What class? Well, good question, but I wanted something, well, perhaps not so easy in either. So I pick the class in both which probably has the most options: Wizard. As per my normal CCC rules, I’m sticking to the core books, and not Wizard’s definition of “core”, that means players handbook (1) only and/or Dungeon Master’s Guide. Adding additional source books will just make this take longer and add to the complexity needlessly for a comparison. But unlike my usual CCC entries, I won’t actually post step by steps, I’ll do that some other time.

This isn’t “4e is better” or “4e is teh sux”, I actually like both editions, but 3.5 just has worn on me and I find it needlessly complex for my gaming needs. But I know some people like that, I think this will show in character creation. My estimates is that 4e will be significantly faster but have fewer options. I am including a time as well for how long it took me (includes writing the relevant section in this article), and as a disclaimer my experience in 3.5 far outweighs my 4e experience. Take this with a grain of salt, no need to get all worked up over my article or a fun game!

One last note, I did use as similar methods as possible. Both characters are Human, Wizards, Maximum level using the standard point buy. No extra rules, no helping programs, just books.

Edition	3.5	4
Race/Racial Information	Human Size: Medium Speed: 30 feet 1 Extra Feat at first level Extra Skill Points Languages: Common, Draconic, Sylvan, Undercommon	Human Size: Medium Speed: 6 Vision: Normal Languages: Human, Draconic +2 to any one stat (Intelligence) Bonus At-Will Power Bonus Feat Bonus Skill Human Defense Bonus: +1 to Fortitude, Reflex and Will
Class	15 Wizard/5 Archmage	Level 30 Wizard/Spellstorm Mage/Archmage
Attributes	Str: 8 Dex: 19 (+4) Con: 16 (+3) Int: 33 (+11) Wis: 10 Cha: 10	Str: 10 Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Int: 28 (+9) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 13 (+1)
Stats/Defenses	HP: 110 AC: 25 Fort +14 Ref +15 Will +18 Initiative +7 Speed: 6	HP: 153 Surge: 38 Surges/day: 7 Staff of Defense Initiative +20 Speed: 7 AC: 44 Fort: 34 Ref: 42 Will: 39
Attack/Damage	BAB +7/+2 To hit with ranged touch: +11 Spell DCs: 21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30	Standard to hit with int based spells/abilities: +30 Standard Damage bonus: +15
Skills	Knowledge Arcana +34 Spellcraft +34 Concentration +25 Decipher Script +34 Knowledge (Everything Else) +16 Search +24	Arcane +29 History +29 Dungeoneering +26 Nature +29
Feats	Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spell Focus (Conjuration), Spell Focus (Transmutation), Craft Wondrous Item, Quicken Spell, Craft Wand, Improved initiative, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration	Ritual Caster, Armor Proficiency (Leather), Action Surge, Burning Blizzard, Expanded Spellbook, Human Perseverance, Improved Initiative, Toughness, Action Recovery, Blood Thirst, Devastating Critical, Great Fortitude, Fleet-Footed, Lightning Arc, Lightning Reflexes, Point-Blank Shot, Arcane Mastery, Epic Resurgence, Spell Accuracy, Irresistible Flame
Spells/Abilities/Rituals	Summon Familiar (Toad) Spellbook: 0: All 1: 8 – Shield, Grease, Mage Armor, Mount, Obscuring Mist, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Tenser’s Floating Disk 2: 4 – Glitterdust, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Fog Cloud, Web 3: 4 – Dispel Magic, Hold Person, Fireball, Fly 4: 4 – Evard’s Black Tentacles, Solid Fog, Enervation, Wall of Fire 5: 4 – Dismissal, Cloudkill, Teleport, Wall of Stone 6: 4 – Greater Dispel Magic, Repulsion, Analyze Dweomer, True Seeing 7: 4 – Greater Teleport, Plane Shift, Prismatic Spray, Limited Wish 8: 4 – Clone, Polymorph Any Object, Temporal Stasis, Summon Monster VIII 9: 8 – Imprisonment, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, Prismatic Sphere, Gate, Summon Monster IX, Power Word Kill, Shapechange Spells/Day: 0: 4 1: 7 2: 7 3: 7 5: 4 6: 6 7: 5 8: 3 9: 4 High Arcana: Spell Power, Mastery of Shaping, Mastery of Elements, Arcane Fire, Spell Like Ability (Polymorph Any Object)	Wizard: Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation At Will (3): Magic Missile, Thunderwave, Cloud of Daggers Encounter (P/27/23/17): Storm Cage, Confusion, Chain Lightning, Combust Daily (P/29/25/19): Maelstrom of Chaos, Legion’s Hold/Meteor Swarm/Greater Ice Storm, Prismatic Spray/Necrotic Web/Elemental Maw, Disintegrate/Cloudkill/Evard’s Black Tentacles Utility (E/P/22/16/10/6/2): Shape Magic, Sudden Storm, Time Stop/Mass Fly, Displacement/Greater Invisibility, Blur/Mirror Image, Dimension Door/Dispel Magic, Expeditious Retreat/Shield Rituals: Comprehend Languages, Make Whole, Tenser’s Floating Disk, Brew Potion, Knock, Raise Dead, Disenchant Magic Item, View Location, Passwall, Consult Oracle, Planar Portal, Forbiddance, Observe Creature
Equipment/Money	Ring of Protection +5 Tome of Clear Though (+5 Int) Strand of Prayer Beads Slippers of Spider Climbing Headband of Intellect +6 Cloak of Resistance +5 Bracers of Armor +6 Bag of Holding Type IV Amulet of Health +6 Big Carpet of Flying Manual of Quickness in Action (+5 dex) 173400gp	Cloak of Invisibility +5 Staff of Storms +6 Starleather Bloodcut Armor +6 Boots of the Infinite Stride Ring of Wizardry Handy Haversack 2x Potion of Recovery Everlasting Provisions 19160gp
Time to Complete	1 Hour	54 Minutes

Well, these aren’t exactly going to hit the character optimization boards, but I think they are reasonable characters that someone would create on the fly for a high level campaign. Frankly, I found 4e high level creation be much more fun, making a high level character is 3.5 was a pain because I had to go back and figure out at what points I had what intelligence score. I had quite a bit of money left over on both characters, more than enough to slide in some equipment to plug up any holes.

It only took me a few more minutes to make a 3.5 character, but that’s with years of experience in the system and knowing most of the spells I wanted already almost by heart.

Interestingly, without buying any scrolls the base characters don’t have a huge divergence in the sheer number of abilities/spells. 4e had 46 spells/abilities/rituals while in 3.5 my character has 47 spells available at any one time; difference being I have more customization in the latter.

Honestly though, in the end, I found 4e character creation much more enjoyable, but I’m a bit jaded after a few years of playing 3.5.

Hopefully, this has proved interesting or maybe even a little entertaining. In the end, I think both systems are great, just pick the one that’s right for you, it really boils down to a single question in my opinion: do you want detail or ease of use?