trainers/character editors

I've often heard these terms, but I'm not quite sure what they are. Are they something you add seperately to the game? How do they work? Advantages/disadvantages?

Sharon, I've never used a trainer so can't speak to that. I did use a character editor once.

That was a separate program. You added it to the game folder (I think that's where it went, it's been awhile.) Using that program, you could open your character up and change all sorts of stats, make them unable to die, give them the best armors, unlimited health potions, the best gear, etc. I had fun with it until I did it so many times it broke my game, which was something that my son warned me might happen if I changed the character too often.

I know lots of folks use these with great success though. I think I just had a bit too much "fun" with the one I used. I believe a trainer is the same, but I could be wrong.

Trainers are basically game modifications that prevent your character's status attributes (health and so on) from being lowered while gaming. The concept is that it lets you play the game without the consequences until you feel confident enough to play in a regular mode. Some are also a little more complex and may have tutorials built into them. In reference to that same idea, there are some "character editors" that allow you to increase your character's abilities and attributes to basically accomplish the same idea as the trainers.

Some games, like the Elder Scrolls series, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Age have a built in console that allow developers to make player or environment changes on the fly while testing. Those consoles are accessed by a single or series of key commands that allow other commands to be entered. I'm most familiar with the Elder Scrolls games, which allow you to access their console by hitting the Tilde [~] key. This pauses the game and brings up a small flashing curser allowing you to type in commands. The most common "cheat" is TGM, which means Toggle God Mode. It basically makes your character invincible until you type it into the console again or close the game to disable.

Other games allow you to play a game in a kind of "Story Mode" that significantly reduces the impact to your character, but still allows interaction with the game's story.

Personally, I usually just start a game in the easiest mode under the assumption that I'll need to do a few play throughs and restarts in the early levels until I'm accustomed to the game's operations.

Trainers and character editors are cheats that allow you to progress in the game when the action is too much for you, or if you just dislike part of the game and want to get past it quickly.

A trainer runs at the same time as the game. Depending on what the trainer controls, you might be able to get more ammo, avoid damage during fights, or get more experience per fight than the game normally grants you. Generally trainers are controlled using hotkeys.

You use the character editor to edit your saved game. A character editor might allow you to boost your character's stats, increase their money, give them better weapons, etc.

Advantages are that they allow you to play and finish a game you might otherwise be stuck on.

Disadvantages are that malware scanners often give false positives.
Trainers in particular tend to give false positives.
Occasionally a trainer or character editor will cause a game to be unstable. You may need a particular version of the trainer or editor if you're using a particular version of the game.

Trainers and editors are 3rd party apps that are made to make playing games more survivable and easier. Usually, trainers are run simultaneously in the background (launch trainer, then launch game) and editors are used on savegame files. I usually differentiate between character editors and savegame editors, the latter being able to add inventory items and such, on top of editing characters. All these apps come with their own easy-to-follow instructions when you download them. A good site to get them from, if they’re available for a given game, is Cheat Happens. Some people pooh-pooh them, cuz they think games should be challenging, but I think games should be fun, so I love them and won’t even try a game that doesn’t have any cheats. You’re probably familiar with in-game console codes---that’s another type of cheats---depends on the game, as to whether I use that or a trainer or an editor.

Thank you all for your comprehensive answers. I did use the console key to add in a lot of money when I played Morrowind. And sometimes I would use the console to correct the quest journal.

Trainers & character editors sound like they are just the thing I need when starting a new rpg. Thanks again.