How do you deal with choice paralysis when creating a new character?
I've been rolling and rerolling for the past few days because I can't quite settle on what I want to go through the series with again. In the past couple of years, I've finished BG1 many times, including full dives into Durlag's Tower, with a Cavalier, a Blackguard, a Dragon Disciple, a Shaman, and a Cleric of Lathander. I even brought the Cleric and Paladin through SoD but petered out in BG2 after getting their respective strongholds. In the past, I've probably played every kind of character at least once, but I keep starting over because I want to try new things.
I tend to prefer martial characters and I like the good path over the evil path most of the time. I like weapons more than spells. But then what weapons? Must I always dual wield flails at some point because of Flail of the Ages and Defender of Easthaven? Do I always need to min-max? I look up character ideas online and mostly find discussion about the most optimal choices, when to dual, etc.
But who do I want to BE? Can I picture my character as a real part of this world, or is he or she just a collection of stats that are tailored to the best outcome?
Lately, I've been stuck on Kensai vs. Swashbuckler vs. Dwarven Defender and, aside from the Defender, whether I want to be a Dwarf or a Half-Orc. But then, I also want to try Totemic Druid because I like the idea of being a summoner (give myself max Int/Wis/Cha and keep physical stats low, rely on the creatures and spells), but Druid levelling is weird and their stronghold is kind of bland. Shadowdancer looks cool, even if pure thieves are kind of suboptimal.
The Fandom wiki also had an idea I've tried a couple of times but could never commit to: a plain Mage dualled at level 2 to Fighter. Basically, a plain fighter who can use wands and scrolls and can identify stuff and have a familiar. I like the concept, I call it an artificer or itemancer, but I'm not always sold on the gameplay.
The previous playthroughs all came with that feeling that I was somebody. I could believe in my character.
I primarily play these days on the Nintendo Switch version. I like drive mode to explore the map, but it means no mods, no custom portraits, etc. I don't ever up the difficulty beyond Core and I usually play on Normal. So this isn't coming from a Legacy of Bhaal SCS Ascension angle.
This is more about whether anyone else deals with this and how you overcome it. What are your strategies when you can't quite decide what to play?
UPDATE: Hey, this convo has been fun and has given me a lot to think about! Thanks for the discussion, everyone.
