Spent well over 20 out of 27 hours playing in Character Creation.. Help!

[Flops]

So uh, hi everyone. I'm having some slight issues with character creation.

I'm experiencing fairly horrid reroll syndrome / OCD and absolutely cannot bring myself to play the game because sooner or later something about my character just seems off, wrong, unconvincing or just mechanically unsound and worthless. The farthest I've gotten with a single character so far? Gilded Vale. ENTERING Gilded Vale, that is.

The amount of different options and mechanics means that it's basically impossible to create a character that would have all of its aspects be in harmony with eachother. You can either have character that's actually worth half a damn gameplay-wise OR a character that's interesting and seems to come to life on its own, not both. Unless you consult dozens of guides and how-to's, of course.. But that just feels wrong.

The inherent fault here probably lies with the fact that you have to fabricate the entirety of the character's background at the kick-off. Contrast that with say, Baldur's Gate where most of your character's background and traits exist only in the currents of the player's imagination. There's very little emergence here, in contrast. I find myself constantly trying to abide by this preset make-believe background and it just claws at my mind how much that limits my enjoyment.

Very few of the gameplay mechanics are explained beforehand. A perfect character otherwise might very well get simply gored later on because you tried to spice it up a little. I'd rather not fall into min-maxing and constant cookie-cutter builds because that would gnaw at my enjoyment of the storyline incredibly much.

I just.. Ugh. I feel like I threw forty denars down the drain. I quite simply cannot cope with this. To find any enjoyment, I'd have to spend tens of hours studying the game, spoiling the plot completely and crafting a perfect character that has a fully pre-built lifespan from the beginning to the end. I've experienced the same feeling before with other games of course, but none quite as severe as here. But I suppose that this is the eternal curse of having to try and make something a story as well as a game system at the same time.

Is anyone else going through something like this or am I just mad?

[Macrae]

I had the same feeling when I rolled my role-playing-oriented 12-might, 10-con, 12-dex, 14-per, 16-int, 16-res (something like that) fighter. I thought at the time that he would be very weak when hitting things.

But actually what really happens in the game is that you find just the right amount of items that give you bonuses where you need them, which in my case was mainly might and dex. So, just roll a char according to what you like the most, and complete the rest with items..

[Odd Hermit]

Ah yes analysis paralysis, I get this too. Why I got the beta actually, so I could know upon release generally what I wanted.

 

Any game with a complex combat and character building system is gonna take some time to figure out and you will make mistakes your first run through.

 

I spent 200 hours in the beta and I still ended up with some dumb choices my first play through the release version.

 

 

Take a generally tried and true build(there are plenty of recommendations around) of a class you like the theme of, play the game through, and then the second time you can be OCD about everything once you actually learn enough to judge. You're never going to figure it out without actual in-game experience.

[Horrorscope]

Some assumptions, if it doesn't fit you move past, it's for the other guy with a similar issue, that dude right there...

 

Just look at it this way, your parents put around 15 minutes into you and let'r rip, flaws and all with a lot of pride.

 

Sounds like some paranoia's going on. When all the cute girls jump in the lake naked, do you tell them give me a few hours to analyze? Perhaps the water is too cold.

[VioNectro]

So uh, hi everyone. I'm having some slight issues with character creation.

 

I'm experiencing fairly horrid reroll syndrome / OCD and absolutely cannot bring myself to play the game because sooner or later something about my character just seems off, wrong, unconvincing or just mechanically unsound and worthless. The farthest I've gotten with a single character so far? Gilded Vale. ENTERING Gilded Vale, that is.

 

The amount of different options and mechanics means that it's basically impossible to create a character that would have all of its aspects be in harmony with eachother. You can either have character that's actually worth half a damn gameplay-wise OR a character that's interesting and seems to come to life on its own, not both. Unless you consult dozens of guides and how-to's, of course.. But that just feels wrong.

 

The inherent fault here probably lies with the fact that you have to fabricate the entirety of the character's background at the kick-off. Contrast that with say, Baldur's Gate where most of your character's background and traits exist only in the currents of the player's imagination. There's very little emergence here, in contrast. I find myself constantly trying to abide by this preset make-believe background and it just claws at my mind how much that limits my enjoyment.

 

Very few of the gameplay mechanics are explained beforehand. A perfect character otherwise might very well get simply gored later on because you tried to spice it up a little. I'd rather not fall into min-maxing and constant cookie-cutter builds because that would gnaw at my enjoyment of the storyline incredibly much.

 

I just.. Ugh. I feel like I threw forty denars down the drain. I quite simply cannot cope with this. To find any enjoyment, I'd have to spend tens of hours studying the game, spoiling the plot completely and crafting a perfect character that has a fully pre-built lifespan from the beginning to the end. I've experienced the same feeling before with other games of course, but none quite as severe as here. But I suppose that this is the eternal curse of having to try and make something a story as well as a game system at the same time.

 

Is anyone else going through something like this or am I just mad?

I think it is important to realize in this game talents weight more than attributes, so your only true character creation choice that I would say you seriously need to pay attention to is your race (for their racial abilities), and your class depending on what you want to play. Sure you can fret over how to max damage etc, but from I've personally found that is achieved by leveling and talent assignment.

[Odd Hermit]

I think it is important to realize in this game talents weight more than attributes, so your only true character creation choice that I would say you seriously need to pay attention to is your race (for their racial abilities), and your class depending on what you want to play. Sure you can fret over how to max damage etc, but from I've personally found that is achieved by leveling and talent assignment.

 

 

This isn't true. For some classes, talents have more weight, for others attributes do.

 

Intellect is a huge deal for spell casters. +50% duration on spell durations > any talent or even several talents. It's the single most important thing for me on Priest. I would spend talents on +Intellect if I could.

[Emptiness]

Is anyone else going through something like this or am I just mad?

 

When I hear you saying things like "OCD", "absolutely cannot bring myself to play the game", "A perfect character", "I quite simply cannot cope with this.", "I'd have to [... craft] a perfect character", and "I've experienced the same feeling before", I do think perhaps you may be suffering from a mental illness.  Of course, it could also be that you are simply demonstrating a flare for the dramatic.

 

Start a new game on easy difficulty and pick character creation options that sound interesting to you.  Don't worry about trying to design a perfect character, because any character you make will be able to do fine.  You're going to find companions to adventure with you, and how you use your party is more important to your success than any of the decisions you make in character creation or when leveling up your characters.  The point of playing the game is to enjoy it; focus on the story and the decisions you make related to that.  As you play, your character's identity will solidify based on the decisions you make, on how you handle the situations presented to you by the game - so it's okay if your character's identity is a little hazy or not completely established at the very start.

 

Once you finish the game, if you want to play it again on a harder difficulty level then you will have learned in your first playthough the sort of things that you would want to know about the game system in order to design a character for a harder difficulty level.

[endruwiggin]

Play a dumb character, 20 might, 20 desterity, 20 con, 5 int, or something like that.

Role play your way to take off the burden of understanding everything about the lore, and u'll get it eventually.

Things do get clearer the more advance in the game, its sort of like Planescape:Torment, it takes like until 80% of the game till u reach the real understading of whats happening

 

Also, 20 hours is nothing.

I spend years in character creation on baldurs gate.

damn those low rolling dices!! i want 92 and up!!!

[dorkboy]

Say "Thanks, OCD, but I'm on to you.. You just want to keep me from enjoying my game." 

[Flops]

I do think perhaps you may be suffering from a mental illness.  Of course, it could also be that you are simply demonstrating a flare for the dramatic.

A dash from column A, a heaping helping from column B to be honest- I have an odd penchant for histrionics sometimes.

 

Everyone's given magnificent advice though, I see I'm not the only one who's had the same affliction before!

 

Maybe I'll just have my first playthrough on easy and try my best to relax with a character that has a fairly simple concept going on

[HozzM]

OP, I have the same problem with almost every RPG, but not to your extent. 

 

I created one of every class in the Backer Beta and I still was not sure what I wanted to play upon release.  I knew I was gonna play on Hard, no expert or trial of Iron but that was about all I decided on.  I tried to choose from Monk, Barb, Rogue since those were the three classes not represented by the 8 companions.  So, started a Death Godlike Rogue.  Stopped playing him due to double click removes passive bug.  Have not started him again due to Reckless Assault character sheet suppression spam.  This guy got to level 4.

 

 

Started a Hearth Orlan Druid next.  I like Druids too, and they were super charged in the BB.   Got him to level 3ish.  Stopped playing because of double click passive bug.

 

Started a Ranger next.  I thought Rangers were weak in the BB, and still on the back half of the power curve for the 11 classes, but thematically I like the idea of a Ranger.   This dude is in Act II at level 6.

 

Started a Moon Godlike Paladin next, or maybe before the Ranger?  I go back and forth between these two games pretty much.  This guy earlier in Act 2 and level 5 I think.

 

Lastly, at some point I started a Aumaua Barb.  21 Might, heavy hitter.  Carnage is cool but I don't play the class well and am always close to dead.

 

Anyway.  I don't really have any advice except to force yourself to pick a class and dive in.  Maybe play Trial of Iron?  I wouldnt normally recommend that level of masochism to anyone but in your case if you are gonna be constantly second guessing yourself it might actually help you play the game.

[Gallenger]

I remember when I was younger I replayed the opening segment of BG1 probably 60 or more times.  I had literally hundreds of BG characters.  I was a weirdo.

 

Then a game called Torment came out, and I was so utterly unconcerned with the character creation, I just went ahead and played through the game - and I've never looked back since.  I just make a character, and for better or worse, we're going through the game that way lol. 

 

Usually that means, especially so early in a game, the character is far less than optimal, but that adds to the fun for me for some reason - because you have accidental self-imposed handicaps lol. 

 

My WL2 party was *abysmal* from a PG perspective, but we still beat the game and I had plenty of fun along the way lol. 

 

Then when you replay you can take everything you learned and go ham and do everything *just* so lol. 

Edited April 6, 2015 by Gallenger

[Jojobobo]

I do think in some ways more information could have been provided on the attributes, I rerolled my first Ranger as I didn't realise Might would affect damage.

[sparklecat]

You will not render yourself unable to finish the game by making your PC basically useless from a combat pov; your other party members can pick up the slack and you can turn down the difficulty, if need be.  Build something that works for you for roleplaying, stick them in the back with a ranged weapon if they're getting slaughtered, and ignore the rest for now.

[bobthe]

So uh, hi everyone. I'm having some slight issues with character creation.

 

I'm experiencing fairly horrid reroll syndrome / OCD and absolutely cannot bring myself to play the game because sooner or later something about my character just seems off, wrong, unconvincing or just mechanically unsound and worthless. The farthest I've gotten with a single character so far? Gilded Vale. ENTERING Gilded Vale, that is.

 

The amount of different options and mechanics means that it's basically impossible to create a character that would have all of its aspects be in harmony with eachother. You can either have character that's actually worth half a damn gameplay-wise OR a character that's interesting and seems to come to life on its own, not both. Unless you consult dozens of guides and how-to's, of course.. But that just feels wrong.

 

The inherent fault here probably lies with the fact that you have to fabricate the entirety of the character's background at the kick-off. Contrast that with say, Baldur's Gate where most of your character's background and traits exist only in the currents of the player's imagination. There's very little emergence here, in contrast. I find myself constantly trying to abide by this preset make-believe background and it just claws at my mind how much that limits my enjoyment.

 

Very few of the gameplay mechanics are explained beforehand. A perfect character otherwise might very well get simply gored later on because you tried to spice it up a little. I'd rather not fall into min-maxing and constant cookie-cutter builds because that would gnaw at my enjoyment of the storyline incredibly much.

 

I just.. Ugh. I feel like I threw forty denars down the drain. I quite simply cannot cope with this. To find any enjoyment, I'd have to spend tens of hours studying the game, spoiling the plot completely and crafting a perfect character that has a fully pre-built lifespan from the beginning to the end. I've experienced the same feeling before with other games of course, but none quite as severe as here. But I suppose that this is the eternal curse of having to try and make something a story as well as a game system at the same time.

 

Is anyone else going through something like this or am I just mad?

 

A few comments. One, just because the char gen system asks you to make some decisions about your character background doesn't mean that has to fully define your character. Maybe you came from a pirate background but the horrors seen during the plot that unfolds in-game makes you a better person. Or maybe it makes you a worse person. Background is just that: background, subject to change and grow just as real people do. So pick something you like for a background and don't worry too much about it restricting your character's personality. If you're defining your character's entire personality based on the two very high-level things in char gen that relate to it then you are not roleplaying at all, you're just reading the words on your character and assuming that's all there is to him or her.

 

Regarding your comment about a perfect character...if a char gen system lets you make a perfect character it's probably broken. Each build will have different strengths and weaknesses. I'm not sure what you mean by "You can either have character that's actually worth half a damn gameplay-wise OR a character that's interesting and seems to come to life on its own, not both." You have even stated that you've barely made it into the game so what makes you think you can judge this already? They actually do a pretty good job of making all the attributes affect NPC reactions and dialogue in various situations. Plus there's an entirely in-game reputation system (i.e. not defined at all during char gen) that also affects NPC reactions and dialogue options. I think this is an unwarranted concern on your part.

 

Regarding: "I feel like I threw forty denars down the drain. I quite simply cannot cope with this. To find any enjoyment, I'd have to spend tens of hours studying the game, spoiling the plot completely and crafting a perfect character that has a fully pre-built lifespan from the beginning to the end." - I'm not even sure where to begin. What makes you feel like this would be necessary?

[Emptiness]

Maybe play Trial of Iron?

 

I started out with Trial of Iron, thinking it would add something for a first playthough.  I did enjoy the feeling it gave me, that sense that everything I was doing was irreversible and thus important.  Then I encountered a group of enemies that was too tough for me and boom - all gone.  I restarted in the hope that it was a fluke, but again, several hours invested, I ran across a different encounter that ended my game.  There are just some places where the threat level of the foes you meet are just suddenly higher than any of the others in the area, and running into those foes prematurely with little to no experience with the game is going to end badly.

 

I lost like 5ish hours to those two missteps, and it was very painful and frustrating.  I gave up on Trial of Iron because I realized that playing it means that sooner or later you're going to have like 50 hours invested in a game and lose it to one little mistake.  That's not the solution to the OP's problems.  No one's going to be able to relax and let mistakes happen when the mistakes carry such a severe consequence.

 

Maybe sometime I will give Trial of Iron another shot.  If I do, it won't be until I know every encounter like the back of my hand and I breeze through the game without a drop of sweat.

[eggdogg]

I have spent a lot of time with Pillars thinking and reading but NOT playing. For me it has everything to do with a "new system." With D&D games you could just hit the ground running because, for the most part, the mechanics were the same. I was playing Blackguards prior to Pillars and, having never used the Dark Eye system, I spent a lot of time rerolling. New system = time figuring it out...for me.  

[Veradrox]

^{So uh, hi everyone. I'm having some slight issues with character creation.}

 

I'm experiencing fairly horrid reroll syndrome / OCD and absolutely cannot bring myself to play the game because sooner or later something about my character just seems off, wrong, unconvincing or just mechanically unsound and worthless. The farthest I've gotten with a single character so far? Gilded Vale. ENTERING Gilded Vale, that is.

 

The amount of different options and mechanics means that it's basically impossible to create a character that would have all of its aspects be in harmony with eachother. You can either have character that's actually worth half a damn gameplay-wise OR a character that's interesting and seems to come to life on its own, not both. Unless you consult dozens of guides and how-to's, of course.. But that just feels wrong.

 

The inherent fault here probably lies with the fact that you have to fabricate the entirety of the character's background at the kick-off. Contrast that with say, Baldur's Gate where most of your character's background and traits exist only in the currents of the player's imagination. There's very little emergence here, in contrast. I find myself constantly trying to abide by this preset make-believe background and it just claws at my mind how much that limits my enjoyment.

 

Very few of the gameplay mechanics are explained beforehand. A perfect character otherwise might very well get simply gored later on because you tried to spice it up a little. I'd rather not fall into min-maxing and constant cookie-cutter builds because that would gnaw at my enjoyment of the storyline incredibly much.

 

I just.. Ugh. I feel like I threw forty denars down the drain. I quite simply cannot cope with this. To find any enjoyment, I'd have to spend tens of hours studying the game, spoiling the plot completely and crafting a perfect character that has a fully pre-built lifespan from the beginning to the end. I've experienced the same feeling before with other games of course, but none quite as severe as here. But I suppose that this is the eternal curse of having to try and make something a story as well as a game system at the same time.

 

Is anyone else going through something like this or am I just mad?

 

^{I read that whole thing. But I don't think you understand what you are getting when you first create a character in a game like this. Whether it be some form of D&D character creation of something a little different in a game like this. Basically when you create a character for the first time you are not going to be able to make a "perfect character" you're really make a base foundation. The perfect character come way later in the game. As you go and level up, see the character die, rest, win tough battles then the character will start to really take shape.  At the start you are really only adding what? The first parts of creation like rolls on stats or perks/feats really are just there for a base to get you over the hump of the first 25% of the game. After that then that's where you can really start looking in depth to the mechanics of spells abilities so on... not at the beginning.  And this comes from someone that truly loves making characters in games like these. I've always found that the best time to really make a character "perfect" isn't the first playthrough.} 

 

^{I see though that you mostly want a character or group that can have a life and background of its own? Well its not going to happen in a game like this. Visually seeing them, with set dialogue and quests, your more likely to find what you want in a regular game of D&D, you want options and harmony try playing D&D pencil and paper you'll have your perfect characters there.}

[Starthief]

I'm well into Act 2 and regretting some of my choices (though not so much at initial character creation as later selections).  But it's still going pretty well, and I'm too caught up in the story now to want to start over at this point.

In many RPGs I notoriously spend more time creating characters than playing them; I want to try everything all at once and I never get far.  Or in MMO terms, I have a dozen alts and no main.  So I'm kind of proud of myself for only starting Pillars three times, then going back and sticking with the first one.

[DocDoomII]

Well, let me put it this way.

 

I created a Ranger. Rather quickly. Then I finished the first  chapter at hard. Just to get the gist of it.

Now, while waiting for more patches to fix stuff, I recreated the same character over and over again, changing stats, backgrounds, **** like that.

I think I might have spent at least 20 hours in the character builder alone and I'm still not 100% of what I'll create for my real playthrough at Path of the Damned.

[Monte Carlo]

Although the OP wins my current #firstworldproblems crown, I am prepared to offer a possible solution. Do not let it be said I am anything but benevolent to people with ludicrously small dilemmas, but we are all gaemers together. 

 

1. Make a character that is the most aesthetically pleasing. You'll be looking at him / her / twitter objection a long time.

 

2. This game allows you to make some seriously low-micro, low-maintenance characters. Create a high intelligence and perception fighter. Not only is this a strong class, but those stats will give you great dialogue choices.

 

3. Adventure and make a party that mixes some of the interesting NPCs and some home-made characters (you can swap them in or out) of the sort you might have otherwise made.

 

4. Enjoy.

[Yonjuro]

1. Roll a completely random character.

2. Beat the game. 

3. Umm, ..., profit! ?

[Emptiness]

1. Roll a completely random character.

2. Beat the game. 

3. Umm, ..., profit! ?

 

Shouldn't one of the middle steps be "Magic happens."?

[dirkdivac]

OP, I am right there with you.  I have spent far more time reading the forums and creating characters than playing the game.  It drives me crazy too.  I have this problem in Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, KOTOR, etc. as well.  I love RPGs, but then I can't get past the tutorial area before I start thinking this PC can't unlock chests or this PC doesn't do enough damage, etc.  I have created 10+ characters and have only gotten to Gilded Vale myself.

 

I have no idea why I am like this, I have never been diagnosed, but I suspect I do have some mental illness or another.  ****...I wish I could just play the damn game.

[Faerunner]

I used to have the same problem. I spent the first five or six days after PoE came out doing nothing but restarting and replaying the same character, or trying different race and class combinations and backgrounds because they all looked so interesting, or I wanted the ones I really liked to be really perfect, and was just going nowhere fast.

 

1) To settle the race/class indecision, I wrote them all down on a list and went through process of elimination. Wrote down all the races I wanted to play (Orlan, Nature Godlike, Death Godlike, Wood Elf, Pale Elf, and Boreal Dwarf), all the classes (Ranger, Druid, Chanter, Cipher, etc), and all the desired backgrounds (Hunter, Explorer, Drifter, Slave). Then I combined them in a way that would cost the least amount of playthroughs. (Wild Orlan Ranger, Nature Godlike Druid, Death Godlike Cipher, Wood Elf Chanter, etc). Each step of the way I also mentally put them in order from the ones I most wanted to play to the ones I least wanted to play, and slowly bumped off the ones I was less interested in or put them on the list.

 

2) To settle the perfectionism dilemma, I made what I wanted to be my "perfect" character, and then made another one who wasn't supposed to be perfect to "scout ahead." That is, an imperfect character to play the game first so she can make all the mistakes so the perfect character would make all the "right ones". 

 

The race and class I was most looking forward to was the Wild Orlan and Ranger. So, I had serious OCD "restart syndrome" with the Wild Orlan Ranger, constantly going back to fix little errors or tweak little stats or abilities. I couldn't progress passed Gilded Vale since I kept restarting over and over. So, I made a second character out of a race and class I also liked but wasn't crazy about (Earth Godlike Druid). Since it didn't matter that she wasn't perfect since I never intended for her to be perfect, it was much easier to play through the game without feeling pressured to restart. And now, knowing what to expect, my ranger can make the ideal decisions.

 

3) I also noticed that every class as different "non-combat stats." For example, while Rangers have gold stars next to Might and Dex (combat stats), they have dull stars next to... I think Intelligence and Perception. So, rather than min/making Might and Dex like originally planned, I put some points into Int and Per; just enough to flavor the conversation. She won't consistently make 14+ Intelligence or Perception checks in conversations, but if it calls for basic 12 or 13 checks, she can do it. By contrast, Druid and Cipher have HIGH Intelligence requirements. SO, I'm okay with my Ranger not being able to make that 17 Int dialogue option in one NPC conversation, but when I run through again with my Godlike Cipher? She'll be able to make it.

 

 

To sum up: You KNOW the character is not going to be perfect in the first playthrough, so stop torturing yourself. Stop trying to chase an ideal you know will never be a reality. Find a way around it. Find a way to "trick" yourself into accepting an imperfect character.

 

In my case, I settled indecision over which race/class to play first by putting them in a list, going down the list, and deciding which I wanted most by process of elimination. I settled my perfectionism by making the intended "perfect character" and then made another one who wasn't intended to be perfect, so I didn't feel the need to restart by playing her. I'm able to experience the story and make the uncertain decisions with the "imperfect character," deal with the fallout, and then know better for when the "perfect character" comes around.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Faerunner