Much has been written on the subject character optimization.
I know Charop is a touchy subject, with bad feelings on both sides of the
issue. For every person who simply wants to play a fun and effective character
there is a pun pun waiting in the wings, and for every person who simply wants
to play a concept and doesn’t really care much about the mechanics there is a
person who plays a character who is CN and has a 3 cha just to be a douche.
Sadly many times people in the opposing camps can’t see there is a middle
ground. It is perfectly ok to want a character that is confident and effective
in combat and out of it. It is also perfectly fine to play a character that has
a personality and a backstory and doesn’t care what magic item or feat they are
picking up next. I have done both, sometimes even on the same character.
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| Much can be accomplished by working together |
I’ve actually gone pretty far afield here. I was saying that
a lot has been written about optimizing an individual character. However, D and
D is a social game, a cooperative game. You would think that some thought would
be given to creating a whole party that works well together. Instead almost all
of what you see is geared towards making a single character do well completely
apart from any of the rest of the party. I have found this to be true in most
of the research I have done, as well as at most of my game sessions. I have
seen a very few synergestic parties, such as the radiant mafia, but they are
rare. In addition most of the times I have tried to get my fellow players
interested in even bare bones party creation I have been met with apathy if not
outright derision. While 4e has done much to make party synergy possible, it
has also done much to make it unnecessary.
With the self healing available to all characters and the
general heartiness of most 4e characters, a case can be made that no attempts
need to be made to organize your party, let alone optimize it. It is certainly
possible to play 4e and be successful with a thrown together party of all
rogues. However, just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s a good idea or
would even work well. I can’t tell you how tired I am of hearing, “You don’t
need to have a leader in 4e” whenever I ask my friends to sit and make a party
with me. I tend to be more focused on the mechanics and I will address the
mechanics in part two. For now it is just as important to have a party that
will work together for story purposes.
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| The Thief is behind me isn't he? |
If you have played D and D for any amount of time you have
seen an example of a party that does not work well together. The most egregious
examples can be attributed to individual characters. Some of these include the
thief who insists on stealing from the party, the cleric who refuses to heal
the necromancer, (A cleric who refuses to heal anyone is the subject of another
post), or the Paladin who has to be sent for a sandwich anytime the party needs
to actually do something. While some of this is just general douchery, much of
it could have been avoided by simply discussing a party concept before the game
started.
Even if you haven’t played with an asshat paladin or a steal
everything that isn’t nailed down thief you have probably experienced a party
that didn’t gel together for whatever reason. Having a party concept or theme
would be most useful in story driven or roleplay heavy games because part of
what moves the game forward is interactions between the players. Some of my
favorite moments as a DM have been listening to the players talk to each other
in character. It’s great because it gives me a chance to sit back and just
enjoy the game for a while instead of constantly working to keep the game
going. However, even in dungeon of the week style games having at least a
little idea of how the party will work together can be very enriching. I have a
couple of suggestions for building a party that has a theme, or at least some
connections, which I think will greatly aid your games. You may still run into
an asshat Paladin on occasion, but at least you will know about it before hand.
Heck maybe you could make a whole party of them.
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| And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. |
I have two suggestions that really are most important. I cannot
stress how much each of them is the most important thing you need to do when
making a party. In fact I am struggling to decide which is more important,
because they are both that important. First, talk to your DM. It is very likely
that your DM has some ideas about the campaign theme, and what types of
characters will be appropriate. Additionally half of DMing is hooking
characters and if you give the DM hooks that will not only work for your
character, but for the entire party he will thank you.
Second, talk to the other players. Really all of my tips and
suggestions boil down to having some effective communication before the game
starts. If you are the type of player who likes to create a character and go
and forget about the rest of the party, be open to some communication about the
party. On the other hand if you are the kind of player who enjoys planning out
party concepts, be sure you are willing to listen to what the other players
want to play. If your concept of a party doesn’t include arcane magic and one
of the other players always plays a wizard, at least be open to changing the
concept. If you are the DM encourage your players to talk about a concept, or
give them some options for a concept. Maybe you could even have a session
dedicated to party creation. The rest of the ideas require having a discussion
about what the party is going to be, and how to make the whole greater than the
sum of its parts.
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| Party of Wizards for the win |
One way to tie the group together is by playing characters that
all use the same power source. One of the greatest advances 4e made was making
it possible to have a balanced party based around a single power source. Before
4e you had few options for healing that did not include the cleric, and if you
wanted big flashy spells you picked the wizard. 3e had a few options, such as
the bard, but the bard excelled at being the fifth man, and was a lot less good
at being whatever fourth man he was trying to be. If you wanted to play a party
full of mages, which is an interesting idea, you had to hope your DM crafted
adventures just for you or you had to be very careful while playing until you
were high enough level to break the game with your spells. Even then you still
had no really good way to heal. Now in 4e it is possible to play a group of
people from a single church or mage school or tribe without straining
credulity.
Another idea is to have the characters all be the same race.
One of the best campaigns I have played in used the Revenant race to keep us
all tied together thematically while also giving us a great deal of freedom to
be individuals. The story was that thousands of years ago we had each been
great hero’s who were returning to save the world from some great danger.
Unfortunately, the gods of evil tainted our return, bringing us back as undead
and with only a fraction of our former power. Other races would work as well
for creating a themed party, but I really like Revenants for versatility.
Another great idea for a themed party is to have all of the
characters work for the same organization. If most of the players share a power
source or a race, but a few want to branch out into something else, this would
actually be the best option. It is easy to imagine a single human working for
the Elven army. Of course some outliers wouldn’t make as much sense. Again
doing some of the legwork in creating the game should make your DM happy, but
always double check to make sure there isn’t a specific organization the DM
would think especially appropriate.
It is entirely possible that you won’t be able to come up
with theme or concept that works for all the players. There are even times when
it isn’t appropriate to have a party theme. There are a couple of things to
keep in mind when creating characters for a party that doesn’t have a theme. I
contend that even if you don’t want to have a theme you do need to have some
connections between the party members. I suggest that you form a connection of
some kind with two other party members when making your backgrounds. If all the
players do this it will create a web of connections which will make it easier
to motivate the party as a whole, and will also give the party a reason to
overcome the petty squabbles that often come with the adventuring life.
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| Just as bad as the Asshat Paladin Only smellier |
Additionally when you are making a character you should find
out what the other player’s dealbreakers are. I know of several people who hate
undead and will not play with them under any circumstances. If that is the case
you probably already have enough asshats at the table, don’t play an asshat
Necromancer. If you have any dealbreakers you should also let the other players
know.
Hopefully you can get the players at your table interested
in having a pregame conversation about party theme and interconnections. I urge
you to give it a try at your games and see if it doesn’t improve the
relationships, not only between the characters but between the players as well.
I will delve deeper into the mechanics of an optimized party sometime next
week. Until next time remember, don’t let your DM tell you no. It’s always, “Yes,
and…?”
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