What I like to do when creating a character, is I like to think: How can I play this person so that the other players will want to see them again.

Today I'm going to teach you my strategy when it comes to making memorable characters.

The first approach is to create a character based on an emotion. You don't want to be the same kind of character every time, and if you really want to entertain your group, sometimes that means knocking a couple points off of your intelligence to create a funny character or some other ability score. The following is not meant for NPC building. Please check out part two of this post for more on creating memorable NPC's

Anyway, here are some examples of emotion based characters:

Grumpy.

 "Back off, two heads." Gronax, the Great to Onnix, the Ettin.

Maybe your character will be in a bad mood. These types of characters usually have a pouty face and are just with the group for the coins, or the chance of fighting. They rarely wait for the villain to finish monologuing before they charge into battle. When interacting, they rarely give too much information to other people, and are always making snappy remarks to the PC's and NPC's. Try to see how you can use this to your advantage and also stay funny at the same time.

Happy/Overexcited

"Ooh, he seems friendly!" -Mara the Halfling, Last Words.

Maybe your character JUST CANT WAIT to go on this adventure. These characters usually always try to stay positive and are rarely frightened. They prefer to avoid fighting, if at all possible, and the sight of treasure might make their knees weak. They are constantly asking questions to the other PC's, and can add a new feel to your party. Feel free to adjust this as this might not seem like much of a benefit, but adds great strength to bards and sometimes barbarians. (Seriously, they are hilarious barbarians!) Don't think that you cant have only one emotion with this character. They might feel sadness at a great loss, or angry if one of their party members is bullied or teased.

Sad/Depressed

"I'll never get this done right." -Gorden, 25 minutes before conquering South Faerun.

Your character might be feeling a little down in the dumps. Characters that are feeling sad might not be as motivated to fight in battle, or always look for the right time to talk about their depressing lives. They might whine and complain all day, and keep muttering and cursing under their breath. No matter how hard the characters try, they might not be able to make this character happy unless its complete goal is fulfilled. Think about why your character is depressed. Did their love leave them? Did they lose a friend or a battle? Think about these as you play in battle or while interacting with other people.

Great! Now, my second approach is making character based on qualities other than emotions. These can really help bring your character to life and make them unique. feel free to mix and match these with emotions or other qualities.

Cocky/Arrogant/Overconfident

"Ha! I bet you couldn't breathe fire if you life depen-" Larry Greatsun, Last Words

Your character might be cocky. They could believe they are better than other people or believe that nothing bad might happen to them. Even though this does lead to some kind of bad scenarios, it is a great addition to a party. These sort of adventurers never show fear, especially when they are actually terrified. Some suggested classes for this quality are: Barbarians, Fighters, Rouges, and Sorcerers.

Smarty-Pants

"Actually, its pronounced TAR-ASQUE." -Thorwind No-itall, Last words.

Maybe your character is very intelligent. Think about how you can show intelligence not just in one way based on your score, but maybe your character believes they are smarter than everyone else. These people spend a lot of their time bragging or correcting other people. They are great when it comes to knowing that secret to defeating the monster, the answer to the sphinx's riddle, or other similar scenarios.

Nit-wit 

"Currr?" -Gus the pidgeon, intelligence 2.

Maybe your character is a little on the oblivious side. If your character has a low intelligence score, try to make the best of it by making your character funny. On failed saves, have your character give random answers to questions, miss a target by a few feet, or something else. These will leave your group laughing and generally having a good time. (If they don't laugh, maybe they are mimics) These characters bring fun and laughs to all the parties they join. 

Thanks for reading this! Please leave your questions and comments in the comments section, please check out my other homebrew creations, and for all of my roblox players out there:

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Thank you and have fun! 

Hope you guys liked this! I am currently working on part two, so please be patient! Thank you guys!

Part two is now out! Please check the Tips and Tricks page for more! Thank you!

I first saw this proposed by Talisen Jaffee, where he said he cast all NPCs as one of the seven Dwarves from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and then gave them an emotional affect of lethargic, moderate, or energized ( although he called it high, middle, low ).

So you end up with: energetic happy, lethargic grumpy, moderate doc, etc. Some combinations are hard to make work ( energetic sleepy; high energy but narcoleptic? ), but overall it's good NPC shorthand - goes on a DM screen easily.

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate your comment! Love the idea of the seven dwarfs. Hope you enjoy this and my part two follow-up for this article.

This has been helpful and enjoyable at the same time, Good job Kliff

Thanks! There is also part two available!

Yea saw that one, also rather clever ( If you didn't take those ideas for yourself )

Nope. Just gathered my notes in my free time and decided to write a article about it