathfinder, and Pathfinder is a rules-dense game, readers are turning to me to point out the sections of interest. The bulk of my regular traffic comes from gamers who are looking for a guide to machete their way through this jungle of text, rule books, and minutiae.

That's fine, from where I'm sitting. I like knowing that my fellow gamers trust me enough to look at my thoughts, share my guides, and come back week after week to see what I'm doing now.

With that said, there is something I feel needs to be addressed. A caveat to all the content on my blog, in my guides, and on the Internet from other creators. There is nothing wrong with a player reading through these guides to find information that will help them build better characters. There's nothing wrong with just building the character as it's laid out in a guide. However, if you don't understand the mechanics in the post you're reading, do not bring that character to your table.

If you can't drive stick, don't get behind the wheel.

There Is No Shortcut to System Mastery

I will reiterate, a build guide can help you find your way to executing the character concept you want. But you need a certain amount of system mastery (which is a fancy term for saying you understand the rules, and you can apply them to your character) in order to use a guide properly.

I sense an example would help, here?

 

Let's take a basic example. Say you're talking with Dave, who's never played Pathfinder before. Dave wants to play a fighter, but he doesn't want to be one of those big, armored tanks. He wants to be a human who is light on his feet, and whose speed is what makes him deadly. You, as an experienced player, can tell him that he should take Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, and Slashing Grace as his three 1st-level feats, then he'll want to take Piranha Strike as his 2nd-level feat. Now imagine Dave nodding, and writing all that down.

The problem is that he has no idea what any of that means. Sure he can look those feats up, and read their wording, but if he's never played the game before, and he has no experience to draw on, he might not know what this text really means. Worse, he might get the wrong idea of how it works, which means he'll then have to unlearn his first impression. If you don't walk him through it, and explain it to him, there's a chance he's just going to be confused.

Now imagine that same scenario, but Dave is instead reading a guide that plots out a character from level 1 to level 15. He isn't getting the experience of building a character himself; he's just writing down what someone else told him without any real understanding of what these words mean, or how they go together. That's going to lead to problems sooner, rather than later.

We Can Be Wrong, Too

Here's a thing that a lot of players sometimes forget... we aren't special. Those of us who create content are players, just like you. Some of us are more experienced, or we spend more time reading the books, but we're just players. Sometimes we misread something, or we forget rules, or we just don't find out about an errata that has said no, that combination is not legal. We are only human.

If you are not familiar with the game system you're playing, though, you won't catch our mistakes. You may not see, for example, that a character with Slashing Grace can't also use his secondary natural attacks in the same round he benefited from that feat. We might have missed that a particular sorcerer bloodline power is listed as an extraordinary ability, instead of a spell-like ability, meaning it can't be modified with feats like Quicken Spell-Like Ability.

Our advice isn't perfect. Sometimes it's downright wrong. But if you aren't familiar enough with the system in question, then you won't know. And even if we do get everything right, you need to be able to take the advice we've given you, and properly apply it. For example, say that Dave decided he was going to play that greatsword-wielding tank after all. So he takes Power Attack, and Furious Focus. Problem is that when he hits level 6, and gets two attacks, he forgets that Furious Focus only removes the negative from the 1st attack he makes. It doesn't stop the Power Attack penalty from affecting his second attack, his attacks of opportunity, etc.

It's A Tool, Not A Cheat

When I was in high school, I used to tutor younger kids for pocket money. A problem I ran into time and time again was that my students just wanted me to give them the answers. The problem is that's like paying a personal trainer to work out for you. Sure, the work is still being done, but it isn't actually benefiting you.

I'm trying to teach you how to fight, because I'm not at your table to throw the punches for you.

 

So, if you want to use guides you find on the Internet for inspiration, go right ahead! I will never say no to more traffic on my Character Conversions or Crunch pages. However, what I recommend is that you take what I (or anyone else) has to say with a grain of salt. Look up the rules we're quoting, the feats we're suggesting, and the class abilities we're talking about. Make sure you can take those building blocks, and construct them into a character you understand how to play. Talk to your DM, and make sure they know what you're bringing to their table, and that you can explain to them how your abilities work.

If you can do that, then you're probably good to go.

We all make mistakes. If you're a newer player, or you just aren't familiar with a certain class of rules, don't just take a guide you found online at face value. Break it down, check the math, and make sure you can actually drive it once you bring it to the table.

Because we might have given you a Porsche, but if you don't have the system mastery, all you're going to do is grind gears on your way out of the parking lot. That's not what you want.

That's all for this Moon Pope Monday post. Hopefully some folks found in helpful, or at least insightful. We were all new once, so don't be afraid of a little book diving. It does you good. To keep up to date on my latest posts, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you'd like to help support me and my blog, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page today. Pledge $1 a month, and you'll get both my everlasting gratitude, and some sweet swag, too!

Why "Appeals to Fun" Are Pointless in RPG Discussions

As folks have noticed, when I'm not talking about RPGs themselves, I tend to talk about how we think about them. The language we use to describe our games, and what themes can expand or contract a game's focus, are some of my favorite topics. In fact, posts like Sexuality Matters in RPGs (And Here's Why) and Calm Down, No One is Taking Your Games Away are some of my most popular articles. So, since it's Monday, I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about something related to gaming, that isn't gaming itself.

In short, I would like to ask that all of us stop making appeals to fun as a way to try and win an argument, or to end a conversation whenever we're online and trying to score debate points.

Appeals to Fun (And Why They're Useless)

The entire point of playing RPGs is to have fun, and tell a story. If you're not having fun, chances are good you're going to quit playing, or find another game that fulfills your needs. However, an "appeal to fun" is something that shows up in conversations about RPGs, not in the games themselves.

And, since examples work best when illustrating a point, I'll use one for you.

Oh good, I was in danger of getting confused.

Let's say we're on a Facebook group dedicated to Pathfinder. A conversation springs up about mental health in adventurers. They have to face awful dangers, and they're often subjected to terrible stresses. Post-traumatic stress disorder seems like a surefire condition many of them might suffer from, though it's far from the only condition that might crop up. Alcoholism, drug addiction, violent acting out, and other symptoms are also discussed. Other people get in on the conversation, either arguing for or against why certain conditions would or wouldn't affect certain races, or whether or not magical treatment would be effective when it came to mental disorders.

And then, in the midst of discussion around this topic, someone chimes in with, "why are you getting so involved in this? It's a game, forget all of this and just have fun already!"

The problem with this sort of statement is that, clearly, someone is having fun with this idea. For some players, the idea of having to face serious repercussions for violent lives, and losing limbs and companions along the way, is engaging. It's the sort of thing they think will improve their roleplaying experience. For other players that aspect of the game might be a downer, getting in the way of what they consider to be the fun part of the game (the power fantasy that comes with slaying dragons and fighting gods, for example). Just as some players will dive face first into cosmic horror, or grimdark sci-fi, other players want something uplifting, or even funny, for their game's tone.

Most of the time when someone says, "just go have fun," what they mean is, "go have my kind of fun."

If It's Not Your Game, Walk Away

The definition of fun will change from one person to another. There is no single activity that everyone will enjoy. So if you're the sort of person who likes to relax with a book and your cat, you do you. If your friend likes to get hammered at the bars while belting our karaoke, good for him. But if your friend tries to get you to come along for his kind of fun, and you don't want to, telling you that if you go out with him you'll experience real fun is a massive logical fallacy. Just because you love something, that doesn't mean anyone else shares your opinion.

The sword is so you can fight off the hangover in the morning.

So the next time you're reading a conversation about gaming, and you think the people having this discussion are somehow missing the point, or they're more focused on rules or tone than having fun, remember this; for some people, that is the fun part.

If you don't have anything to actually contribute to the conversation, keep scrolling. Seriously, it will make your life so much easier, and the people who are actively engaged in what they're doing won't have to deal with comments from people who just want to step in, shout, "you're gaming wrong," before they leave again.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this Moon Pope Monday post. If you'd like to help keep Improved Initiative going, then why not drop by The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page? As little as $1 a month will help me keep producing content, and it will get you some sweet swag. Lastly, if you haven't done so yet, why not follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter?