We’ve all been there. Everyone is finished making their characters and enters the dungeon for the evening. A rudimentary marching order is made and the rogue blurts out, “I’ll scout ahead of the party about 60 feet to make sure nothing approaches unseen and check for traps, listen, etc.” That’s all fine and dandy, but what that leads to is a solitary player who then spends the rest of the night investigating every crevice and door for hours while the others sit around bored or irritated because they aren’t joining in the fun.

The same could be said about the wizard who has decided to become a magic-item-factory by taking as many item creation feats as he can. He then cheerfully describes all the wonderful things he can make. The party is already outfitting for the latest time-sensitive quest to rescue the <insert NPC here> from the vile <insert monster here>. They need to get going fast to make it to <insert random place here> before the monsters eats the NPC. Then the wizard whines, “But it takes me 2 weeks to make my rod of monster slaying! Can’t you guys wait a while….?”

How about the high-level cleric who’s been saving gazillions of diamonds to write resurrection scrolls to keep his party alive and running, but instead finds himself constantly on the run because the party refuses to stop long enough to allow him to write the scrolls?

Are these players simply trying to hog the focus of the game and disrupt play, or did they make their characters with a little extra in mind, to be the best they can at one thing - even if that one thing excludes themselves or the others from adventuring? Sure, you can argue that the rogue who excels at Moving Silently and Search is actually trying to help the party, but this is a group game. The more time focused on one person detracts from the enjoyment of the group. The wizard who wants to only sit at home and make magic items is missing the point of D&D entirely. The cleric who wants to make scrolls to ensure his party’s survival has a legitimate excuse to be doing a solo activity, and this time away from the game should only be handled on sessions when that player is unavailable to game. So what does the group do when that player is the ONLY one who shows regularly…?

Solo activities in the game tend to detract from the overall group enjoyment. Sure, you might want your Rogue to be able to scout ahead of the party all night, but what will they be doing while you’re having the adventure? Making a character excel at a skill that others in the group cannot possibly hope to match is pointless. A character with a +25 Move Silently check in a group of fighters wearing full plate armor is just wasteful. Those monsters are gonna hear somebody clanking along! A pick-pocket rogue stealing as he passes through the marketplace is basically just asking for his character to be thrown into a solo adventure.

Even trips to the local markets in towns are best handled in groups, not solo. A group of characters may become bored when they split up in town and have to wait their turn to buy some armor, supplies, or food. On the other hand, going as a group may not be all that beneficial either if the characters get waylaid someplace by a character who feels the need to exercise her Gather Information skill or gets some tidbit with Diplomacy that leads to a whole other episode.

Should the characters with these skills be allowed to run rough shod over the adventure? Why not, it’s in the rules. Should the DM penalize the characters for their skill choices? There’s no legitimate reason why. One of the most time-consuming skills is Craft, a class skill for each and every class in the Player’s Handbook. How many of you have ever had a character make something with the Craft skill? When did you get to do it? Did you feel neglected when the DM simply moved the game along? Is it fair to make the other characters sit and wait, wasting time, while your character concludes some Crafting? Is it fair to the Crafting player to have to rush around and never have time to use his or her skills?

I believe that Magic Item Creation feats are the most time-consuming abilities that a character can possess. Unless the item being made is rather low in level, game time can rapidly be eaten up by these feats. They are almost impossible to use while on an adventure, and downtime in between adventures seems to be less and less (at least according to some of my esteemed d21 colleagues). Will item crafting even be a part of 4E? Does it need to be? If you can simply buy a magic item, why spend XP making one? Should wizards be allowed to take alternate bonus feats to replace item creation feats? Should PC wizards even be ALLOWED to make magic items? Given the haul you can get from a bunch of NPC opponents, do you really need to make magic items when you get so damn many from combats? Perhaps a return to the older systems’ methods of item creation is in order. Procuring materials to make magic items was one of the foremost reasons to adventure back in the day. Hardly anyone bothers to harvest dragon teeth, medusa blood, or elf bone marrow anymore. A pity - those were some of the best adventures I can remember in my youth.

My suggestions:

• Before making that character that can excel at one thing by himself, take into consideration the party as a whole. If you doing your thing prevents them from doing anything, it’s probably not such a great idea.
• If the best thing your character can do is “waste game time,” rethink the ability and it’s ramifications in the game. Will your party even have the required “downtime” to use the ability?
• If you intend on playing in a group, select abilities that complement the group, not oppose them. For example, put those ranks into Listen or Spot instead of Move Silently and Hide to detect the presence of an ambush. (Scouting ahead in D&D has never made sense to me, since you have to be in the dark otherwise you give away your position; only dwarves and half-orcs can see in the dark now, and neither of these races is particularly known to be skilled in the finer arts of stealth).
• Always select skills and feats that work with the other players, not against them; cooperation leads to a better experience in the game than hogging the spotlight or opposing another character (choosing all Law spells in a chaotic party is a BAD idea).
• If you are making the character for a solo adventure, none of the above really applies. Have fun with it! But remember, time waits for no man… While you’re spending time away from adventuring, the DM may have the villains advancing the plot - with or without you!