There are many ways to find inspiration for new characters and I've found my style has changed over time. As a new player I was reading the rule books and taking inspiration from the descriptions, art work and imaging how cool various skills would be to try. After the first campaign I started looking elsewhere for ideas and started looking at other pop culture sources (mainly my other love, Warhammer). Later I enjoyed the challenge of trying to make characters outside of the standard rules while maintaining balance.
So perhaps you have picked from the books, from fantasy art, from pop culture or from characters you've seen others play. Perhaps you start with the class first, then work to build a story. Or perhaps you think of an interesting flaw, characteristic or vice that sounds fun, then design someone to try that out.
So do you have a preferred style or have you found you change style over time or every build? Is there any style you dislike?
My first character (Thoruk, my namesake) grew from a standard barbarian character sheet I was given for my intro game. I just developed his character and backstory on the fly, and it became awesome.
My next one I put a lot of effort into but didn't think too hard on the way they would interact with others. It resulted in a flop, the character sucked to play as and had to be retired.
My artificer was a good one, Griswold "Gizmo" Grayling, and I enjoy playing as him. His character was kind of built i n2 parts - the mechanical aspect of playing the game, and then an ever-growing backstory of anecdotes about his previous and dangerous experiments, and an obsession with storing curses in gems. What with the campaign he was in dying off, and my growing interest in DMing my own world, Gizmo has been sidegraded to NPC, running a magic shop with potentially disastrous quantities of magic items.
My most recent character is one I've put the most effort into theri pre-game backstory. I worked with the DM (very good move) to establish his place in the world and build it from there. My approach was:
1: I want a character who is devoted, in some way, to their weapon, but I don't fancy playing a warlock. So I picked Paladin, with a backstory to explain the weapon.
2: I worked with the DM to flesh out the backstory (raised in a forest as the chosen one, ousted as the chosen one at the last minute, stole the weapon to fulfil their "destiny" anyway, failed, got petrified, revived years later, forest has been chopped down, apocalypse happened, now trying to find their place in the world). I focused on making a really cool backstory, with lots of things to come back and haunt him, and a lot of flavour, but without making it seem like the game should revolve around them. Not all prophecies are true, after all! The DM can decide if anything comes from it, or if it was really just some superstitious old guys who got it wrong!
3: I then rolled the stats and got 3 good ones and 3 meh ones, and had to adapt the story to suit it. His training is still valid, so high strength and constitution, and he's got a lot of personality, so high charisma, and then I had intelligence, wisdom and dexterity to pick from. I came up with the reasoning that, as the world had changed so much, his intelligence relating to knowledge of the world would be low, so that got a 10 - not dumb, but perhaps naïve and ignorant of the ways of the world. So too his wisdom, and then I added that his dexterity is low because of the un-petrification process, which left him somewhat lacking his nimble movements that he used to enjoy.
4: Then I revisited the classes, and realised I wanted to get some levels in fighter for the weapon bond, and give my character time to choose between the oaths of Vengeance or Ancients (to avenge the forests or to replant them), so I took 2 levels of paladin and 1 level of fighter. When he's ready, he'll level up as a paladin and take his oath. This has given me a personal goal which isn't going to impact the game until after I decide which route to take - which will be dependent on the way he sees the world by then!
This one's taken (by far) the most character creation, and I'm so looking forward to playing him!
Wertbag, good question. I'm sure inspiration for player concept and design is a broad spectrum across D&D. Some people don't get that "into" their characters, while others write elaborate backstories and get a deep emotional connection.
For me, its usually a simple spark of the character's origin. After that i like to see how the characters evolves naturally, including rolling stats.
Art and story are always my favorite sources of inspiration. Although, I must also admit to being that player who waits to see what others in the group are creating and tries to fill-in-the-gaps. Things like, "Do we have someone who can heal in this party? Scout? Find traps?...." But, I think my favorite characters have emerged when I have had the chance to collaborate with someone else -- either the DM or another player, as for example a recent campaign where my best friend and I played twin sisters, identical in appearance, but with very different personalities and goals. (We worked together on backstory, our family, the place we grew-up, or relationship, etc.)
My newest character started with a piece of art (I believe from one of the Pathfinder books in this case) and grew through my choice of starting class (might multi-class later) and subclass. But where she really blossomed was talking to the DM, learning what would fit in the campaign and his world (homebrew) and drafting backstory through various e-mails and chats. He said he had added an entire kingdom as a result of this and "BTW thanks for the city", when I had simply invented a name as a place holder in my background until I could talk with him. I also have roughly a page on meeting the party's ranger since we were asked to have a connection with someone before the first session just to avoid the old "you all meet in a tavern" trope.
Oh, and dice -- I think I have found the right dice to use with this character. After all, doesn't each one need a distinct set?
I tend to think of race/class first, then flesh out the character's personality. I dig into that, thinking about quirks, traits, voice, likes and dislikes, etc. I also like to talk to some of my fellow players sometimes to see if we can build some history into our characters. Maybe I'll write a little bit of background. Then finally, I finish the specifics of the character sheet.
I always have the character's backstory first and make the mechanics fit the theme. I find if I try it the other way around I end up with very bland and/or clichéd characters.
As for creating the story - I often randomise it with (a heavily modified version of) the This is Your Life section of Xanathar's - or find a really cool picture and see what I can come up with from that.
I like to think of the characters alignment first, then go from there.
I find inspiration in the enneagram. I consider the types; reformers, helpers, achievers, romantics, iconoclasts, loyalists, enthusiasts, challengers, and Peacemakers.
I'm not very experienced, but this is what I do :P
I try to envision a personality and roll with it. Funny, grumpy, curious, nosy, anything, but I pick something that defines the personality. Then I decide where he/she came from, to develop such a face and eventually reach race, where I decide what look would best suit the personality I have created. Once that's all done, I am ready to consider what class the character might be, considering their history and developed personality. That was where my Air Genasi Monk came from. Oddly, his personality has been dragging me along on his adventure, and staying true to what HE would do, I find he is heading in a direction I didn't expect......at all. It is a strange experience for sure.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
When I have an idea for a character, it generally starts as an inspiration from other mediums, pop culture, etc.
As a DM, I have also sometimes found the character creation system that players use is extremely limiting and creatively stifling, so for some character concepts, I just use monster stat blocks instead as it gives me ultimate freedom and control.
Sometimes I start with mechanics that seem fun to play. Concepts like the Echo Knight or the Genie Warlock spark a lot of questions in me and I think you can come up with wildly divergent paths that could bring a character into a given set of powers, or describe the appearance or effects of those powers in very different, perhaps unexpected ways.
For example, playing a typical Battle Smith artificer would be about a 5/10 on my "interest" scale. But what if I played it like the Steel Defender was the main character - a construct that dreamed of becoming a real dwarf one day just like its kindly, Gepetto-like caretaker that believed in its dream and helped it however he could? Now it's more like 8/10 for me. I want to go write that guy up.
Sometimes I just really like a picture or a particular miniature and wonder who that person might be. Or I make an NPC for my own campaign and they grow on me to the point that I want to explore that character more.
For a while my first roll was on the trinket table and this actually works better than you might expect. Think about it. Here's someone who's carrying everything they own. If they're getting a new shirt they're probably going to have to get rid of an old one. Yet here's a fairly useless item that they still keep with them. What does it say about them?
Lately I have a list of things I want to try in a character, a Tabaxi or a Kenku, a dual wielder or an Inquisitive and I just run them around and around in my head until a few of them collide and form something interesting like a dual wielding Tabaxi Swashbuckler.
And they can change and mutate in as little as one bad pun (the Ranger I was working on went from Outlander to Entertainer when I realized that the 3 Genasi band he was in was called "Earth Wind and Fyre".
So now inspiration comes from anywhere. My latest idea for character is a Changling, mostly Inquisitive with some Monk and Artificer thrown in and a backstory that starts out:
My name is Denton Ostron, I used to be a spy until . . .
Usually the race/ class inspire the backstory for me. Most of my characters stem from mechanics I find interesting and then I find it easy to fit a character history into that archetype. Like I knew for a while that I wanted to play an Eladrin arcane archer with a soldier background because I thought it was a nice combo. Her backstory came fairly easily after that. I started thinking "what works with this archetype?" and I came to the conclusion of a battle hardened, traumatized warrior who carries a ton of guilt over the only battle she ever lost. Her whole character is about redemption. I did the same thing with a half drow ranger I made. Thought the mechanics seemed cool, saw a homebrew background for bastard child and my John Snow/ Aragorn rip off was born.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Dragons? In my dungeon? More likely than you think.
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There are many ways to find inspiration for new characters and I've found my style has changed over time. As a new player I was reading the rule books and taking inspiration from the descriptions, art work and imaging how cool various skills would be to try. After the first campaign I started looking elsewhere for ideas and started looking at other pop culture sources (mainly my other love, Warhammer). Later I enjoyed the challenge of trying to make characters outside of the standard rules while maintaining balance.
So perhaps you have picked from the books, from fantasy art, from pop culture or from characters you've seen others play. Perhaps you start with the class first, then work to build a story. Or perhaps you think of an interesting flaw, characteristic or vice that sounds fun, then design someone to try that out.
So do you have a preferred style or have you found you change style over time or every build? Is there any style you dislike?
My first character (Thoruk, my namesake) grew from a standard barbarian character sheet I was given for my intro game. I just developed his character and backstory on the fly, and it became awesome.
My next one I put a lot of effort into but didn't think too hard on the way they would interact with others. It resulted in a flop, the character sucked to play as and had to be retired.
My artificer was a good one, Griswold "Gizmo" Grayling, and I enjoy playing as him. His character was kind of built i n2 parts - the mechanical aspect of playing the game, and then an ever-growing backstory of anecdotes about his previous and dangerous experiments, and an obsession with storing curses in gems. What with the campaign he was in dying off, and my growing interest in DMing my own world, Gizmo has been sidegraded to NPC, running a magic shop with potentially disastrous quantities of magic items.
My most recent character is one I've put the most effort into theri pre-game backstory. I worked with the DM (very good move) to establish his place in the world and build it from there. My approach was:
1: I want a character who is devoted, in some way, to their weapon, but I don't fancy playing a warlock. So I picked Paladin, with a backstory to explain the weapon.
2: I worked with the DM to flesh out the backstory (raised in a forest as the chosen one, ousted as the chosen one at the last minute, stole the weapon to fulfil their "destiny" anyway, failed, got petrified, revived years later, forest has been chopped down, apocalypse happened, now trying to find their place in the world). I focused on making a really cool backstory, with lots of things to come back and haunt him, and a lot of flavour, but without making it seem like the game should revolve around them. Not all prophecies are true, after all! The DM can decide if anything comes from it, or if it was really just some superstitious old guys who got it wrong!
3: I then rolled the stats and got 3 good ones and 3 meh ones, and had to adapt the story to suit it. His training is still valid, so high strength and constitution, and he's got a lot of personality, so high charisma, and then I had intelligence, wisdom and dexterity to pick from. I came up with the reasoning that, as the world had changed so much, his intelligence relating to knowledge of the world would be low, so that got a 10 - not dumb, but perhaps naïve and ignorant of the ways of the world. So too his wisdom, and then I added that his dexterity is low because of the un-petrification process, which left him somewhat lacking his nimble movements that he used to enjoy.
4: Then I revisited the classes, and realised I wanted to get some levels in fighter for the weapon bond, and give my character time to choose between the oaths of Vengeance or Ancients (to avenge the forests or to replant them), so I took 2 levels of paladin and 1 level of fighter. When he's ready, he'll level up as a paladin and take his oath. This has given me a personal goal which isn't going to impact the game until after I decide which route to take - which will be dependent on the way he sees the world by then!
This one's taken (by far) the most character creation, and I'm so looking forward to playing him!
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Wertbag, good question. I'm sure inspiration for player concept and design is a broad spectrum across D&D. Some people don't get that "into" their characters, while others write elaborate backstories and get a deep emotional connection.
For me, its usually a simple spark of the character's origin. After that i like to see how the characters evolves naturally, including rolling stats.
I often find myself making an epic story and then struggling to find a fitting class/subclass for a character, but it works out most of the time.
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Art and story are always my favorite sources of inspiration. Although, I must also admit to being that player who waits to see what others in the group are creating and tries to fill-in-the-gaps. Things like, "Do we have someone who can heal in this party? Scout? Find traps?...." But, I think my favorite characters have emerged when I have had the chance to collaborate with someone else -- either the DM or another player, as for example a recent campaign where my best friend and I played twin sisters, identical in appearance, but with very different personalities and goals. (We worked together on backstory, our family, the place we grew-up, or relationship, etc.)
My newest character started with a piece of art (I believe from one of the Pathfinder books in this case) and grew through my choice of starting class (might multi-class later) and subclass. But where she really blossomed was talking to the DM, learning what would fit in the campaign and his world (homebrew) and drafting backstory through various e-mails and chats. He said he had added an entire kingdom as a result of this and "BTW thanks for the city", when I had simply invented a name as a place holder in my background until I could talk with him. I also have roughly a page on meeting the party's ranger since we were asked to have a connection with someone before the first session just to avoid the old "you all meet in a tavern" trope.
Oh, and dice -- I think I have found the right dice to use with this character. After all, doesn't each one need a distinct set?
I tend to think of race/class first, then flesh out the character's personality. I dig into that, thinking about quirks, traits, voice, likes and dislikes, etc. I also like to talk to some of my fellow players sometimes to see if we can build some history into our characters. Maybe I'll write a little bit of background. Then finally, I finish the specifics of the character sheet.
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I always have the character's backstory first and make the mechanics fit the theme. I find if I try it the other way around I end up with very bland and/or clichéd characters.
As for creating the story - I often randomise it with (a heavily modified version of) the This is Your Life section of Xanathar's - or find a really cool picture and see what I can come up with from that.
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I like to think of the characters alignment first, then go from there.
I find inspiration in the enneagram. I consider the types; reformers, helpers, achievers, romantics, iconoclasts, loyalists, enthusiasts, challengers, and Peacemakers.
I'm not very experienced, but this is what I do :P
I try to envision a personality and roll with it. Funny, grumpy, curious, nosy, anything, but I pick something that defines the personality. Then I decide where he/she came from, to develop such a face and eventually reach race, where I decide what look would best suit the personality I have created. Once that's all done, I am ready to consider what class the character might be, considering their history and developed personality. That was where my Air Genasi Monk came from. Oddly, his personality has been dragging me along on his adventure, and staying true to what HE would do, I find he is heading in a direction I didn't expect......at all. It is a strange experience for sure.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
When I have an idea for a character, it generally starts as an inspiration from other mediums, pop culture, etc.
As a DM, I have also sometimes found the character creation system that players use is extremely limiting and creatively stifling, so for some character concepts, I just use monster stat blocks instead as it gives me ultimate freedom and control.
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Sometimes I start with mechanics that seem fun to play. Concepts like the Echo Knight or the Genie Warlock spark a lot of questions in me and I think you can come up with wildly divergent paths that could bring a character into a given set of powers, or describe the appearance or effects of those powers in very different, perhaps unexpected ways.
For example, playing a typical Battle Smith artificer would be about a 5/10 on my "interest" scale. But what if I played it like the Steel Defender was the main character - a construct that dreamed of becoming a real dwarf one day just like its kindly, Gepetto-like caretaker that believed in its dream and helped it however he could? Now it's more like 8/10 for me. I want to go write that guy up.
Sometimes I just really like a picture or a particular miniature and wonder who that person might be. Or I make an NPC for my own campaign and they grow on me to the point that I want to explore that character more.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
For a while my first roll was on the trinket table and this actually works better than you might expect. Think about it. Here's someone who's carrying everything they own. If they're getting a new shirt they're probably going to have to get rid of an old one. Yet here's a fairly useless item that they still keep with them. What does it say about them?
Lately I have a list of things I want to try in a character, a Tabaxi or a Kenku, a dual wielder or an Inquisitive and I just run them around and around in my head until a few of them collide and form something interesting like a dual wielding Tabaxi Swashbuckler.
And they can change and mutate in as little as one bad pun (the Ranger I was working on went from Outlander to Entertainer when I realized that the 3 Genasi band he was in was called "Earth Wind and Fyre".
So now inspiration comes from anywhere. My latest idea for character is a Changling, mostly Inquisitive with some Monk and Artificer thrown in and a backstory that starts out:
My name is Denton Ostron, I used to be a spy until . . .
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Usually the race/ class inspire the backstory for me. Most of my characters stem from mechanics I find interesting and then I find it easy to fit a character history into that archetype. Like I knew for a while that I wanted to play an Eladrin arcane archer with a soldier background because I thought it was a nice combo. Her backstory came fairly easily after that. I started thinking "what works with this archetype?" and I came to the conclusion of a battle hardened, traumatized warrior who carries a ton of guilt over the only battle she ever lost. Her whole character is about redemption. I did the same thing with a half drow ranger I made. Thought the mechanics seemed cool, saw a homebrew background for bastard child and my John Snow/ Aragorn rip off was born.
Dragons? In my dungeon? More likely than you think.