ambercon 2006

[arrefmak]

So here comes the con.

Casual Question: how much do you all like/hate doing the 'homework' of designing/selecting characters and getting the gist of the scenario from the GM?

Or at what point does it stop being fun?

(And we won't talk about the folks who show up without their homework. No point.)

Comments

[colomon.livejournal.com]

Usually the only thing that gives me pause (as a player) is a character quiz -- it always takes me a bit of playing to really get into the feel of a character, and so it's hard to think of answers in advance, and I feel like they're often no longer valid after I have played the character a bit. (Well, and names are hard, but you can't really get around that.)

But then, I love creating characters... over the years now, I've created a number of characters for games I knew I'd never get to play in.

[egwenna.livejournal.com]

I enjoy the creation process. It's part of the build up to the Con and part of pulling the games together so they're richer. To me it always feels like the investment pays off. Most of the time, at least. I don't want hours of stuff for a single game, and complicated rules or extra 'hoops' can get tedious, but on a whole I like getting to know the GM and having a chance to meet the other players in advance.

[tryslora]

For me it's all a balance between fun and time. *wry smiles* The more stressed I am pre-con, and the less time I have, the less fun it is. But I'm also a fairly freeform player/GM, so I have a tendency to try to sketch out something that really snaps from the page in about three sentences, and then jump into it wholeheartedly.

Once the lists come out from the player perspective, I'll need to go back over things to find out what I need to make characters for. This year, I didn't even consider it past the ones where I already *knew* who I'd be playing and know I just need to hunt down the proper sheet to provide the GM and then form connections with the other PCs in the game.

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

I love it. Character creation is a big draw for me. I tend to not approach games that hand out character sheets at the door.

The one game I did play in with a 'given' character shows how interested I was in the game, and the premise of the game. That worked out well, too - but it was a very creative game, and the character was one with quirks I could identify with. The GMs were happy to let me add a quirk of my own, and off we went.

That said, now that I finally have built up a stable of characters, I find myself looking at games and thinking, Ah, that would be great for ___. I have no problem running versions of my characters tailored for games.

Typically, I won't put in as much time for a one-shot as I will for a sequential, unless the game itself is highly creative in premise.

But yeah. I love creating characters, and I am one that will get carried away and give you more than you ask for. (although not as bad as some I might name... *rolls eyes and grins*)

[corwin77.livejournal.com]

Regardless of whether I am the player or the GM I prefer character creation, you get a much wider range of characters than you would creating your own. Even though I consider myself fairly creative, I love getting surprised by characters.

[mcurry.livejournal.com]

I've started avoiding games that seem like they'll require too much in the way of character generation before the con, as in the past I've too often found myself in a situation where inspiration for an interesting character doesn't seem to want to coincide with the need to get one done in time for the convention. *wry look* I've become quite the fan of pregens for con games, both as a player and as a GM.

Frankly, I don't understand why people who don't like pre-convention character creation sign up for games where they know they'll be asked to create a character.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

I hate character quizzes for exactly that reason.

Apart from the damn quizzes, I'm happy to generate a character. I'm also happy to play pregens. But if you hand me a quiz, I'll be unhappy.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Let me add to this another point: I don't tend to have a lot of free time to prep stuff leading up to ACUS (I have to get a lot of things at my actual job to the point where I can take off for most of a week so I'm busy in the leadup), and while playing characters is fun, designing them can be more like work. So I prefer a simple design system, ideally where I can work with the GM if it's very different from standard Amber.

I don't mind putting a lot of lead time into my own games (though I admit I sometimes pick games that don't require a lot of lead time on purpose), but if someone emails me a 10-page character quiz my most likely reaction would be to switch games or ask for a pre-gen.

(No, I never liked doing character diaries either... writing is too much like work. ;-)

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Frankly, I don't understand why people who don't like pre-convention character creation sign up for games where they know they'll be asked to create a character.

Choice in some slots can be very limited if you aren't in a continuing campaign.

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

That's why we are pushing serials or sequentials...

[cochese.livejournal.com]

I don't mind making characters, but there's only so much I'm willing to read and learn for a game that I'm going to play once for 6 hours. Making an Amber character? Easy peasy. Making a Nobilis character? A little harder, but at least something I'm familiar with. It would be a bit much to ask others to do, though. Making a character from the newest diceless Marvel rules...? Ooo, bit tougher. Of course, I've broken that rule myself when running games with weird rules that I came up with. ;P

I'll put my lot with the love of pre-gens, though. While it does cut down on the diversity of characters, sometimes that's a good thing. If you're running a game where you tell everyone, "This is supposed to be an atmospheric film noir setting," then nothing toasts your grits more than having someone play something that doesn't fit the genre at all.

[arrefmak.livejournal.com]

Anticipating this is why this year I came up with three new games. It can be tough to find choices.

[himmaggery.livejournal.com]

I think from reading everyone else's answers, your mileage is going to really vary on this Arref.

Myself, I have really enjoyed some pre-generating characters, and I have really enjoyed some "pre-created" characters.

I will always have delightful memories of EGB and that was a prepared character prior to the Con.

I agree with Tlatoni and Colomon; quizes suck because they try to fill a void and fail miserably at it, because the actual characters will drift very quickly from whatever results the quiz indicates. That makes the quiz a waste of time. The waste of time is the bigger sin, because its better to offer Pre-Gen material rather than ask for something that won't end up being useful to the experience. Quizes mean well, but they don't do the job.

So.. instead of giving you a useless dumb-ass answer like your "mileage will vary", let me turn this question back around at you from a different angle.

What might be important is how much you can incorporate this Pre-Con material into your game? You ask for it up front, can you really use it to its full potential? Because that is the pay-off for your players: they have a wonderful time and they love what you did with their stuff.

I've also gone to games where I slaved for a month with the GM in e-mail and not a damn bit of it ever got used. :) That made me try Pre-Generated characters. Now I like BOTH styles of games, lucky me! I learned something at least, and in retrospect that isn't so bad. :)

Maybe its a balance act, asking no more than what you can really use.

Hope this helps.

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head, I think I should be able to start-to-finish create a character in half the time I expect to play the character.

So, for a 6 hour con-game, I expect to be done in less than 3 hours.

For a campaign that runs 6 hours every week for 5 years, I'll put in a good deal more time.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Like very many here I dislike character quizzes. The character only really settles out in play.

I do like making my own characters in advance for con games, though. I have time to think up bits of background that sing for me, like "He has upwards of 30 first cousins and they mostly work at a laundromat", which are not necessarily going to be the things asked in a quiz. But they are the things that, singing, I hope will maybe get a nod in the game.

Characters created at the con, or pregens, usually don't live on in my heart after, though my character from drusni's Pit of Vipers game last year is a huge exception.

I don't like the worry of emailing the other players before the con to set up backstory. I'm happy to exchange 2-3 emails with the GM, but 12-15 emails as you track down the other players is too much, and again, it's very hard to see how characters will interact until they actually hit play. Backstory is best done in 15 minutes at the start of the slot. Much better chance of striking sparks from everyone being engaged at once.

[notshakespeare.livejournal.com]

Oh - one more point. If a pre-gen is handed out at the con, I should be able to memorize all the info very quickly (which means a short description) and I should have an obvious hook to get me involved. I actually prefer a well written pre-gen for this reason.

If this is BYOC, I've discovered that most GMs will only spend so much time memorizing your character and most won't alter their plot to suck in your character.

When I was GMing Champions, my standard rule was pre-gens for conventions in order to achieve balance. BYOC for campaigns, with the expectation that you should build it in steps to avoid duplicating someone else's role in the team.

[drusni.livejournal.com]

Generally, I don't like 'homework' much. This is because I usually play only one-shots, and my tolerance of homework to game-time ratio is very small. If I'm going to play a character for 4 hours, I want to be done generating the character in 30 minutes tops - including all the time spent on writing emails to the GM about said character. After all, I usually have a number of games to prep myself, plus the trials of 'real life' that intrude. And because I know my own time crunches all too well, I rarely sign up for more than 2 games that require homework for the con. Pregen or modified existing characters work fine otherwise.

The proliferation of homework in the last 5 years has made me very picky about what games I sign up for. If I need to make an Amber character, easy. If I have to look at your website to see your customized game system, read it for half an hour, write a character, run it past you, re-write the portions I got wrong, exchange another dozen email about it... well at that point it just isn't worth it. I would much rather play and get to know the character that way than spend hours making up a character that I play once!

[drusni.livejournal.com]

Characters created at the con, or pregens, usually don't live on in my heart after, though my character from drusni's Pit of Vipers game last year is a huge exception.

Wow, glad to hear it! she was certainly a lot of fun to 'see' play.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Yes -- and it's improved things quite a lot. And I'm not really complaining, since I'm part of the problem as I'm not running anything this year. Just stating.

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I talk to the chorus alot. Often my comments aren't intended for where they land. This is one of those. Didn't mean it as a poke, meant it as a "Look! See!"

Damn, it's hard to type with a sticky 't' key. Stopid me, spilling soda on my keyboard...

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

If I have to look at your website to see your customized game system, read it for half an hour, write a character, run it past you, re-write the portions I got wrong, exchange another dozen email about it... well at that point it just isn't worth it. I would much rather play and get to know the character that way than spend hours making up a character that I play once!

Same here. One thing I'll do in a situation like this is tell the GM "okay, this is what I'd like to do, how will this work" and let them figure it out since it's their system. They're usually good about this.

I don't mind learning new systems or have the hate of systems generally that some in the Amber community have developed; I kind of like them, and I have a large game library because I like reading them. But, like you, I don't want to go through a massive ramp-up for a 4-6 hour game, at a time when I'm trying to get everything else in shape (including, most years, a few games I'm GMing) so I can go to the con without getting frantic emails or phone calls from work.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

No worries. I didn't take it as a poke, I took it as discussion of how the problem's being addressed.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

quizes suck because they try to fill a void and fail miserably at it, because the actual characters will drift very quickly from whatever results the quiz indicates. That makes the quiz a waste of time.

Yes! Exactly! Plus, to me, most of them feel manipulative. They're head games. It's like taking a g*ddamn Voight-Kampf test (Bladerunner reference) for your character.