How to do pregens?

[Milos Gulan]

This is my first poll ever I have been doing sorting of mods and most of them use pregens in their own way, though I wish they are used a bit better and that beside for level of adventure if only pregen is used I wish there is also used a level for adventure. Now I am trying to fix that and it seems it will take a lot of time. Anyway just a thought about pregens, I like to have pregens but adventures shouldn't be really made for them. I guess best example is Dragonlance, which is made for the company of the lance. Though I like Company of the lance for me is bad when they have to be the main characters of the story. I would much better like that they just show up like Elminster and help characters about things that need to be done and have their own part of the story that they do. Anyway now remembering Fizban will just post a nice pic as I am missing playing some Dragonlance it seems



Anyway here is song i like too Roxette How do you do? that was playing in my head while I was thinking of this though Cascada verison but it seems I can't find nice one to post here so http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoxRCyZPUq8

[bravedogbfg]

I don't think there is a best way.  It really depends on the story.  All in all, I would avoid pre-gens in most scenarios. 

If the character's background is integrally involved with the story, then you should go pre-gen.

If it doesn't really matter, then let the player make their own characters.

[hans]

I've probably used pre-gens more than any other author, with the possible exception of Harri Polsa. 

Pre-gens, as mentioned, are most useful to an author when the story's background and pre-existing relationships really require one.  All the SHUA mods, thus far, have used pre-gen parties (Doc Sabre's pre-SHUA superhero mod, Super Defenders not counting).  Steve Gustafson's The Adventures of Wonder Woman allowed players to create a character to adventure with his pre-made Wonder Woman, or use a second pre-gen, instead.  Someday, I hope to do a big, make-your-own-superheroes mod, but that's still far down the road. 

Pre-gens are also useful for mini-mods, where authors are spared the trouble of character creating when that labor might take longer than actually playing the mod. 

If a mod has well-written pre-gens, like Paddi Whisperleaf or Millar Jade or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the X-Men, I doubt many players will mind the imposition.

[Ray]

I tend to come down on the side of avoiding pre-gens, mainly because of the regrettable decision to keep NPCs out of the player's hands in FRUA's AI.  If I choose to play without a paladin in my group, it annoys me that that also translates into choosing not to have any say in the actions of NPCs I meet along the way.  Memories of Akabar Bel Akash unloading his entire arsenal of spells against the first band of drow in Haptooth come directly to memory.  FRUA kept that, and so made NPCs a very frustrating experience.

As for pre-gens who are actual PCs, made and saved before hand, I rarely see the point.  For the contest mods I entered, pre-gens made it possible to play each installment without playing the entire series.  Aside from that, I've rarely found the need to impose that much on the player.  I think my vanilla mod Homecoming is the only exception.

As a player I tend to avoid games that rely on pre-gens for these reasons unless they come from an author I admire, like Nol or Kaz-Keith (among others, of course).

[nologgie]

They are actually needed in some scenarios, but I usually prefer scenarios where they aren't.

While there are a few notable exceptions, I usually prefer not having them.

[Milos Gulan]

Well I have to say I like nicely done pregens though probably I would use them only if I need to or maybe just to see how they are done as i like having interesting NPCs/pregens with some story about them. Anyway I haven't used FRUA to make any mods but I think the best way to have pregens is like in DC as NPC and pregens too, though I guess I wouldn't like to meet NPC that is same as a pregen that I have in party.

Still I think it is nice to have pregens and I was thinking about making a collection of already made pregens that can be used with FRUA and for DC too. I hope that would be ok to make a collection of already made pregens and sort them by level.

[nologgie]

If you like pregens, use them.     Making FRUA pregens for characters or to replace the NPC slots is pretty easy.  I recommend holding off on DC until the changes are settled.

[Milos Gulan]

ok, but i will do just the story at least.

[GoldBoxFan]

This poll seems to be two questions combined, one for pregens and one for NPCs. I only use pregens if the story is about them. I am a take whatever rolls you get the first time D&Der, so only remembering spells would take time (unless you start with no equipment).

For NPCs, I like giving you a companion at low levels to help keep you alive. As in HMC1 I have 3 possible animal NPCs. HMC2 has a human NPC you can let join you. (Still converting these two.) Most of my modules do not include companions, though the GWC series is single player, so you can gain up to three.

In The Retracting Ice an NPC gave you information on the dungeon from their perspective. And helped you as long as your goals coincided.

On the other hand, I was playing Champions of Krynn and Caramon appeared only to give conversation before disappearing. Haven't gotten past Throtl.

I also save all characters from designs I have played to use in other designs. I tend to start with a 1st level party and work my way through a series of modules that get increasingly harder. So I don't make new characters unless someone dies and I can't bring them back.

[Milos Gulan]

It might be. I was thinking about Pregenerated PCs but for me they are somehow also similiar to NPCs. I also think in tabletop role playing any NPC can become pregen PC if needed, so I guess it is similiar in FRUA/DC too. So I guess any NPC can become PC when player starts running him in FRUA/DC thus becoming Pregen PC for the party, this assumes that he is no longer NPC and stays with party. I am not sure how this should be treated but if party replaces him with another he probably returns to NPC status. There I hope I said it good

[Null Null]

For dealing with the uncontrolled NPC problem, I suggest using the offsets in CKITDOCS to give automatic control to players at level 1. You can set this to the class of the pregen (this was set to magic-user in Library of Segrob) or cleric if no pregens exist, as most parties will have some sort of cleric.