Beginners Guide to great Player Characters
Character crafting can be more than just rolling some dice and finding a pretty picture and call it a day. It usually takes months and months to finish a campaign, so a little more thought in the creation processes on the side of the player could go a long way. That’s why I will teach you the best actionable advice I know.
Step 1: Creating a concept
I frequently encountered players that wanted to be Legolas or Aragorn. What they did is pick an Elven Ranger or a Human Ranger and be either a little snooty or big time broody and call it a character. In this step, I will show you how to avoid these pitfalls.
How to find your Concept and why it’s important
You probably have a couple go to characters living in your head. Be it from TV, Movies or Books. Now, what makes the character. Especially what it is you feel compelling about them in the first place. In order to play a true-to-life character, you need a balanced concept. If it is something like they are “Cool”, “Funny”, “Admired by others” then you are unfortunately on the wrong track. Here is the thing: Don’t focus on extrinsic factors but intrinsic ones. Someone isn’t cool because of a mystical cool-trait, but because of what they do. Maybe the character is calm and collected in the face of danger, or he always has a snappy quip for every situation. Either way, what makes that character cool is dependent on his actions. So seek out actionable traits that you could display and therefore communicate to the other players.
For examples, see “Communication makes better Characters: Here is why”.
Cosplaying vs. Blending
After you have your inspiration character, don’t just imitate it. Firstly, you’ll encounter scenarios where you don’t know how the copycat would act and secondly, you’ll miss out on the IKEA effect. We tend to love things more if we build or create them ourselves. If you cosplay a character others have made, you could get bored more easily. Instead, try to take the character trait you like and search for another in other characters. Try to blend those traits together and make them work in your head. Voilà, a new character is born, and you made it!
Communication makes better Characters: Here is why
Now that you have a couple of traits for your character, let’s talk about communicating them. You are stoic, like Aragorn? Well, that’s not engaging if you are just silent at the table to express that. But if you are talkative to the party but Stoic in negotiations with NPCs, that trait gets communicated. For example, you want to communicate that you are a wise. In order to do that, you might often dish out advice, correct the behavior of others or explain things in a drawn out way.
My top 3 inspirational places
Like already mentioned, you could get your inspiration from characters from TV Shows, Movies and Books. But for me the best method is the Web. For instance, Scryfall, it’s a site for Magic the Gathering Cards. I use it for inspiration all the time, just click “Random Card” and see where it takes you. For instance, I got the Might Makes Right card. I like the flavor text at the bottom: “An oath of fealty sworn with a handshake.” maybe a paladin? The artwork leads me to a giant and maybe treason, maybe a Paladin now devoted to a Giant fought against former allies. It’s a good start, I think. Not satisfied? Click “Random Card” till satisfied. Other sites I use are Tetra-Cubes Character Generator and the Perchance Adventure Prompt Generator from RPGAdventures.io.
How to use Traits, Bonds, and Flaws
After you have your defining core characteristics, you could choose a D&D Background for inspiration. Choose one that fits the best or if you’re adventurous take one that doesn’t fit inherently and make it fit later in Step 3.
Step 2: Mechanics
D&D and other systems that are more on the crunchy side of math require a certain mastery of the system to be efficient in them. Hence, a certain amount of familiarity with the system is required to know the mechanical limits of your potential character. For instance: there is a reason you don’t see strength based wizards, and probably have difficulty finding a Barbarian that has a negative constitution score.
Topics you should talk to your GM about
Discuss resources that are in play; What Books, whether homebrew, are allowed or not, what races are fitting for the world.
Do not – I repeat – DO NOT! come to the table with a broken mess of a character, with or without homebrew. (Look up: Coffee-lock, Full Plate Wizards, Polymorphing woodland beings or rather don’t) Talk to your GM about your ideas and if you have some Wombo-Combo planed please don’t hide it from them. Their work is hard enough, and it’s not about the players vs the GM. Most GMs will be more than willing to meet you halfway even on some far-out ideas, you’d be surprised.
Optimize while avoiding being a dreaded Min-Maxer
I am of the opinion that you owe it to your party that you can at least cover one role fairly competently. If you decide to play a ranged archer type character, it is assumed that you’ll hit a target from far away more often than not. But if you have a negative dexterity score because the character concept is of a very clumsy archer, then you will miss very often. That’ll lead to the monsters surviving longer and consequently dealing more damage to the party. So don’t ignore mechanics because they will most certainly not ignore you. That means that if your role is to deal damage, then you don’t need to bend over backwards and ask for obscure Homebrew to break the game. Just beware the mechanics and make smart choices.
Example: You are wanting to play a Ranger that is as clumsy as Mr. Bean. The wrong thing to do would be dumping your dexterity score to show that you are clumsy. Instead, try to be mindful of the mechanics and flavor your actions to reinforce the trait you are going for. As the saying goes – Flavor is free: “I aim at the Goblin but stumble over my untied laces and lose the arrow towards the orc instead”. Same communication of the clumsy trait, but you’ll probably hit that orc.
Step 3: Inflict Backstory
If you think backstory, think dramatic backstory. It doesn’t have to be melodramatic, but a good amount of tension and conflict is the fertile soil your character can grow out off.
6 Mistakes to avoid when creating a backstory
Amnesia. We all know of this lazy video game trope. You wake up washed ashore on a beach and some guy just invites you to play Blitzball or something alike. If you have a backstory involving amnesia, do you really have a backstory? You are a black slate to everyone, even yourself. If that isn’t true, and you have a good reason for it and a way of getting your memories back that doesn’t just rely on the GM. Good for you, but more often than not, it’s used by players who just don’t want to think about their story.
Lawful Stupid. These are your Holier than thou paladins. You stole a loaf of bread, that means 5 years of hard labor for you, 14 more if you try to run! These types of characters tend to be a flanderized version of authority or religiousness. Therefore, these characters have a stubborn attitude which results in a “My way, or the highway”-Type of behavior which is disruptive in a cooperative game like D&D. Players with a seemingly easy to grasp concept, like being overly zealous or ever lawful, rely on it so heavily that it becomes a caricature, to the dismay of the party. It can also lead to interparty conflict, which should be avoided.
Evil (Murder Hobo). If your favorite thing to do is accumulate wealth and killing, you might be a murder hobo. Sometimes the reasoning is “My evil god told me to.”, “I was traumatized as a child, so that’s what my character would do.” or simply “I need power no matter what!”. It really doesn’t matter because if you go to is to attack everything instead of talking it out or at least trying, then you’ll sooner or later ruin the game for the other players or the GM. That should be reason enough to stay clear of a serial killer type character.
Seducing everything. “Can I roll to seduce the Dragon?”, nobody wants to hear that question if you aren’t playing a Shrek themed game. Bards have a tendency to fall into this category, and for my part this can be funny but also really awkward for the whole table. It’s a delicate balancing act. This can be okay if your friends you are playing with are okay with it. But playing out a romance fantasy in front of others can lead to uncomfortable situations. A solution I found helpful could be just romancing in the third person instead of playing it out. “My character would like to seduce the Barmaid” “Alright, you do that”.
Lone Wolf. While everyone sits at the cozy campfire, you are the one leaning against a tree with one leg up, cutting an apple with your dagger to eat it from the blade while looking at the moonlit woods. Don’t. No seriously, while you are thinking that you are a brooding loner the party or rather the players are just thinking that you are asocial and awkward. But if all the players are in on it, it makes for the funniest character. I had sessions where players suggested more and more ridiculous things the Lone Wolf NPC could do so we could cringe at it together.
No connections. You are an orphan, your orphanage was burned down, the only friend you had died and since then you are afraid to trust anyone new. Phew. With a character like that, you basically have no connection to the world. The same could be applied if you are from another dimension or plane. But then you would at least have the possibility that someone from your past could show up. This is even worse than amnesia. Now the GM can’t even try to hook you in any shape or form.
Amnesia. We all know of this lazy video game trope. Wait, what?
Craft your backstory using Hooks
Hooks are story elements the GM or other players can use to connect you to a plot. Like a family, that is both living and loving, being kidnapped. If that happens, you feel obliged to move Elysium and Earth to get them to safety.
Nonetheless, hooks are mostly avoided in character creation because of the connotations that come with it. Nobody wants to have a weakness in real life, but they are unavoidable, so we try to avoid them in game instead. Due to this, the characters become more flat. Every human has flaws, therefore we tend to show empathy towards characters who struggle with those too.
Think to yourself what could ultimately use against you like a knife. Then build said knife into your backstory. It could be a family you want to protect, a gang you owe money to, or a demon that has your soul. Be creative and not be afraid of the consequences, because a GM worth his salt will probably handle it in an enhancing manner rather than destructive. Also see Knife theory.
A drawn out 50-page backstory is just for you don’t make your GM scan it for your hooks, just hand them a list of bullet points.
Conclusion
To sum it all up:
- Step 1: identify and combine different character traits; Try to communicate those well.
- Step 2: Pull your weight in play; Be mindful of the mechanics.
- Step 3: Avoid problem character types; Build interesting backstory using hooks.
I hope you find these guidelines useful and consider it for your next character.
