Character Creation Gimmicks

So let me venture a guess. If your group is like mine, you have the following players: the power gamer, the player who plays the same archetype every time, the guy who copies other people's character concepts, the role-player, the roll-player (not a power gamer, but doesn't waste any time on non-combat abilities), and maybe the guy whose just there because he has nothing to do and creates characters who "look cool" but don't do much of anything.

Close to home? Well here are a few character creation gimmicks you might pull when running a new campaign.


Character Swap: The party all makes characters, but they don't play the characters they create- they randomly draw characters from a pile- so they might get their power min-maxed character, or another player's role-playing specialist. That guy with a specific archetype is forced to play outside his comfort zone.

Sidekicks: The players make characters and sidekicks. In the first session, all the main characters die and the sidekicks become the primary characters. The min-maxers will probably have sidekicks who are little more than point-boosts for their main character and are now forced to play an underpowered or niche sidekick, while they guys who made everything normally will have a relatively more powered sidekick.

Multiple Characters: The players make 2 characters. The GM then choses (or its random): 1 is played by the player, the other is an evil NPC controlled by the GM- a min-maxed villain team for you to fight against!

Premade Characters: Certainly makes for a quicker first session, though the downfall is that there's little connection between the players and the characters. The upside is you can make a team that works together.

Team Flavor: The players must decide on a them for their superhero team, and make a character that fits that theme. For example, the Holiday Squad, where each character's powers are based on a holiday, or The Artists- where each power is based on a style of art (sculpting, drawing, etc). Causes more creativity from the players and forces them to work together.


Any other gimmicks GMs have used? Share in the comments.