Requilac
2019-07-30, 11:02 AM
In this thread I will publish a detailed method on how to randomly create a character's personality and all the resources which you could use to perform this method. Often times I have found that I am unable to really get a good idea of what the personality of an NPC should be in any number of the Tabletop Roleplaying Games I play. To make up for my lack of creativity, I have invented a model which can be used to flesh out the details of a character from scratch by randomly creating them. The full model itself is decently complex and may take a long time to complete, so you only need to use the first step or first few steps to create a character if going through every step would take more time than you would like. Here is a link to a Google Document which contains the personality generator on it (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g3sBdTTn1MEPvIlRAx0QDrQ8wl8qJrTtuFubjT1wHpI/edit?usp=sharing).
Although this model was designed to create Nonplayer Characters in Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition, it only rarely mentions a mechanical detail, so it should be applicable to most systems. Please be aware though that some aspects of it may not make sense when applied to other gaming systems, and you may need to change some things to better fit for these other systems. And there isn't a reason why this couldn't be used to create PC personalities either. I thought that due to the fact that this model doesn't mention mechanical aspects of gameplay much at all, that it would be better suited for the General Roleplaying Games subforum than the D&D 5e or Homebrew Design subforum, but I wouldn't mind if it where moved to either of those two.
I am still not very confident in the Factors step of the model, and couldn't help but feel that some of the effects on personality I gave some of the factors don't make sense. I tried to have the effects fit most closely with the stereotypical expectations of a D&D 5e setting, but even then it seems like these tropes aren't well defined enough for me to use them here. Ultimately though I decided that more details to flesh out a character where better, even if they where a little dubious, so I stuck with it (that, and I could always ignore the Factors step if it didn't make sense). Also, often times the effects of a factor aren't significant enough to drastically change one's personality, so I thought it would make sense. I may end up entirely scrapping the effects aspect of Step Four depending on the feedback I get on the matter.
I am not really expecting much response to this thread, given that I am more presenting a guide here than anything else, but I would welcome any kind of feedback on this. I would be willing to change anything on here if presented with a good enough argument. I am still not certain that this is the best way to structure a character's personality, and would like some insight onto how to make it better. Thank you in advance to anybody that gives a comment, regardless of whether that be a question, criticism, or suggestion.
Although this model was designed to create Nonplayer Characters in Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition, it only rarely mentions a mechanical detail, so it should be applicable to most systems. Please be aware though that some aspects of it may not make sense when applied to other gaming systems, and you may need to change some things to better fit for these other systems. And there isn't a reason why this couldn't be used to create PC personalities either. I thought that due to the fact that this model doesn't mention mechanical aspects of gameplay much at all, that it would be better suited for the General Roleplaying Games subforum than the D&D 5e or Homebrew Design subforum, but I wouldn't mind if it where moved to either of those two.
I am still not very confident in the Factors step of the model, and couldn't help but feel that some of the effects on personality I gave some of the factors don't make sense. I tried to have the effects fit most closely with the stereotypical expectations of a D&D 5e setting, but even then it seems like these tropes aren't well defined enough for me to use them here. Ultimately though I decided that more details to flesh out a character where better, even if they where a little dubious, so I stuck with it (that, and I could always ignore the Factors step if it didn't make sense). Also, often times the effects of a factor aren't significant enough to drastically change one's personality, so I thought it would make sense. I may end up entirely scrapping the effects aspect of Step Four depending on the feedback I get on the matter.
I am not really expecting much response to this thread, given that I am more presenting a guide here than anything else, but I would welcome any kind of feedback on this. I would be willing to change anything on here if presented with a good enough argument. I am still not certain that this is the best way to structure a character's personality, and would like some insight onto how to make it better. Thank you in advance to anybody that gives a comment, regardless of whether that be a question, criticism, or suggestion.