What drives your initial character development

[nickl_2000]

There is no right answer to this, well someone on here will say there is, but I firmly believe that there isn't.

What drives your class and character choices? Do you look at a class and subclass and say "hey, a ranged battlemaster looks like fun" and then you write a story to build into that class?

Or do you prefer to come up with some concept like "I want to make a luchadore style wrestler" and then figure out the best class that fits into the ideas in your mind?


Is you have done both, which style do you find as more fun character in the long run?

[Jama7301]

After I choose class and race, I bounce back and forth between coming up with character details and picking options. After choosing a class/race combo, I'll start with a broad concept and a few key points. Then I choose the background and few skills that sort of cement more details about who this person is. I save ability scores for near the end, right when I'm about to pick gear.

For me, it works well to go back and forth, with crunch or fluff choice informing the other. I have a hard time sitting down with a complete character in mind, or a complete build.

[Tanarii]

My favorite 2 AL characters were completely random. Race, Class, Background, personality traits. All randomly determined. (I effectively used the Reincarnation table for race, but converted to d6s and Drow removed.)

In fact, I highly recommend trying the random tables for personality traits, even if you change them up a bit after, if all you know to start is your class & background. It makes for some great characters.

[samcifer]

Survivability, then versatility, then performance (mainly in combat performance). I see little point in making characters that will die too soon.

[Rysto]

I usually start with the basic mechanics that I'm interested -- usually class/subclass plus a basic idea of what the PC will do in combat -- and then craft a backstory to fit. There are a couple of reasons for that. One of the biggest is that I find it difficult to just come up with a backstory from nothing. Having some concrete details about the character helps to focus my thinking and gives me a baseline to work off of. Once that's done I fill in the rest of the mechanical details like background and proficiencies based on the backstory.

[Moredhel24]

I do a mix of both, will also take the module or campaign type into consideration.

For pota my group is thinking of captain planet like characters, a genasi for each element and a human to represent heart/spirit but instead of stopping the elemental evils our plan is to become the leaders of each cult and the human to be our patsy/the straight man. Our characters believe they'd make better prophets instead of the current ones since we're of elemental heritage not a deformed human sailor, medusa, elf deluded into thinking she's one of those fancy winged elves, or a tiefling.

Class types are also going to be tied to each chosen element

Earth Genasi Champion Fighter (endurance like the earth)
Air Genasi either tempest cleric or storm sorceror (channel the fury of the storm)
Water Genasi Swashbuckler Rogue (Pirate)
Fire Genasi Fiendlock (refluff patron as Imix, kills things w/ fire)
Human Lore Bard


recently I'm inspired to play a Tequila Wizard. Saw the wizard eccentricities table in xanathar's and one of the options is most prized possession is a dried worm kept in a potion bottle and that got me thinking about the worms sometimes found in bottles of tequila.

Race: probably dwarf cause reputation for drinking. Can anyone think of any other hard drinking races?
Background: Guild Artisan (Brewer)
Arcane Tradition: ?

[Malifice]

Finding a 'roleplaying reason' to justify to my DM why my coffeelock goes out for a 5 minute jog every hour, on the hour.

Finding a 'roleplaying reason' why my Evil PC doesnt harm other PCs, but makes Charles Manson blush with relation to NPCs.

[Potato_Priest]

I've done both before.

Overall, I would say that I produce better, more fun characters when I start with the backstory. Although I can create a mechanical synergy and then drive the fluff to match that, doing so is less likely to result in good integration with the setting, which increases immersion and results in more rewarding roleplay. This doesn't mean that I don't optimize: I do, but I try to optimize in ways that I don't need a convoluted backstory or roleplaying strategy to justify.

It is worth noting, however, that I prefer characters who have powers and abilities that are fairly generic, rather than backstory-dominating. Fighters and barbarians are excellent examples of characters that don't have to be consumed by class identity, and are rather more easily suited to a variety of differing character identities. At the opposite end of the spectrum are warlocks and paladins, who, using the default fluff, have either very precise roleplaying requirements and restrictions or very precise backstory requirements and restrictions.

[Kane0]

Pretty much all my character development comes down to 'Hey, you know what would be cool?'

Sometimes that means the best build for X I can think of
Soemtimes that means an interesting RP concept i've come up with
Sometimes that means picking a subclass that appeals to me and working backwards
Sometimes that means going along with a funny theme the group has come up with
Sometimes that means rolling a character completely at random

I've done them all, and theres no one way I find myself doing it more than the rest.

[Naanomi]

I tend to get caught on a ‘hook’... sometimes mechanical, sometimes conceptual, then build around it... what character can be most functional while having the most HP possible (hilldwarf battlerager?), or what character can make the best use of maximized passive perception (inquisitive using magic stone?), what is the best deep-sea Explorer (triton Outlander Gloomstalker Strength ranger?) etc...

Once I have that framework, I build out from there; usually in the direction of ‘too much fluff focus or overspecialization’ if the concept ends up with much wiggle room once operationalized

[Hypersmith]

I usually start with an inkling of story in mind. So backstory pretty much. From there I work forwards towards a subclass I'm interested, or if I feel I've done the story particularly well I'll go for some odd mix that fits that concept best. Occasionally I'll just want to play a specific class or subclass and work from there towards a backstory. Race is always some mix between what I feel is cool and optimization.

[SociopathFriend]

A bit of everything really. Generally speaking I use meta-knowledge first, like looking at what the party is missing, and then build a concept around what we need; it's my Support Main mentality at work.


Sometimes I have a certain game mechanic I want to try out and I'll make a character around that concept, for example a Wild Magic Sorcerer. To this day I've yet to actually get to play it as I've (unluckily) been killed extremely quickly ever time I have rolled one up or the campaign falls apart. The next such concept I see is a Druid as I've never played one.


And on a rare occasion I'll have a concept of a character I want to play and then pick classes/abilities to try to fulfill the concept. I made a thread dedicated to such a thing quite recently.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?543880-Making-Tarzan-Help

[furby076]

You nailed it on the head, with respect to me.

I come up with an idea of what strikes my fancy (race and class). I think of a concept story and make sure my DM is ok with it. Then i will spend a few hours to write a story (can be about 5 to 10,pages). My dm's have always loved the detail. It helps me get attached to the character, which means i will play them fully and not likely gonna ditch them. The dm usually gives me 4 to 6 sessions to refine my personality and story....because what i envision on paper may not make sense in game play. DM has final review and editorial say, as needed for his campaign

[Nifft]

Often I have an idea of a thing that I want to accomplish in the setting, and then I try to imagine who would be most interesting / most unexpected / most hilarious / etc. to accomplish that thing. Start from the finish line, work backwards.

Sometimes I have a specific race/class combo that I want to play. Though usually, when there's a race/class combo that I want to play, it's because of a mechanical feature that I want to exploit.

Occasionally I have no specific idea. For example, if the setting is poorly described, or the DM is a surprise-gimmick user, so that it's difficult to figure out what goals a PC can aspire to achieve in the game. In those cases, I try to fill in some role that nobody else in the party is covering.

Other times I have no specific idea and the party composition isn't visible for some reason or another. In those cases, rolling dice gives me a framework, and then I'll figure out something interesting to do with that framework.

[ad_hoc]

I think of an archetype that is supported that I want to create. Then I imagine what that archetype entails in the world of 5e. The order of how I do the rest is inconsequential.

I work on building into the character actions that will showcase the character.

Backstory is barebones, but everything else that will actually be in play is important including personality traits/ideals/bonds as they are represented through inspiration.

Here is an example; a character that I am currently making for an upcoming game.

Archetype: Lovecraftian researcher. This is supported in the GOO Warlock, Pact of the Tome.

Patron Details - GOO not aware of character, sends dreams as part of its being. Must conduct bizzare rituals.

Race - Human. Best represents the image of the archetype.

Background - Waterdhavian Noble - I could have gone scholar, but instead I'm going with someone who is moneyed. This covers the ability to afford to research and also evokes hubris and lack of restraint/wisdom.

Bonds/Ideals/Personality Traits - Not quite there yet

Mechanical representation -

Cold/Necrotic damage theme. Ray of Frost/Toll the Dead. Armour of Agathys. Tomb of Levistus. Retheme Cloak of Flies to be cold damage.

Mind affecting spells like Detect Thoughts, Suggestion.

[Tanarii]

Then i will spend a few hours to write a story (can be about 5 to 10,pages). My dm's have always loved the detail. Ouch. You've been lucky to find DMs that like that. I've never liked long back stories, more than a summary paragraph. They go in the round circular short-term storage device.

Now with 5e's personality traits showing how to do it right, when a player tries to give me a backstory, I tell them to go back and write me 5 motivations instead.

[ad_hoc]

Ouch. You've been lucky to find DMs that like that. I've never liked long back stories, more than a summary paragraph. They go in the round circular short-term storage device.

Now with 5e's personality traits showing how to do it right, when a player tries to give me a backstory, I tell them to go back and write me 5 motivations instead.

I won't even read a paragraph and advise players against writing such things :p

I don't even read their personality traits, I just ask them to bring them up in play when appropriate. If it doesn't occur in play it doesn't exist.

[Tanarii]

If it doesn't occur in play it doesn't exist.Thats certainly my attitude as a player. That's why I emphasize motivations. Backstory is just history, and history that didn't even occur in game play, to boot. Motivations affect game play moving forward.

Otoh I can deal with a very short amount of backstory, since most players like it when you use the hooks in it. Provide vampires for the orphaned-by-vampires vengeance pally to kill, or run a quick one-shot side quest foiling the tyrants again for the Folk Hero. Etc.

(I try not to kill or take hostage happy backstory families. They're so rare I can't bring myself to.)

[DarkKnightJin]

One of the first characters I've made: A Dragonborn, with a tail because I felt it was needed. I also wanted that tail to have a flaming tip. No, I totally didn't copy that from the Charmander line.
Then I worked my way out from there. What sort of character would he be?

Eventually, I ended up with a Fighter 1/Cleric 2 of the Death Domain. And he's been fun to play thus far.
And no, he's not Evil. He likes to think of himself as a guide to the After, and his god's mercy. Death claims us all, and if it is your destined time? He will guide you. By force if you insist on clinging to (un)life.

[Hyde]

As a DM, I make a lot of characters, and they're about a 50/50 mix of what's interesting and what's mechanically sound.

When I play, I generally come up with a few mechanical concepts, and then try to find an interesting story.

So this time, I've got a Wild Magic Sorcerer or a Druid of the Moon. I found the backstory for the WM sorc first, and here we are.

[Hrugner]

I come up with answers to the simple necessary questions: "What is keeping me from retiring after acquiring a comfortable sum." and "Does this character do much planning or not". After that I move on to some mechanical trick that keeps the game entertaining. I figure out how to do something that isn't really replicable by most players and fit that into my character's class and stats. Then I'll look at the abilities I need and build a story around this ability and the reason why he still adventures and that usually brings to mind something more complete.

Example 1:
The character has impulse control problems so they can never hang on to money but they also want to live a lavish life. This has lead them to a string of get rich quick schemes followed by binges or prison terms. I really like the idea of shooting people with a hand crossbow and them falling over, so I should make a battle master warrior with the knockdown thingy and get them crossbow mastery we'll grab the one where you can get other people to attack on your round to push this guy's selfish nature. I need dex and con for my shooting and drinking and it sounds like this guy lacks wisdom so we can dump that. He wants to be taken care of so no survival, no professions, no tool proficiencies. He sounds sort of boorish too, so no performance or persuasion. He seems like a jerk and a liar though so intimidate and deception are on the table. Dex>Con>Chr>Str>Int>Wis. Criminal, sailor, or soldier. Fighter 3 battlemaster then straight fighter or some rogue. Crossbow master, then the other shooty feat then who knows.

Example 2:
The character has received expensive training and owes a substantial debt to his teacher. He moves around to evade creditors and spends money on himself so that he has little to no gold on hand whenever they catch up to him. I like the warlock at will illusion abilities combined with the actor feat allowing a character to walk into enemy camps effectively disguised as the enemy. This forces the creditors to be supernatural trackers, and his trainer to provide warlock abilities so I guess now my character graduated from some sort of evil magic college. Since he's squandering his first two warlock things on at will illusions, he's going to need to be a hexblade. Chr>Con>Dex>Int>Wis>Str. Charlatan. Warlock Hexblade. Actor doesn't need to be turned on at first level, and he'll often be disguised, so we can branch out with races the weirder the better.

[ad_hoc]

Thats certainly my attitude as a player. That's why I emphasize motivations. Backstory is just history, and history that didn't even occur in game play, to boot. Motivations affect game play moving forward.



I think we are on the same page.

The background system is one of the best things about 5e. They got it right. It's a vehicle for things that will happen in game but also not hijack the game to be one player's story.

[Typhon]

A concept. Either class/subclass combination and what drove them in that direction. Which usually gives me the characters driving motivation for the beginning of their career. Otherwise, I figure out who my character is and then work towards mechanical fit of their personality.

Either way I try to create a back story/history that drives towards joining the group and helps me define that character in my mind. Well, defines them beyond class and background.

[In4Dimensions]

I see a cool class/subclass, think, “hey, I want to play that” and roll up the skeleton. After I’ve finished the crunch, I do the fluff (unless I have a specific character idea).

[2D8HP]

I see a cool class/subclass, think, “hey, I want to play that” and roll up... .
The PC I'm most recently playing is a Outlander Wood-Elf Rogue.

I like the "mechanicals" on that PC (good Perception, Stealth, etc.) and used it as a template to make my next character.

I stuck with Wood-Elf, and since I wanted to try the "Archeologist" Background from Tomb of Annihilation, I swapped in that background, giving the PC the extra language of Undercommon.

Next, because I wanted to try out the "Gloom Stalker" subclass from Xanathar's Guide I swapped out Rogue for Ranger, with a favored terrain of the Underdark.

In looking over Standard Equipment for a Ranger, I see that one may choose either two short swords or two simple melee weapons, since short swords are more GP, I chose them.

This is the PC (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1419272)

So I have a tomb raiding Ranger skilled in the Underdark who wields two swords, and has relatively dark skin (wood elves skin tends to be copperish in hue, sometimes with traces of green, per the 5e PHB).

Damn it.

The PC is almost Drizzt.

Forget that.

I then steal am inspired by the back-story of Ulrich von Bek from The Warhound and the World's Pain, and make a standard human Fighter with a Mercenary Veteran background (from the SCAG) instead.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I'm kinda stuck as a perma-DM, but the two characters I made that stood out were

Ragnar, the dwarven knowledge cleric. Here, I knew I needed to be a cleric since the group I was joining had just lost theirs. The rest was basically setting the "loves books" dials to maximum while finding a reason to work with everybody.

The second was <???> (I've forgotten the name), a half-orc fighter. Never got high enough for a sub-class, but this one was because the party needed a front-liner. I had his race, class, and background (folk hero). Personality inspiration hit when I rolled for height/weight and got 5'4" (short) and 190 lbs (heavy). He was sensitive about his height and hated to be mistaken for a dwarf. Enough so that he shaved his head and beard and emphasized his tusks. Blunt and honest.

So basically I've tended to go party niche --> personality, not the other way around. I made a few others, including one where I rolled everything. Ended up with a naive human death cleric. More comfortable around the dead (or undead) than around the living, she felt herself to be a psychopomp. Guide those whose time had come to the grave, keep those whose time it isn't yet out of the grave.

[mgshamster]

I roll on the trinket table and then try to explore the character who would have grown from possessing such an item.

[Sigreid]

Attribute rolls and whim. Though I am biased towards and against certain classes. I'm not a fan of playing a cleric, for example.

[GlenSmash!]

I read all the classes and backgrounds an idea of story starts to pop into my head, I start thinking about Shooting bows, Swinging Swords, flying into a Rage, Smiting with holy power. An idea starts to become my favorite for the moment.

When I've settled on a concept, then I plan on how I want to implement. multiclassing, feats etc. Sometimes I find a combo that is interesting enough to be to go back to the first step and rethink my concept.

Then I make a level 1 character.

Then I go back to DMing.

[nickl_2000]

I roll on the trinket table and then try to explore the character who would have grown from possessing such an item.

Alright, that is certainly the most unique answer I've seen so far. Trinket driven character development :)

[Nifft]

I roll on the trinket table and then try to explore the character who would have grown from possessing such an item.

This is awesome.

I'm adding this to my list of fallback inspiration tricks.

[Demonslayer666]

The start of a new campaign drives me to make a new character. As soon as I hear about the idea of a new game starting up, I try and make something interesting that I haven't played before, or at least something very different than I just played. I try to stay away from making an overly effective character but that's really hard for me to do. I like increasing my chances of survival. :smallsmile: I also gain inspiration from selecting a random disorder, delusion, mania, or phobia to make them really unique. I set short term and long term goals, and define a motivation.

If I need truly random character inspiration, I use the website "who the f is my D&D character?". :smallsmile:

[Ralanr]

I look at class first to get an idea of how they play. If I find them interesting, an idea for a personality. I don’t fully settle on the personality until I play them more and then let them develop through RP.

If I’m too focused on a particular character concept then I’m not gonna let them grow until I get it right and I never get him right.

[DarkKnightJin]

I roll on the trinket table and then try to explore the character who would have grown from possessing such an item.

Last time I tried rolling on the trinket table, I came up with the eggshell painted with the human misery thing. 3 times in a row.
When I told a friend about this, she commented on my character apparently getting a Behelit.

For those of you that know what that means.. I'm sorry..

[Typhon]

Last time I tried rolling on the trinket table, I came up with the eggshell painted with the human misery thing. 3 times in a row.
When I told a friend about this, she commented on my character apparently getting a Behelit.

For those of you that know what that means.. I'm sorry..

That is totally awesome to me and I would so own up to that aspect of my character.

[furby076]

I think we are on the same page.

The background system is one of the best things about 5e. They got it right. It's a vehicle for things that will happen in game but also not hijack the game to be one player's story.
I respect that. For me its different. My games tend to last years.

The background system is awesome, and i incorporate it into my character. My last character, i found the background after the story was made (street urchin ).by itself, its too limited for me. This is an rpg, and its important for me to know what happened to my character before the first game day. Figuring typical characters are at least 18 years old, if not older, what did they do? By knowing this i can shape their in game behavior, which is important to me. Better than floundering for a reaction. For example, my street urchin hates nobles. By knowing she was homeless, and beaten by nobles, when we encounter them in game she will behave appropriately.

I've had about 5 dms in my life. Highschool 2 years. College was 2 dms at 2 years and 3 years. Then a dm for 10 years (single campaign). Current dm is approaching 1 year (he was my DM in HS, so this campaign may last for a while. His world is like 20 years old).

A detailed story doesnt have to come anywhere close to hijacking a game, or even being more than a small footnote in the game. Thats why the DM has final say. No you cannot be the favorite son of a 20th level wizard who is the beloved king of the largest kingdom. You can, however, be the son of a lord who kicked you out of his region for being a dope of a son. If the party shows up for dinner, you may get a meal and accommodations in the stables. You are an embarassment to the family, after all :)

[Tanarii]

The background system is awesome, and i incorporate it into my character. My last character, i found the background after the story was made (street urchin ).by itself, its too limited for me. This is an rpg, and its important for me to know what happened to my character before the first game day. Figuring typical characters are at least 18 years old, if not older, what did they do? By knowing this i can shape their in game behavior, which is important to me. Better than floundering for a reaction. For example, my street urchin hates nobles. By knowing she was homeless, and beaten by nobles, when we encounter them in game she will behave appropriately. youre taking about motivation. "my street urchin Hayes nobles, because she was beaten by one" is a motivation, not just history. In fact, I believe it's Bond number 3 for the Folk Hero background. Although some of the

The 5e personality system is awesome because it combines history and personality into one, in 4-5 clear motivations. Back stories usually fail to make the motivations clear at all, and focus more on history than looking forward at how your character will act during play.

That's why I'm not big on them. They often focus on the wrong thing. Especially when people focus too much on the "story" part of it, as many players do. Especially ones by players who view themselves as, or aspire to be, writers.

[furby076]

youre taking about motivation. "my street urchin Hayes nobles, because she was beaten by one" is a motivation, not just history. In fact, I believe it's Bond number 3 for the Folk Hero background. Although some of the

The 5e personality system is awesome because it combines history and personality into one, in 4-5 clear motivations. Back stories usually fail to make the motivations clear at all, and focus more on history than looking forward at how your character will act during play.

That's why I'm not big on them. They often focus on the wrong thing. Especially when people focus too much on the "story" part of it, as many players do. Especially ones by players who view themselves as, or aspire to be, writers.

To me, 4 to 5 clear motivations are not good enough to flesh a character out. Id probably have higher priority motivations than what the game suggests

Also, i believe anyone who is willing to "put pen to paper" IS, in fact, a writer. Maybe not a good writer, but still a writer :)

This is a personal thing. There is no right or wrong way to approach this. Even if my DM didn't want a story, I would still write it and make it available. It's useful to me, and allows me to form a connection to my character. Game sessions tend to last 6 to 8 hours, about once a month or so. I can invest a few hours to create a background :)

[Tanarii]

Game sessions tend to last 6 to 8 hours, about once a month or so. I can invest a few hours to create a background :)
If you're playing that infrequently, I can see the appeal in doing a little writing in between sessions, be it on pre-game development or even current character development between sessions.

I run multiple sessions per week, with many players participating in at least two sessions every week, often with different characters. They've got plenty of ability to develop them during play.

Definitely a case of different strokes.

[BW022]

1. The type of campaign, players, DM, and setting. Is it roleplaying heavy, survivability, core group or pickup, etc.
I may select completely different criteria for an Adventure League game (with quick advancement, random players, combat heavy, etc.) vs. a home campaign in a different setting, low-XP range, etc. Is it really deadly or mainly roleplaying?

2. Have I played this before? I generally like having something new or different. Can I focus on a specific race, or political situation, god, etc.

3. Is the character still useful? I try to avoid concepts which are either so specialized or don't fit in well with a potential group. Is it relying on specific rulings or DM-styles (say illusions) or going to p-off the rest of the players (scam artist or something)? Does it generally have a couple of roles it can fill?

4. Other players? Is it going to conflict with other players or characters? Alignments, religions, roles within the party. Is there a role which the players probably won't go after -- scout, face person, knowledge person, etc.

5. Given a character from the above... is there some twist I can give to it to make it unique. Going against type (a dwarven wizard, a noble halfling, a unique history, etc.) Books, trinkets, previous campaigns, backgrounds, modern takes on things, etc. can always help flesh out this.

[KorvinStarmast]

That's why I'm not big on them. They often focus on the wrong thing. Especially when people focus too much on the "story" part of it, as many players do. Especially ones by players who view themselves as, or aspire to be, writers. I play with a man who is a published author. He writes one to two paragraph back stories, sometimes a bit more, and plays to play and let the character grow as play develops. I tend to write longer back stories, the whole point of which is "how did I get here?" and I always discuss with my DM potential threads of my back story that fit the DM's world. Been doing this since about 1978. I stopped the mechanical only approach to RPG's after our first dungeon crawl.

I do agree with you on the motivations, ideals, flaws thing. I never roll for them, but instead pick one, or write one similar to what's in the PHB. They are good seeds to grow ideas with.

Backgrounds: I disagree with you about the utility of backgrounds. Each adds a proficiency or two, or a tool, that can help in later play.

I also agree with this:

Thats why the DM has final say. No you cannot be the favorite son of a 20th level wizard who is the beloved king of the largest kingdom. You can, however, be the son of a lord who kicked you out of his region for being a dope of a son. If the party shows up for dinner, you may get a meal and accommodations in the stables. You are an embarassment to the family, after all :)
Bingo.

[Chaosmancer]

I tend to have a mix, sometimes it is the class that gives me the initial hook, sometimes a cool idea I want to try, sometimes the story of the character.

After I've got the hook I tend to refine and adjust, get a cool trinket that makes me think of adding X, if I grab a morningstar instead of a sword that might mean Y. Just tweaking things until it is time for the game to start.


As to writing backstories, I tend to write a page or two. I try and keep it short, but it is way more interesting and useful to me than trying to write some motivation sentences. Especially since a lot of the ideals, bonds and flaws in the PHB are kind of crappy and/or useless.

I think the biggest use out of writing the backstory is the connections. Sure I can write "Make my Family Proud" under ideals, but that doesn't tell me who my family is, and if I begin writing and figure that my family is a noble house with a long line of clerics devoted to this temple, then I can do two things. 1) I can talk about them like real people and 2) I can find other motivations, things I might have missed or overlooked if I thought about them in distinctive chunks instead of as a whole.

[Tanarii]

Backgrounds: I disagree with you about the utility of backgrounds. Each adds a proficiency or two, or a tool, that can help in later play.
I made no claims about the utility of backgrounds, so I have no idea what you are disagreeing with here. :smallconfused:

[Dudewithknives]

Most of the time i come up with a concept and see how to make it work.

Ie. There is a whole thread from the other day where I was trying to figure out the best way to build a duelist type character.
This is for a long lasting campaign and I usually write a long backstory to go with it and go heavy on the RP


Sometimes, I read up on a new mechanic and want to give it a try.

Ie. I liked the new mechanic of a warlock smiting with a bow so I built a Hexblade Archer to give it a try.
This is for more the short type game that will only go to certain levels and I just keep it simple to try the mechanics.

[Wilb]

I talk to the DM about the setting and based on its characteristics, I develop my character to make me, as a player, feel "comfortable" while roleplaying it.

I try to craft the character to have the background and abilities of someone who actually survived in that place/society but did not stick out like a sore thumb, whether by being just one more in the crowd or just making others think that it is. Then I diverge from this baseline as the play dictates.

[HandofBlades]

It honestly depends upon the game I am playing on how I come up with the character. If we are running a module then I tend to just sort of wait to see what everyone else makes and then fill the holes in the party (hello all my skill monkey/healer characters). However when I get to play in a homebrewed campaign I tend to get a general idea for the world then think what would be cool here. For example, hmm there was a dragonborn empire with slave soldiers that collapsed. It would be cool to play a descendant of said soldiers. Ok so fighter maybe battle master let's add some tradegdy and he was a mercenary and his company got routed in a big fight he has nothing left and now is thrust with people whom he has to work with. Perfect.

Hmm you are playing a rogue. Hey you know what is the best part of dnd. Rogue and bard adventures. I am making a bard. Hey you want to be brothers. Cool. Oh you are playing a Kenku rogue. Neat guess I am a bird bard. Yay. (Goes to actually read bard) oh my I might have given myself too many options here. Oh well let's do this!

Or my latest character. Hmm. I wanna play a wizard, but let's make him interesting. Hmm he only has one arm. And he is lawful evil and...I know he does no damage pure control. Never got to play that. Let's do this!

My thought process for the last couple of games I was in.

[Breashios]

... If we are running a module then I tend to just sort of wait to see what everyone else makes and then fill the holes in the party (hello all my skill monkey/healer characters)...
Campaign or one off, this is usually what I end up doing, because I let everyone else run what they want. One time I didn't was when I was joining my wife in her first campaign experience. We both made Fighters (Champions) so I could help her with the mechanics (she was pretty good at the role-playing despite being extremely shy in real life). The rest of the party ended up being two Battle Masters and a Ranger. Needless to say, I eventually had to play an NPC Wizard, while one of the Battle Master players had to play an NPC Cleric (the ranger never learned any healing spells) so we could get through some of what the DM had planned. Another new player joined later. He chose to play a Rogue.

[GlenSmash!]

To me, 4 to 5 clear motivations are not good enough to flesh a character out. Id probably have higher priority motivations than what the game suggests

If you find the games Personality Traits, Bonds, Flaws, and Ideals often lacking, do your write your own custom ones?

If so I think that's great!

[CantigThimble]

Typically I look at what the party needs and work backward from there. Sometimes that means: 'We need a cleric', other times it means: 'We need a straight man' or 'We need a leader'.

If we don't have a party yet, then I'll often look at the DM's setup. What kind of character is going to make his job easier? Someone headstrong to move things forward when they're slow? Someone cautious who will get the party to follow up on details? Someone who has a bunch of knowledge skills or comes from a specific place in the setting so he can justify giving us important lore? etc.

After that I start worrying about how to give them interesting twists and motivations to suit me personally.

I think I may be a bit unusual in this respect. I don't tend to come up with my own ideas out of the blue much but once I have something to work off of then I hit the ground running.

[nickl_2000]

If you find the games Personality Traits, Bonds, Flaws, and Ideals often lacking, do your write your own custom ones?

If so I think that's great!

I'll be honest, I completely ignore the traits, bonds, flaws , and ideals tables. I find they are way to restrictive, my character gets most of this in the backstory and the rest comes out as I play him.

[erok0809]

Lately, I've basically just been saying, "what class haven't I played yet/recently?" and then making one of those, choosing whatever race I think might be interesting/thematic with it. Even if I weren't doing that, I tend to start from class, just based on what I feel like playing. Once I have a class/subclass that I like, then I'll see if I can think of what sort of background I'd like (with both mechanical and story considerations) along with actual personality stuff.

Once all of that is done and I have a character sheet written up, then I'll write the backstory in first-person, as that character would retell it to someone else if they had perfect recall and weren't lying about anything. I find that helps me understand the character more, and if they aren't perfectly honest also helps me figure out what they might lie about, what they like and don't like about themselves, how confident they are, etc. I'll work with the DM (and the party, if appropriate) to figure out how the backstory I write links up with the campaign.

I do tend to start from the game mechanics when building, but I don't like having characters with no personality or history.

[Waterdeep Merch]

I typically look at my party first and decide on a class and build that works with them. From there, I figure out why my character has each function.

Then I write a long backstory and likely a short story of a pivotal event that I know for a fact my DM's don't read, followed by a paragraph tl;dr that I know they do. This last time I even told my DM I wasn't going to bother sending it to him, which weirdly made him ask for it and he read the whole thing. I do this so that I know who my character is and I can get in their headspace, and I'm not bothered that no one else cares as much about it.

Then I try on accents and voices, varying my pitch and depth, testing out some deliveries. I come up with responses to standard adventure events, like if I get angry or afraid when I get critically hit, how I ask for help (if I ask for help), some favorite sayings I might employ, etc. It's around this point that I'd say I have a fleshed out character, ready to go.

Then the first session happens, and here's my dark secret- I rewrite a lot of my backstory and redo some of my character voice choices after the first day to better suit whatever naturally occurred between me and the other players. This last time I was going to play something of a cool but cocky and jocular knight, which quickly changed into an arrogant prick that's running from all his troubles, all because a different player ended up comic relief and the synergy felt off feeding into the same vibe. So now I'm his straight man instead.

[Afrodactyl]

I come up with a loose idea or theme for a character, then come up with a background and fill in the class and other bits afterwards.

For example;
Premise - a very unintelligent orc that was the "apprentice" (bodyguard) for a wizard. He is convinced that he can cast spells and does so on a regular basis by narrating what he does and waving his hands about like his "master" did.

Background - as above, add in stuff like him questing to become a fully fledged wizard (despite being dumber than a sack of wet leaves), him having a bag of rocks labelled 'magic missiles', casting 'magic circle' by drawing a circle in the dirt and punching anyone who walks inside it and stuff like that. Lots of poorly interpreted spells.

Build - low intelligence (and the -2 from orc racial), probably frenzy barbarian or something revolving around physical violence.

[CircleOfTheRock]

I think to myself "What hole is there in the party that I can filll, combat-wise and then effective skill-usage as priorities?" My choices in literally everything else are made by that mentality, although it generally means I end up playing a bard or a monk.

[PopeLinus1]

Often, I find out about the games setting before I put my background in stone. My favorite character, I made much of her background during the actual adventure, without ever using this to gain an advantage(like being freinds with someone we negotiated with beforehand).

The end product was a charecter that’s backstory was actually applicable to the story line and had a great motivation.

[Corsair14]

I look through the classes and based on my mood I think this would be a cool class to play. Then I start thinking of character concepts. Just as an example I have always found the Summoner class from PF to be one of the coolest classes in the RPG universe. So I think what would be a cool character to build off this class. I really like oddball races so I think Forest gnome. That would be a cool off beat race for it. Then maybe think about why. Say the eidolon isn't his direct creation but he perhaps hit is head in the woods or has a spilt personality that took the form of the eidolon and he has always heard stories about green dragons and a small green dragon has seemingly appeared in his life and wont go away and just follows him around. It doesn't act evil like the stories and he has no idea it is simply a manifestation of his subconscious mind. Now to go roll the stats, figure out equipment, come up with a background and play.

Most of my characters come up like this or I see a picture or read about a character type in a book and build one based off of that.

[KorvinStarmast]

I made no claims about the utility of backgrounds, so I have no idea what you are disagreeing with here. :smallconfused:
Ok, I'll try again.

Back stories usually fail to make the motivations clear at all, and focus more on history than looking forward at how your character will act during play.
I disagree.
Back stories can add a lot to the game. Our bard's back story ended up becoming significant when wanted posters started cropping up with his face on them; he was wanted for murder back in his home town, and we are pretty sure that he was framed. This led to a nasty encounter with some moon elves.

This back story was sent to our DM in 2014. Each of us sent one in and shared it via email so we could all get the "introduction" bit done before the first adventure.



Korvin's Story
Mother died from the violet plague.
On my third trading voyage, Father was killed by the pirate Rustbeard while defending the good ship Windbreaker from attack.
Rustbeard took our ship, since his had burned during the battle.
Salted Bart and Steelfinger mutinied, feeding Rustbeard to the sharks. It was justice, of a sort.
They put ashore those of us who wished to leave piracy to them. I watched my seven shipmates slowly die from poisoned wine, which was Steelfinger's parting gift to us -- I'd never cared for wine, ale tasted better to me, and rum.
I made for Mother's temple, the one in Scornubel where Father had met her.
The high priest said I had potential. He enrolled me to study as a Cleric of Lathander. It was four long years of prayer and learning.
I felt a sailor's restlessness. I left the cloister to spread the Light.
Maybe I can heal a small part of this sick world. Maybe I can find justice.
How I'll do any of that in this mad city of Waterdeep I'm not sure -- If a few other people are as restless as I am, there's no telling what we can change ...
Back story.

The DM (some time later in the campaign, after Korvin died I created a new character) featured rumors and news of raids along the coast by the notorious pirate Steelfinger, but we never ended up in an encounter since the campaign ended (RL issues) at around the time we were choosing between heading for the underdark and a few other adventures.

[Tanarii]

If you find the games Personality Traits, Bonds, Flaws, and Ideals often lacking, do your write your own custom ones?

If so I think that's great!


I'll be honest, I completely ignore the traits, bonds, flaws , and ideals tables. I find they are way to restrictive, my character gets most of this in the backstory and the rest comes out as I play him.
That's great if you make it work for you. But even experienced players that write backstories can benefit from several clearly articulated 1 sentence motivations pulled form the backstory, across several categories of motivations. Not necessarily the PHB categories, they're just particularly useful as a nice broad spectrum of categories of motivations.

I've seen many experienced players with detailed back stories that still play their character as themselves + one hook + history 99% of the time, because they focused their backstory so much on the one hook and history.

Regardless, the PHB tables are clearly meant for newcomers to the game, to inspire them. And to drive home the point: motivations within different categories is what really matters, not just back-history-story.

I personally found it was incredibly fun to actually use them to generate a random personality, then try to play that.

But I also like leaving my history nebulous enough that the DM and I can invent it more in play. Playing (effectively) a mysterious stranger / herohobo with no solid background, but very clear personality and motivations, works well for me. All of this is in the Personality traits, history can come out as I play her.

[KorvinStarmast]

But I also like leaving my history nebulous enough that the DM and I can invent it more in play. Playing (effectively) a mysterious stranger / herohobo with no solid background, but very clear personality and motivations, works well for me. All of this is in the Personality traits, history can come out as I play her. That works too, and is a good vehicle for making sure the back story fits into the campaign world.

[Asmotherion]

0) I already know beforehand what abilities I want my character to have; Why I play D&D, a variation of a fantasy setting and what's the basic concept behind it. I basically want a character who shoots magical energy from his hands, and might or might not be able to do other magical stuff.

1) I come up with a Character Concept. Anything goes. Depending on the starting level, I will give a deeper backstory or a less developed one. I will make sure to have some trinkets, a good description of how my character looks like and finally Aspiration, and what drove me to adventuring.

2) I play through the Character; Other than my in game Aspirations and Goals, I have my out of Game Goals, as in "what I want this character to be remeberted as". I then wait for the DM to give me some "Flags" of when is the right moment to perform some aspects of the character, give a specific quote or line I have prepared between sessions, in order to make the Character what I want him to be in the end!

Ultimatelly, we are Actors. The DM is the Director, and takes control of the scenes, but as PCs, we are the Protagonists, and we can Direct our own character in any way we want. And this can make a great story.

[Tanarii]

That works too, and is a good vehicle for making sure the back story fits into the campaign world.As a player, I'm used to two things:
- historically, a small home group building a campaign world being built together by DM & players as the game proceeds.
- the last decade or so, official play.

Both of those lend themselves to not worrying about your history too much before hand. The former also lends itself to finding out what your history is during play.

IMO if you want to play a character other than yourself, motivations are key, whether they are clearly specified directly or embedded backstory. I mean, you can always just go with an avatar of yourself with special skills and maybe a funny voice, and leave it at that. That's fine too.

[mephnick]

Although I'm almost always running the game, if I do play:

I decide on a concept, usually sub-optimal, then optimize as much as I can mechanically. "Huh, it would be fun to be a divine thief..how can I make that useful?"

I don't write backstories and refuse to do so if asked. I do skim the background options to see if something strikes my fancy, otherwise I decide on motivations as I proceed through the game and get to know the group and characters. If I encounter slavers I decide what my stance is on slavery in the moment and then that is my stance from then on. Am I ok with killing orc children? No idea until I'm forced to decide. I think this probably stems from DMing so many years and being forced to pull NPC motivations out of my butt at a moment's notice. I find it's a more organic way of creating a unique character.