Yo! so i started playing DnD 10 months ago and when i first joined a campaign i never really gave a character of mine any personality and kinda just picked the subclass (drakewarden) because "ooooh dragon". Welp fast forward 10 months later to today and my character really has no personality besides just mine/A-hole (player). Does anyone have any tips on how to improve this and breath more life into the character?
If this was at character creation, then thinking about their background, alignment and what led them to become an adventurer are all potentially useful. There are different strategies for doing that. You could imagine some pivotal scene in their backstory. You could sit down and try to work out their Personality, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws. Coming up with some little quirks, like pet hates and loves, might help to unlock their personality for you.
Ten months into the campaign, you should have a lot of stories about what’s happened to them and what they did. Any common themes? How did those events affect them?
As a Drakewarden, the unique aspect of their personality is how they interact with their drake companion. Is it a master-servant relationship (in either direction)? A loving partnership? A professional cooperation? How does the Ranger talk to the drake? With stern discipline? Like a pet? On equal terms? As little as possible?
Playing a character with your own personality is a valid choice - plenty of people do it and it works fine for them. However, if you want to branch out from that, you have three options.
The first, and best, option is to organically change your character as a result of in-campaign actions. For example, if other characters have been helpful to your character, maybe they start to realize being a jerk is not the best course of action and try to work on that some. Or, perhaps if they have been betrayed a bunch during the campaign, their personality hardens and they become even more standoffish with strangers, and find it harder to trust friends.
This option is the one which feels the best, as it plays into the collaborative element of D&D.— you are showing the DM and other players’ options can change your character. However, this option also requires the most of the player - the player has to have enough empathy to put themselves in the shoes of their character and determine how the world changed you. If empathy is not your strength, it is better to talk to players in your campaign to get some advice - they lived the same experiences and will have more valuable insights specific to your situation.
While lack of empathy can be mitigated by leaning on your other players, this method also requires commitment - if you want the change to feel organic, it cannot happen immediately, and you have to keep with the change over time.
Which leads to the second option - giving your character an epiphany and changing overnight. This also can grow out of your campaign - your character can have a revelation based on the actions of your campaign and decide overnight to change. If you are playing a character that serves a higher power, such as a religious character (even if not a divine class) or a character who is part of a guild, you could work with your DM to have the higher power they trust/serve give them guidance and a detective to change.
This option is a bit easier to implement as it happens quickly and does not require as much ongoing work, though it feels a little more jarring. You can add an element of ongoing work as your character struggles to become what they want to be, which adds a bit more of an organic element to the change.
The last and easiest option is to start with a fresh slate and roll up a new character. Then you get to start the personality from the very beginning of the character’s journey and do not need to come up with some reason for the change. The obvious drawback is that you have to start a new character.
You can also use this method as a stopgap to fix your original character. Play someone new for a while of in-game time, then return to your original character, who did all their soul-searching and development off-camera, so you can give them a new personality without having to roleplay the path from point A to point B.
The ‘14 book had ideals, bonds and flaws and such to consider, based on your background.
In ‘24, there are a few places where they have suggested questions to answer that can help flesh out a backstory. There’s also suggestions for personality traits based on ability scores, and also based on alignment, I think. And one more place with questions to help develop your character. It’s all peppered throughout chapter 2.
Yo! so i started playing DnD 10 months ago and when i first joined a campaign i never really gave a character of mine any personality and kinda just picked the subclass (drakewarden) because "ooooh dragon". Welp fast forward 10 months later to today and my character really has no personality besides just mine/A-hole (player). Does anyone have any tips on how to improve this and breath more life into the character?
I have to be honest, I create each character with unique personalities and the best of intentions but by about the third session they're all basially me with a funny voice. And after a number of years I've realised that's perfectly fine so long as everyone is having fun. If you're worried about being an A-hole maybe follow some of the great advice above about how to develop that trait but if you're worried their only personality is yours then I really wouldn't worry. It's perfectly OK for that to be the case, especially in your first campaign, and it's something you can learn from and improve for the future
Yo! so i started playing DnD 10 months ago and when i first joined a campaign i never really gave a character of mine any personality and kinda just picked the subclass (drakewarden) because "ooooh dragon". Welp fast forward 10 months later to today and my character really has no personality besides just mine/A-hole (player). Does anyone have any tips on how to improve this and breath more life into the character?
If this was at character creation, then thinking about their background, alignment and what led them to become an adventurer are all potentially useful. There are different strategies for doing that. You could imagine some pivotal scene in their backstory. You could sit down and try to work out their Personality, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws. Coming up with some little quirks, like pet hates and loves, might help to unlock their personality for you.
Ten months into the campaign, you should have a lot of stories about what’s happened to them and what they did. Any common themes? How did those events affect them?
As a Drakewarden, the unique aspect of their personality is how they interact with their drake companion. Is it a master-servant relationship (in either direction)? A loving partnership? A professional cooperation? How does the Ranger talk to the drake? With stern discipline? Like a pet? On equal terms? As little as possible?
Playing a character with your own personality is a valid choice - plenty of people do it and it works fine for them. However, if you want to branch out from that, you have three options.
The first, and best, option is to organically change your character as a result of in-campaign actions. For example, if other characters have been helpful to your character, maybe they start to realize being a jerk is not the best course of action and try to work on that some. Or, perhaps if they have been betrayed a bunch during the campaign, their personality hardens and they become even more standoffish with strangers, and find it harder to trust friends.
This option is the one which feels the best, as it plays into the collaborative element of D&D.— you are showing the DM and other players’ options can change your character. However, this option also requires the most of the player - the player has to have enough empathy to put themselves in the shoes of their character and determine how the world changed you. If empathy is not your strength, it is better to talk to players in your campaign to get some advice - they lived the same experiences and will have more valuable insights specific to your situation.
While lack of empathy can be mitigated by leaning on your other players, this method also requires commitment - if you want the change to feel organic, it cannot happen immediately, and you have to keep with the change over time.
Which leads to the second option - giving your character an epiphany and changing overnight. This also can grow out of your campaign - your character can have a revelation based on the actions of your campaign and decide overnight to change. If you are playing a character that serves a higher power, such as a religious character (even if not a divine class) or a character who is part of a guild, you could work with your DM to have the higher power they trust/serve give them guidance and a detective to change.
This option is a bit easier to implement as it happens quickly and does not require as much ongoing work, though it feels a little more jarring. You can add an element of ongoing work as your character struggles to become what they want to be, which adds a bit more of an organic element to the change.
The last and easiest option is to start with a fresh slate and roll up a new character. Then you get to start the personality from the very beginning of the character’s journey and do not need to come up with some reason for the change. The obvious drawback is that you have to start a new character.
You can also use this method as a stopgap to fix your original character. Play someone new for a while of in-game time, then return to your original character, who did all their soul-searching and development off-camera, so you can give them a new personality without having to roleplay the path from point A to point B.
The ‘14 book had ideals, bonds and flaws and such to consider, based on your background.
In ‘24, there are a few places where they have suggested questions to answer that can help flesh out a backstory. There’s also suggestions for personality traits based on ability scores, and also based on alignment, I think. And one more place with questions to help develop your character. It’s all peppered throughout chapter 2.
I have to be honest, I create each character with unique personalities and the best of intentions but by about the third session they're all basially me with a funny voice. And after a number of years I've realised that's perfectly fine so long as everyone is having fun. If you're worried about being an A-hole maybe follow some of the great advice above about how to develop that trait but if you're worried their only personality is yours then I really wouldn't worry. It's perfectly OK for that to be the case, especially in your first campaign, and it's something you can learn from and improve for the future
It’s also ok to base your character on someone from a film, television series, book etc, if that helps you with playing them at the table.