#d&d character development

[dungeonsanddragonscampaign]

Character Survey 3: Mundane Details

So, your character has been traveling with a party for a while. It seems only natural that they would learn little details about each other, but there may not be time for them to come up in-campaign. In such a case, share this survey with your fellow players! If you’d like to build more on your character, please check out Character Survey 1: Morals, Ethics and Aesthetics and Character Survey 2: Family Ties!

What is your character’s favorite type of food, or specific dishes that they love? Is there a reason behind their fondness?

Does your character favor a certain color? Are many of their clothes this color?

What is your character’s favorite instrument? Can they play it, or do they just enjoy listening?

What is your character’s favored weapon? 

How does your character deal with having something on their mind? Do they show it, or get quiet? Do they talk about it? Are there any coping mechanisms they have that others may notice?

If your character is angry or aggravated with another character / party member, how do they deal with it? 

What are your character’s pet peeves?

How long does it take for your character to confront or deal with something that is on their mind / a problem? If contingent on the type of problem, what are they more capable of handling?

Is your character affectionate? Whom does your character choose to share affection with?

If a fellow party member has a problem or concern, how (if at all) does your character deal with it? Do they try to help? Would it depend on the party member?

What are some habits that your character has? Do they have a morning or night time ritual?

Does your character have any unusual sleeping habits? How much do they sleep, where are they most comfortable? Do they snore? When given the option, are they an early or late riser?

How does your character behave when they are tired or exhausted?

Does your character have any quirks that others might notice? Speech patterns, or things that they tend to do? 

How does your character’s constitution translate to their every day life? Do they tend to be prone to sniffles or are they generally sturdy? How quickly do they come back from major injury? 

How does your character deal with being less than 100%?

How does your character deal with temperature? Do they run hot or cold?

Does your character have a preference between indoors or outdoors? Where do they seem more or less comfortable?

Does your character have various outfits for different situations, or do they tend to wear just one? Do they have any interchangeable pieces, or any odd clothing habits/quirks?

How does your character feel about their belongings? What condition are their belongings in? Do they have more belongings, or the bare minimum? Are they possessive or protective of their things?

What are your character’s hobbies? What do they do during their off-time? Do they have anything that aids them in these hobbies or skills?

What does your character bring to the party? Are they a skilled fighter? Are they good with intelligent pursuits or charismatic encounters? 

How do they help set up camp? 

What are some other ways your party is obviously benefited by your character’s presence?

What is your character’s relationship with money? What are their spending habits? How would your party perceive their relationship with money / accepting pay from others?

What is your character’s overall disposition when surrounded only by the party? Are they different around just one or two party members? If so, are these specific members, or rather that your character is more comfortable opening up around fewer people?

Does your character walk at a faster or slower pace? Does it depend on the setting or situation?

How does your character pass travel time? 

Is there anything else that your party members might notice about your character?

[dungeonsanddragonscampaign]

Building a character’s personality is a vast and complex endeavor - or it can be. It can also be simple, or start simple, with the use of preset, randomized backgrounds such as those provided in Chapter 4 of the 5th Edition Players Handbook (see previous post).  One bit of advice that sounds obvious but has been a recurring theme for me is this: Remember that you are not your character. If you feel you may have trouble distancing yourself in certain ways, I recommend designing a character that shares those traits with you. For example, if you are inclined to attempt to talk your way out of situations instead of jumping to fighting, you may want to give your character a high charisma skill in order to assist in the success of those endeavors. Conversely, if you tend to jump into things without thinking them through, you may choose to keep your wisdom skill lower.

There is, obviously, also the option of playing a character very different from you, and this presents its own fun and unique challenge. In a campaign where I am a player, I rolled a character with rather low charisma whose “Background” happened to be as a Noble. However, a die roll also indicated that his “Trait” dictated that he did not actively see himself as higher than anyone, despite his social position. This presented me with a challenge - how could a sheltered character who was (due to birthright) shoehorned into the position of a Noble Ambassador, who saw himself as equal to the common man, have a very low charisma?

My “Noble” character had an average wisdom skill ( a 10, which meant a modifier of 0), which I decided to interpret as him being sheltered and a bit naive. He was saved by being detrimentally so (a negative modifier, perhaps) because of the diplomatic part of his upbringing, but his high position also afforded him a rather skewed view of the world in which he lived. This is where how I chose to interpret his low charisma score comes in. With an 8 in his charisma, he suffered from a -1 modifier to any skill check that was linked to charisma. Being that this seemed unusual for someone who was currently in an ambassadorial position (despite his acquiring it only from his birth), I had to think - in what ways could someone like this - while still keeping his trait of being well meaning and valuing equality - have a very low charisma?  I decided that the best explanation was that this character was actually unintentionally offensive, because of his narrow views. He grew up sipping from silver chalices, so he may find a pewter one delightfully quaint. However, a common man who just served him with his best pewter chalice would surely find an amused declaration of “I’ve never seen them made out of this before, only silver!” to be rather offensive, thus digging my character into the hole of unintentionally low charisma. I took this all one step further when thinking about his future character development. In our 5th edition campaign, certain levels either gain feats or extra points to ability scores. I decided that most of the time when presented with this option, as the campaign went on, I would choose to add to his charisma score. His time out in the world adventuring afforded him a common education of sorts, helping him understand his limited world views and creating the more rounded, diplomatic noble that his house might have hoped he would be when they first sent him away. Because of asking myself these questions, my character evolved from a “Noble with a 10 wisdom score and an 8 charisma” into a naive and sheltered Noble ambassador with a silver-spoon life that had caused him to be somewhat haughty and unintentionally offensive. The latter is much easier to work with as a basis for story, even though it all came from those basic components.

Everything you choose for your character can have a bearing on their personality. Everything can matter, if you think it through. Why does your character have a high charisma? Are they naturally charming? Has their low constitution caused them poor health? Are they prone to illness? Is their background as an “Urchin” caused by the loss of their family in early childhood? Are they adventuring now in hopes to start a better life?

Each choice you make can lead to another question, which can lead to more character development. And each time you answer one of those questions, you create a more developed, solid character.

[dungeonsanddragonscampaign]

Character Survey 1: Morals, Ethics, and Aesthetics

Name:

Race:

Age:

Alignment:

Patron Deity:

How your character worships: (if applicable)

How often your character worships:

Where your character worships:

Your character’s definition of a good person: 

Your character’s definition of a bad person:

Your character’s ideal relationship partner:

What turns your character off from a relationship:

What your character finds attractive both in looks and personality:

What your character finds most unattractive in looks and personality:

 What is your character’s biggest regret? If s/he does not have one, why not? What would be something that they would regret if forced to do?

Your character is presented with the opportunity to save their world. If they do not, the apocalypse will come and their world will be destroyed. If they do, they may lose family, friends, and their home, but their world will be saved. What are their biggest regrets and reservations for saving the world (or would they prefer to remain ignorant and happily live out the rest of their time)?

When your character is angry or stressed, how do they calm down?

If your character were to imagine an idyllic place to spend a day, where would it be?

Does your character have a goal in life? Will they feel unfulfilled if they do not achieve it?

 Finally, a fellow party member has a secret. This secret may aid the party in their plight, but you are the only other person privy to the knowledge. However, they may have reasons for keeping the secret that you are unaware of. Your ‘leader’ is also unaware of their secret. What do you do? [Character Survey 2] [Character Survey 3]