Screen shorting this list for personal use.

On 2/8/2015 at 3:28 AM, That Blasted Samophlange said:

What is your earliest memory?

What sort of a child were you, when you were little?

What is one action you regret?

Did you feel that one or the other of your parents favored you over your brothers or sisters?

Have you ever had a serious illness? What was it like?

Why do you live where you live?

Why did you pick your job?

What was the happiest time of your life?

What kind of things do you think are funny?

What sort of person did you think your husband or wife was when you first met?

Have you ever spoken any words of anger that you wish you could take back?

What is your very favorite food?

How do you spend your holidays?

Where have you traveled in your life?

Was there ever a time when you began to think that life might not turn out as well as you hoped it would?

What makes you cry?

Are you a vengeful, forgiving, or indifferent person?

What were you doing last week?

What was the best news you ever got?

What was the worst news you ever got?

What path in your life do you wish you could have found out where it lead?

What choice in your life are you glad about?

How did you meet the people you are with now?

I don't normally get to play as I'm usually GMing the game, but the few times I have played a character I tended to follow a similar pattern.

I choose the species I want to play: Droid, Hutt, Jawa, whatever.

I choose a career/specialization: Normally, I wait and see what other players are playing, and go for a role they aren't, to both better round out the team, and to make my character stand out more. If everyone is doing combat and Techie characters, I'll do a social character, and vice versa.

I invest my starting XP into Characteristics: Rarely have I, or would I put starting XP else where.

And that is pretty much it, as far as leveling I go for skills, talents and other specialization if desired. Sometimes I have a fully realized concept, and other times it just comes to me as I'm building my character reacting to what I and others are playing. I will say that if you are playing this game, don't get to hung up on what species is best for what Career/specialization. Play what you want to play; long term you can make any combo work for the most part.

On 2/7/2015 at 3:31 PM, Richardbuxton said:

If all you want to do is min max on a skill, be a droid

to me droids seem flat out bad

For me char must fit its role or idea right now my next one will likely be an cybered out bounty hunter as the idea seemed cool

On 2/8/2015 at 6:28 AM, That Blasted Samophlange said:

What is your earliest memory?

What sort of a child were you, when you were little?

What is one action you regret?

Did you feel that one or the other of your parents favored you over your brothers or sisters?

Have you ever had a serious illness? What was it like?

Why do you live where you live?

Why did you pick your job?

What was the happiest time of your life?

What kind of things do you think are funny?

What sort of person did you think your husband or wife was when you first met?

Have you ever spoken any words of anger that you wish you could take back?

What is your very favorite food?

How do you spend your holidays?

Where have you traveled in your life?

Was there ever a time when you began to think that life might not turn out as well as you hoped it would?

What makes you cry?

Are you a vengeful, forgiving, or indifferent person?

What were you doing last week?

What was the best news you ever got?

What was the worst news you ever got?

What path in your life do you wish you could have found out where it lead?

What choice in your life are you glad about?

How did you meet the people you are with now?

I'd say that this list is a little much . Not even the lifepath in any iteration of R.Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk is that specific or convoluted.

A basic back-story for a given character only really needs a basic family history (where he or she grew up, what the character's home life and basic education like, whether the character's parents are still alive or if some tragedy happen, whether the character has any brothers or sisters) a list of friends or enemies, and any previous romances, and any potential previous "escapades" that might have garnered the character some windfall or misfortune in the past.

I have a different list, but I find that the small questions help you think about the character from an "in-their-boots" perspective, rather than just historically.

2 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

I'd say that this list is a little much . Not even the lifepath in any iteration of R.Talsorian Games' Cyberpunk is that specific or convoluted.

A basic back-story for a given character only really needs a basic family history (where he or she grew up, what the character's home life and basic education like, whether the character's parents are still alive or if some tragedy happen, whether the character has any brothers or sisters) a list of friends or enemies, and any previous romances, and any potential previous "escapades" that might have garnered the character some windfall or misfortune in the past.

the idea of questions like this is not to answer all of them. but to ask thought provoking questions that you answer. if the question doesnt inspire an answer you skip and move to the next one.

Hey All,

New to the forums. But loving the wealth of wisdom on tap for others to learn from.

Min / maxing ... great topic to discuss.

The groups I have played in and been a GM in have not really discussed this. And we should have.

My GM-self will talk first:

I appreciate the comments centering around “spend the XP where it fleshes out your concept, reflects growth in adventures” etc. I find that some players approach this game as if they see a need to prove to others just how smart they are at manipulating the system. Or at “busting” wide open the adventure that the GM had planned.

Adventures are difficult enough for a GM to plan, but 9 times out of 10, there are some good story “nuggets” to be found within. Yes, I understand that some stories will not survive “first contact” with player characters but some folks just enjoy showing off what their PCs can do. Min / maxing means that players have more ease at torpedoing an adventure and depositing 10 tons of gravel atop any “nuggets” that could have been revealed over the course of the adventure.

I find it aggravating to get players to understand that when they choose to “show off” in this manner via min / maxing their toon to be THE BEST in the galaxy that they are chopping off any sense of tension / suspense or even FUN that could have been experienced.

Gonna have to have a “session 0” talk with these folks. (Though I imagine I am a few years too late).

Now, my player-self gets to put in his two cents:

On those occasions when I *DO* get to play this system, I spend a maximum amount of XP on improving my character’s characteristics. Then I invest the remainder in gaining a rank in an appropriate skill or buying a key talent.

As the character matures and gains more XP, I will aim to make my character at least “competent” at his stated career, and I will pour XP into improving more skills, and many times buying second and third specializations that I see appropriate to this character’s game experience and future. Meanwhile, my fellow players have often poured every point of XP into 1 or 2 skills, bought Dedication, and are working at making their PCs able to take down entire armies.

All the while, my character would still be sweating at meeting a pair of Stormtroopers.

I tend NOT to build “combat god” characters.

But here is the deal - I enjoy the tension / suspense found when facing down Stormtroopers. [I know we see them missing ridiculously their shots at the heroes in the movies and we have grown to have utter contempt for them. We joke about them. We view them as pathetic and incapable. But remember, Darth Vader used them as his shock troops - in a narrative sense, these troopers ought to be a THREAT to our PCs. And with the exception of Han Solo in The Force Awakens shooting a trooper while nonchalantly looking in the opposite direction, we don’t see our heroes treating Stormtroopers with utter contempt and disdain. That scene was done for a laugh from the audience - and it worked. I chuckled. But it came at the expense of cheapening the story JJ Abrams was trying to tell and in the end it took away from the “tension / suspense” of the scene. A poor choice for a cheap laugh in my opinion.]

<steps off soapbox>

Anyway, whether as a PC or when GMing, I prefer when folks strive to build for character and role playing and STORY and NOT to “max” out their XP and turn their character into a lethal “one-trick pony”.

49 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

the idea of questions like this is not to answer all of them. but to ask thought provoking questions that you answer. if the question doesnt inspire an answer you skip and move to the next one.

I get that, but still it's I bit much. I mush prefer the lifepath provided in the FUZION rules . It's a flow chart with random tables for determines basic personality, likes and dislikes, what you value most, childhood and family, and specific key life events on a year by year basis starting at age 16 up to the "present" of the game setting, as well as current situation and curent outlook.

22 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

I get that, but still it's I bit much. I mush prefer the lifepath provided in the FUZION rules . It's a flow chart with random tables for determines basic personality, likes and dislikes, what you value most, childhood and family, and specific key life events on a year by year basis starting at age 16 up to the "present" of the game setting, as well as current situation and curent outlook.

I get why one might want that. but most people like to come up with their own characters and thus these questions are useful in figuring out who the character you want to play is. and your statement kind of is not relevant to the OP.

9 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

I get why one might want that. but most people like to come up with their own characters and thus these questions are useful in figuring out who the character you want to play is. and your statement kind of is not relevant to the OP.

Technically, this entire conversation is not relevant. The original post was "how to min-max."