Halfway through character creation, with no warning, start a combat encounter. Characters only have any abilities they have managed to get on their sheet by that point.
You know? if you’ve got indescisive players* or powergamers that prioritize dick-waving over co-op this might be a good strategy. You’ve got three hours of snacks and co-op before the Character Ogre comes to eat naughty incomplete PCs!
*Chronically indescisive players, not newbies who haven’t learned the system. You’re the GM, not the Monster.
Would never work with my group because these fuckers build characters at home in their own time even when I specifically tell them not to do that!
May I suggest another group policy then:
We usually hold a double session at the beginning of a campaign so everyone can build thier characters together/with the GM there to help, to make sure the group is going to work well together. Also, sitting in while everyone makes thier backstories is extremely helpful when you’re trying to come up with a plot. We also had two rules:
1. Character sheets must be handed to the GM at the end of the session to prevent massive reworking without the group, and so that if a player can’t come to a session, we can still have thier character “present” for the game.
2. If you have an idea for a New PC, or a severely reworked version of your current PC (New Race/Class/Drastically altered backstory- admit it, it’s a new character) your current character must die In-Game and In-Character before the new PC can enter the game. Off-screen deaths or a sudden interest in cliff-diving is for weenies who will be manaced with spray cheese.
Let me tell you the game gets a whole lot more interesting when your players actually have to put some thought into what thier characters Really Would Die For. It’s also tougher to die than you might imagine- Wombo The Spleenish lived all the way through Ragnorok in spite of his player’s best efforts.
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Overdressed & Underappreciated 