[TML] The Perfect Character Design

[Tom B]

>  Could you expound on why you dislike point buys?
>
>  Joseph Paul

Two reasons:

1) When I was born, in the real world, I got handed a set of
attributes. I didn't roll them. That feels more right to me as a
method of generation.

2) I view a character as 'he has this basic set of stats, what would
he do with them?' - I let the stats often guide my career choice. And
then that begins to create the direction for the character. In
Traveller, I get the help of some random rolls to help determine how
my chosen career pans out. I like that a lot. You get to make some
choices, but life deals you a hand and you have to play it. Traveller
had this single innovation and the only other game I've seen do that
was 2300 AD with its career turning points.

By the time I'm done in Traveller generation, it feels like my
character has lived a life and had some experiences, not all of which
he'd have chosen. If I *build* a character, he's exactly what I
envision, and he's the exact artificial sort of character that movies
provide. In the real world, I've had to develop skills I didn't plan
to in order to handle situations I didn't plan. Lots of times, these
unplanned paths provide the most colourful results. The game *helps*
me build a character who has a diverse career path with some surprises
in it. If I build something myself, its hard to surprise myself.
Something is lost in that case IMO.

So that's why I like it as an evolutionary system. When I have to just
envision the character from scratch, it feels somehow less genuine and
feels like I'm just a cardboard standup that some movie screenwriter
would create.

That's of course a personal perception, but it is how I feel about it.