Random Personality Generation

[Lysander]

Everyone loves designing their own character, but sometimes it's fun to be given guidelines and come up with an original person within that framework. Here's a simple idea for random personality generation.

There are six stats. A coin is flipped for each one to determine whether it is a Dominant or Recessive personality trait. A Dominant stat is one a person views as essential to their being, and is naturally attracted to activities, objects, and philosophies related to that stat, within whatever options are ethically and socially acceptable by their alignment, class, and native culture.

This doesn't determine the power of their stat, nor the effectiveness of abilities based off of it. It's possible to be dominant in a very low stat, or recessive in a high one.

For example, a person with Dominant high charisma is a born entertainer or negotiator. They savor the thrill of performing in front of others, haggling, or debating, as an end in and of itself. A person with Recessive high charisma is very good at public speaking or performing, but views it as a means to an end. A person with Dominant Low Charisma is an annoying blabbermouth, showboat or vain, a person with Recessive Low Charisma would have no interest or ability to take the spotlight.

Another example is Wisdom. A person with Dominant High Wisdom is a natural teacher or sage. Recessive High Wisdom is observant and has keen senses, but doesn't naturally offer advice to others. Dominant Low Wisdom is a fool prone to giving bad advice. Recessive Low Wisdom is a fool prone to taking bad advice.

[Teutonic Knight]

Sounds very interesting. Could you perhaps come up with details for each attribute or is that for us to decide?

[Temotei]

Sounds very interesting.

Agreed. I want to see this fleshed out some more. :smalltongue:

[Hashmir]

Hm. I think you're definitely on to something, but there are a couple problems I see after doing a quick test on an existing character.

The first is getting a dominant stat that is entirely mediocre. For instance, I tested a Dwarven Paladin with:

STR: 13 (d)
CON: 18 (r)
DEX: 14 (r)
INT: 8 (d)
WIS: 19 (d)
CHA: 18 (r)

For an adventurer, 13 strength is tremendously average. How exactly does being neither particularly strong nor weak play a dominant role in my character's identity?

The second problem is the opposite: Getting recessive on particularly high stats. For instance, while the dominant expressions of charisma you described above are pretty interesting, the fact is that neither of the recessive expressions will ever show up. In other words, having recessive charisma simply removes the stat from the characterization entirely.

This is not true of every stat, I suspect. Looking at the stats above, we see a low/dominant INT and a high/dominant wisdom. This suggests someone who doesn't really think very quickly, yet sees some of the deeper things others may miss with their analyses. A recessive/low INT might suggest someone who compensates by watching and imitating, so no one ever catches on that he's actually stupid.

However, looking back at this, I'm not sure I've escaped the fact that "recessive" tends to remove a stat entirely, making the whole thing an exercise in randomly picking the ~3 stats that actually matter, independent of their actual scores. On the other hand, I like the bit regarding wisdom that you wrote.

So perhaps the problem lies in the terminology? Perhaps instead of dominant and aggressive, we should use active and passive? So an active high CHA would be persuasive, whereas passive would simply cause others to be drawn to him or her -- and the reverse for low.

Frankly, it's late, so this is a little unorganized. But I think I'm going to go over this a bit more in my head and give some better examples later.

[Lysander]

For an adventurer, 13 strength is tremendously average. How exactly does being neither particularly strong nor weak play a dominant role in my character's identity?

The second problem is the opposite: Getting recessive on particularly high stats. For instance, while the dominant expressions of charisma you described above are pretty interesting, the fact is that neither of the recessive expressions will ever show up. In other words, having recessive charisma simply removes the stat from the characterization entirely.


The thing to remember is that Dominant/Recessive doesn't determine what your character does. It determines what they value. A character who is physically weak can still value strength, power, and aggressive action. For example, a wizard with 8 strength (D) and 18 intelligence (R) would favor a fireball over an illusion.

Let's look at your dwarf paladin. His dominant traits are average strength, poor intelligence, and high wisdom. So he's not much of a melee fighter himself, but believes in solving problems with violence and standing your ground. He's not smart enough to make complex plans, but places value in planning and preparation and would listen to those smarter than himself. He's hard to lie to, observant, and ever ready to dispense proverbs and wisdom to his peers.

I'll try to whip up examples for all the combination for each stat.

[Lysander]

Here's my fleshing out of the system:

Stat Dominance

Flip a coin for each stat to randomly determine whether it is dominant or recessive. Alternatively, have your players pick three dominant dominant stats.

A dominant stat represents a trait that the character values as an ideal, regardless of their own ability. While this can include the most literal physical or mental aspect of the stat, it more generally relates to a mode of behavior and an overall philosophy.

A person always takes classes that favor their higher stats, whether they are dominant or recessive. A dominant stat doesn't represent what a person necessarily does, it represents what they respect both in a person and as a metaphor for an ideology.

There are four possible extremes for each stat.

Dominant High
The character is an embodiment of their ideal. They follow the stat's philosophy in the most literal way and base their sense of identity off of it.

Dominant Low
The character admires a quality they do not possess. To compensate they use their natural talents in ways that match that stat's philosophy, and ally with those who do possess it.

Recessive High
The character has a talent, but views it purely as a means to an end. The recessive stat is used in the service of the philosophy of their dominant stats.

Recessive Low
The character views the stat as unimportant in the grand scheme of things, and views those dominated by it as a bit misguided.

A few qualities sometimes represented by each stat are:

Strength
Power, brute force, bravery, direct action.

Dexterity
Speed, multitasking, sneakiness, adaptation.

Constitution
Improvement, patience, self-sufficiency, dignity.

Intelligence
Complexity, tactics, expertise, research.

Wisdom
Empathy, observation, practicality, thoughtfulness.

Charisma
Glory, leadership, cooperation, manipulation.