Well, I like having SOME kind of theme. A tournament doesn't feel much like a tournament when it's a rag-tag group of characters tossed together and they seemingly have nothing to do with one another. I'm certainly not saying I'm against having character creation be completely open-ended, but all I need is help in thinking up a reason why.

If we can give a reason for the tournament to exist (i.e. provide a story), then anything is technically possible. The only reason I like having a theme in one aspect or another is because it helps tie all the characters together.

In a regular RPB, a participant has an array of characters to choose from, or can create another if willing to best match the environment laid out before him/her.

In a tournament, a participant has to use one character throughout the tournament, thus making some mixes and matches less feasible. It may all be fantasy, but it can be really offsetting all the same.



...and I just had a new idea. Really, all of this should be in that discussion thread in the TOA forum, so I think I'll quote our posts and then move this discussion there, if you don't mind. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.