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Creating Memorable Characters

The document provides a guide for creating memorable characters in a role-playing game, emphasizing aspects such as their origin, desires, disposition, appearance, outlook, motivation, family background, voice, mannerisms, and personal history. It encourages players to think deeply about their characters' traits and relationships, including enemies and friends, to enrich the storytelling experience. Additionally, it suggests refluffing character abilities for customization and uniqueness.

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2 views2 pages

Creating Memorable Characters

The document provides a guide for creating memorable characters in a role-playing game, emphasizing aspects such as their origin, desires, disposition, appearance, outlook, motivation, family background, voice, mannerisms, and personal history. It encourages players to think deeply about their characters' traits and relationships, including enemies and friends, to enrich the storytelling experience. Additionally, it suggests refluffing character abilities for customization and uniqueness.

Uploaded by

friislasse
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Creating memorable characters

 Where are they from? This could be a specific city or region in your campaign
world, or something vague like a farming village, port town, capital city or mining
outpost. Knowing where your character is from gives you an idea of their outlook
in the wider world. If their home is remote, perhaps they’ve never seen other
sentient races or experienced metropolitan life. If they’re from the capital of the
kingdom, maybe they consider rural folk to be simpletons.

 What are their desires? Power, money, prestige, knowledge – these are only a
few of the things a character might long for. Clerics might desire to spread their
faith. One of my players is a pseudo-cleric who recognizes all the gods, and
carries a large key ring with holy symbols of all of them. His goals include finding
lost relics of divine origin.

 What sort of disposition do they have? Characters can be quick to anger, or


reluctant to get into a fight. They could be cheerful in the face of danger,
mistrustful of authority or prone to get lost in thought.

 What do they look like? Maybe your character’s hair turned white from a
terrifying experience as a child, or they’re missing a finger from a deal gone bad.
They might keep the hood of their cloak up at all times, wary of showing their
face in public.

 What’s the character’s outlook? A character can assume everyone is


trustworthy, or give everyone the benefit of the doubt. They might be an
opportunist, or trust in the gods to keep them safe. Perhaps they’re positive all
the time, or a perennial downer.

 What’s their motivation? Similar to desires, motivation drives the character to


continue the life of an adventurer as opposed to settling down. What keeps them
moving forward in a life fraught with danger? Fun, thrills, responsibilities – there
are countless motivations to become adventurers.
 What’s their family like? This doesn’t always have to be tragic. A character’s
family can be safe and happy while they pursue a life of adventure. Siblings,
parents, and chosen families like close friends can all be a part of a character’s
backstory. Perhaps the character’s parents split up for any number of reasons. A
sibling might have left home on an adventure, and the PC is following their
example.

 What does the character sound like? Describe and keep in mind what the
character sounds like. Their voice could be shrill, gravely, baritone, singsong, or
have some sort of accent. Beyond the actual audio quality, they might speak very
little, or too much.

 Do they have peculiar mannerisms? Maybe a character is twitchy, always


fingering a concealed dagger. Spectacles could be sliding down their nose. A
defensive person might always cross their arms or clench their fists. They could
bite their fingernails a lot, fidget and tap their foot nervously.

 Anything to refluff? Often overlooked, refluffing character abilities is a great


way of customizing PCs. A warlock’s eldritch blast could take the form of a
tentacle that whips out from a small rift-like portal. A monk’s darts can be ninja
stars, or a fighter’s action surge can be an alchemical pill they pop to give them a
surge of energy (keyed to work for only them, of course).

 Does the character have any enemies or friends? Some of these are worked
into background features, but it’s perfectly okay (and great DM fodder) to give
your character people they’ve run afoul of in the past, or formed friendships with.

 What’s their personal history? Characters might have had regular workaday
jobs before embarking on a life of adventure. But maybe they had a strange
encounter or experience as a child, perhaps one that led them to pursue their
profession/class.

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