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Premade vs Original Characters

DeRe

DeRe

Supernova
Joined
Mar 19, 2013
Do you have a preference for premade vs original characters? Traditionally, I firmly leaned into the latter. In my tabletop days I believed premade characters were for conventions or one-shots only, and the idea of playing them as a main felt unsatisfying. Creating one's character is often a huge appeal of roleplaying to begin with. But as time draws on I find myself intrigued by the challenge of playing premade ones, because there's something stimulating about finding ways to bring them to life.

Where is your position on this question? Are you exclusive to one or the other, or indifferent to the same?
 
Original characters for mine.

Pre-made characters...I'm not invested in them. For Tabletop games they're useful for getting to know a new system, but because I didn't create them, they're not mine.

I can understand the appeal of trying to make something of a pre-made character, though...but it depends on just how much has been given to the pre-made. If the pre-made comes with a backstory, then it lessens the appeal; if it's little more than the character mechanics, then I can flesh it out some and adopt it.
 
I like taking premade characters more often; working with them is like creating your own DLC for characters and diverging from canon events, or following up on them after the main story is over. It's a good challenge; some characters are far more difficult to grasp and portray believably than others, butt I can't get enough of taking premade characters someone else made and giving my own interpretation of their story a go, or just creating new dilemmas to resolve. I love asking "What If" and building a story around that just as much as I love changing the fate of characters entirely.
 
I almost always prefer my partner to have an original character. Mainly because either I've never heard of the original or if I have they don't play them like I think they should. Hypocritically I am 100% fine with playing canon characters. So for example, I'm happy to play Batgirl for someone but I don't want them to be the Joker or any other canon character. Well, very rarely.
 
I love original characters. I think premade is okay in things like video games where dialogue and actions are more controlled. At times an Avatar can feel as though it has a lack of emotion and personality (I'm looking at you Byleth). That said, in roleplaying and things like Dungeons and Dragons, I get more attached and interested in my own characters, other characters, and the story when they are original.
 
Depends what's premade. Fandom? Yes, I love it. And I develop them along.
Archetypes, no way.
 
original all the way. I mean premade can be fun but I never really put my all into them. I love tailoring characters to the RP and the person I’m writing with.

If I’m playing tabletop or adopting for short time sure bit my preference is OC
 
I've done both but I feel original characters usually work better, as people can interpret canon characters differently in how they might act in certain situations. Most of the time I feel I put more effort into my OC characters because I know I need to let my writing partner understand the character instead of just assuming they know all the things about a canon character that I know. All that being said I just really like diving into new stories for old favorites.
 
If someone just has characters in their RT, I back out of the post. The lack of wanting to be flexible to the situation and my tastes is an instant turnoff.

For tabletop, I can tolerate it if it's for a oneshot. Convention games don't have a lot of time to make a new character unless it's super quick chargen, and it helps learn a system.
 
Original characters are better IMO, but there is a kind of enjoyment to taking an established character and tweaking them subtlety while keeping to their original spirit.

Definitely done that in a few tabletop games.
 
Original characters. I've done a couple of premade in my old DnD days and they were okay. I had to tweak them as much as the GM would allow. lol.
That said, for a writing exercise, the limitations of a premade character can be interesting. Such a character might force me out of my comfort zone.
 
I'm neutral on the subject of original characters vs canon characters.

I like to use original characters, whether a pre-planned character in my portfolio of OCs or a new one created just for that plot (which I may add to my portfolio afterwards if I like them enough and think they have potential to work across multiple plots), when I want something personal and unique. I find that I can often express myself and my ideas better this way, as there is huge room for both growth and interpretation.

When it comes to canon characters, I enjoy using those in plots which are at least loosely tied to the original universe, even if it's an alternative universe (as long as the base from the OU is there somewhere so we know what's going on and it doesn't turn into an entirely original plot), but I can also use them in completely original plots despite it feeling awkward and like a bad fit most of the time. My favourite thing to do with canon characters is create spin-offs of the OU, whether set in the OU or an AU. I also prefer to one-shot those spin-offs for even more effect; there is something about knowing you gave a little more attention to the canon characters to give them their own spin-off and side story, but without overdoing it to the point of losing interest in the fandom.
 
When I first got into tabletop I was 100% all right with and mostly used premade characters. I however just finished my first campaign where I did end up creating more then one character right from scratch and can not imagine going back to just premade. I understand the allure and the idea of taking on the challenge of making a premadecharacter completelyyour own but still. The joy of completely building your character from get go, their back story, rolling or assigning their ability stats, and The continuing to work on them as the story progresses, I just find few things more satisfying. There's also the fact that I feel more of an attachment to my character at that point which gets me more into the game and having a lot more fun.
 
I don't think I ever really played with premade characters in anything but 2 very experimental oneshots in new systems, but I feel it's worth differentiating a tabletop system's premade characters that the company made with a premade character you made yourself a while back for a different game and just pop into a new story.

Both aren't specifically made for the current campaign / party in mind which can make things jarring. It sometimes bothers me when I see players having a very nonchalant take on party building and don't even want to know what the others have before the actual game starts.
Yes, there is no need to 'optimize' a party, but also yes, more likely than not, if 2 other people fill the exact same role you wanted to fill you will feel a lot less special and cool compared to the guy that actually does something unique.
Even more important: Would these dudes even get along/have reason to stick together? Mechanics aside, playing edgy assholes is far from uncommon, or even a bad thing in the right context, but if the rest of the party are heroic goody two shoes it gets really awkward to find excuses to keep traveling your character.

But I absolutely got on a tangent there. Personally, I always prefer making my own characters. I enjoy the mechanics part of it, finding fun synergies or gimmicks to build a person around, I love trying to intertwine backgrounds with a pal and especially to make sure my character has some kind of connection to the actual story going on. Premade characters, if taken at face value, just can't do that unless they were literally designed for specifically this adventure compared to a more generic approach.
 
I have a strong preference for original characters. By extension, I prefer to RP in original worlds, too, rather than previously established fandom worlds, and that's largely due to the fact that I'd rather just build my own world to play in. Operating in someone else's established world would require that I become more familiar with it before hand to really RP a character in an accurate way, and there are many fandom worlds that I'm just not that familiar with.
 
I am interested in creating an original character. Even for RP's that end, I never resurrect the same character again.
 
I'm not against premade characters, and every once in a while I'll make a character for one story and really wish I could use it again. Come to think of it, I'm a little surprised I don't do this more often than I do. I put quite a bit of time into many characters, usually love them, (often don't use them enough with stories that flop sigh), and yet I usually think of mine as attached to a given story idea and move on. Maybe I just like the creation process as a way to get into the story too?

And yet... I prefer either original characters more, or premade characters that were either 1) super similar to the present story or 2) have been modified such that I could barely tell the difference. Often there's so much discussion with partners about particular stuff to include and matching tastes in characters, and enough about the story that it just feels more natural to me to make new ones I guess.

I'm feeling just all over the place about canon characters, including the few that I might consider for my own (though I rarely go there without very promising requests). So I'll just leave that out there for those who are curious.
 
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