There are times when you are running a campaign when one of your players asks to play a non-standard character class. This may be a prestige class (3.x only…) or some class that they have found on the web or in a supplement or just created themselves. This has happened in a few of the campaigns that I have played in and run and it has shown on numerous occasions to be slightly problematic. Often it is a sign of boredom (if you have been playing a game for 12 years, it is bound to get a little dry). Sometimes it comes from a player who wants to experiment with the rules a bit. Occasionally it just appeals to the player (they have ALWAYS wanted to be a ninja pirate chef who specialises in cooking deadly pancakes while sailing the seven seas…).
What follows is a brief list of steps you can take when you are running a game to make sure the custom character fits in.
Is it really necessary/does it fit?
This is the first question to ask. More often than not the character class will fit (and even if it doesn’t immediately, with some tweaking, it should). If it doesn’t, the player should be asked to make the changes necessary to make sure that it does. More importantly, you should make sure that it is not an unnecessary addition to the game. You could ask if customising some feats or skills would be sufficient, or if adding one or two features to an existing class would be enough.
Openness
You need to make sure all players know the basics of the character and what it does. Nearly all players after they have been playing a game for long enough know what each character class does and how. It allows them to follow the game and participate in the actions of their party. At the very least, players can often look up each other’s classes in the rule books when they are curious or have a question. When a player uses a character class that his/her fellow players don’t know or understand it often ostracises them from the group. It starts to be seen as secret gaming business that only the initiated know or understand. This makes it hard to include that character in plans for the group. A simple solution for this is to have the player explain each of the features of their character’s class and what they can and can’t do. Every non-standard action that the character takes should be explained to the group – not just announced to the GM – until the group is familiar with it (I am using my “Godly Flip” feat – this allows me to flip a pancake at my enemies for 2d10 damage – extra if it has lemon juice on it).
Avoid players getting jealous
If you allow a character to choose a customised class you need to be very careful that the other players do not get jealous of a perceived favouritism. If you have used the custom class as a reward, make sure that this is clearly understood by the other players. If it is a matter of keeping the player interested in the game, you can explain that this is something that all players are welcome to do, and if they are interested in taking the time to develop and research a new class, it is available to them too.
Make sure you know the rules
You need to also understand the rules for three reasons. One – you don’t want to get duped, two – you don’t want to take time out of the game to look things up and check things and three – you want to make sure that you are developing resources for the game that are appropriate for all your players. Its this last point that is perhaps the most important. If you are not aware of the abilities of your group it is hard to set appropriate challenge levels for them. Either too strong or too weak will both be very unrewarding experiences for your players.
Make sure it doesn’t take over the campaign
There is nothing worse than an entire campaign being taken over by a character that is too strong. This is sort of a culmination of all the other points. If you know the rules for the class and everyone else know them as well; if you have made sure that the class fits your campaign and you have made sure that the rules are to your liking, it should fit without any trouble. If it doesnt’, then there are always anvils…
At the end of the day it is everyone’s game and it is important that everyone has a good time. As long as a customised character class is introduced carefully it should enhance the game for all the players and provide a rewarding experience for the GM as well.
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