Creating PC's with Personality

[LordGraz'zt]

Does anyone have any tips or advice for creating PC's with personality?

My players could definitely use some help bringing their characters to life - we have made some steps in terms of backstory and then introducing elements of that into the game - but at the table they still very much feel like a bunch of numbers on a page.

My group is definitely not the amateur theatre type of roleplayers, but if I can give them a couple of pointers to add "life to the page" I think they would jump on it.

Any tools or guides you use at your table when making characters would be much appreciated.

 

[Cor Azer]

Flip it back at you - are your NPCs flat and lifeless? I've always found NPCs with personality useful to draw oit the character of my players' characters.

Barring that, encourage them to borrow character concepts from film, television, and books.

If you want extreme, try running a session or two without the character sheets.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

I guess it's nice if PCs have some goals. When a player creates a background, there should be some reason which drives you to become an adventurer. Even money and fame can be good goals. Loners with no goals make poor adventurers.

I think that even the coolest and most bad-ass build is reduced to a meaningless piece of paper unless there is some passion in the character itself. And sometimes character's passion may pass on to the player too.

You could also try make a list of questions that are relevant to your campaign and to the PCs. Such as:
"How important is it protect the innocent?"
"What does your character hate?"
Short answers, don't overdo it. There could be some heurekas there for some guys. It will also help you to plan your adventures.

 

[LordGraz'zt]

A question list other DM's use or similar is the type of thing I am looking for.

For want of a better term I am looking for a "crunchy" type method to help the players add the "fluff" to their characters.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A crunchy way to add fluff? Track down the long out of print Central Casting books.

 

[Thotas]

Theft is a fairly reliable method. There's got to be a movie, tv show or book that has a character that a given player enjoys. I once played an assassin in 1e that I based on Charles Bronson's character in the movie "The Mechanic". I didn't even think anyone else at the table had seen the show, and one day another player says to me, "Your character reminds me of this movie ..." . I started with "WWCBD?" but eventually I went my own way with it and he became mine. You can use real people as sources too, of course. I stole a distinctive speech pattern from one of my college professors for use in a character. You can mix and match personality elements the same way you do skills and feats. It's every bit as much fun.

 

[renau1g]

Here's a link

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/tools/1000-npc-traits/

tell them to roll a few times from here.

 

[Elf Witch]

Here are some tips that I have used.

In game refer to their character names not their real names that one small step can do a lot. I have found in groups where the DM and the players use real names there is less getting into the character. Most people don't remember the others names and sometimes can't remember theirs.

Back stories can be helpful but what is better is personality traits. A small questionnaire asking them what your character do in this situation some examples death of a friend, being falsely accused of a crime, being presented with what looks like a no win scenario.

I use alignments and I ask the player what their alignment means to them. For example if you are lawful good why and what is more important law or good.


I try and discourage players from using their class to describe themselves. People don't go around saying I am rogue or I am a beguiler. Sure some make sense like saying I am a wizard.

 

[halfjack]

Great stories revolve around relationships. Invent some for your character; a half dozen people she knows and loves or is bound to in other ways. Have her be wrong about what some of those relationships are.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

Try a one-off with you doing some pre-gens. On the pre-gens give each character a couple of personality traits like from the list that @renau1g linked on here. Have the players play these characters as closely as they can to what the personality traits given.

I did this before and had like 10 pre-gens for 5 Players, they each picked one they liked and if more than one person liked the same character they roll off for it with a d20 (highest wins). I can't tell you how much fun we had with the players having to refer to their personality traits and trying to role-play them to the best of their ability (I had a pacifist assassin as one of them). I even sweetened the pot with tossing out "action points/hero points" to the players who role-played the best or had great scenes.