How to build an indepth character

[Uber Dungeon]

So, as a DM of any p&p rpg, I almost always find a issue with not getting enough personal info to work with, such as "You long lost brother shows up and is out for blood" or "You former martial arts teacher is with the bad guys" then "Ah, snap dog! you wore betrayed by the person who raised you"
Anyways, I need more personal info. I dont know if there is a list of question like this somewhere. Ether being pointed to that would be nice or more input.



1. Do you remember your childhood?
2. Wore you an Orphan or family?
3. Did you have Siblings?
4. Did you grow up in poverty, just getting by, middle class, rich or Noble and had everything?
5. Do you or did you have a lover
6. if so where are they now?
7. Do you or did you have a Kids?
8. if so where are they now?

Anyways I'm having trouble thinking

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

So, as a DM of any p&p rpg, I almost always find a issue with not getting enough personal info to work with, such as "You long lost brother shows up and is out for blood" or "You former martial arts teacher is with the bad guys" then "Ah, snap dog! you wore betrayed by the person who raised you"
Anyways, I need more personal info. I dont know if there is a list of question like this somewhere. Ether being pointed to that would be nice or more input.



1. Do you remember your childhood?
2. Wore you an Orphan or family?
3. Did you have Siblings?
4. Did you grow up in poverty, just getting by, middle class, rich or Noble and had everything?
5. Do you or did you have a lover
6. if so where are they now?
7. Do you or did you have a Kids?
8. if so where are they now?

Anyways I'm having trouble thinking

Some questions I like to ask beyond the standard get to know your character questionnaire

1. What is your character's greatest victory?
2. What is your character's greatest defeat?
3. What is the one thing your character wants the most?
4. What would be your character's theme music (your choice, any music style (classical, rock, new age, country, soul, whatever you want, its your theme music)?

Why?

• I like the character to know their high and low point. A great victories can be undone and great defeats can lead to great NPCs.
• I love offering PCs the proverbial deal with the devil. Having both player and DM aware of their deepest desire works well.
• The music is so that I can build a game soundtrack. Normally, this is just for me as the DM to help get some inspiration.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Find a copy of Central Casting: Heroes of Legend. Some weird stuff in there, but alot of great ideas for character backgrounds.

Be careful with the plot twists, though. Too many and you get all of players coming in as orphans who have no siblings, never been romantically involved, etc. just so they don't suffer through a stream of betrayals or kidnapped family members.

 

[steenan]

A big disadvantage of a long list of questions is that you have nothing interesting to answer most of them with. Filling such a questionnaire is boring and it, in many cases, rather hirts than helps creativity.

A much better approach is to divide the character's life into several parts (but not to many) and ask yourself: what interesting things I did/ happened to me then? Don't list all the little details, just what affected the character in an important way or is a hook to be used later.

 

[Celebrim]

As far as questionairre's go, I've never used them, but if I did, they'd be very simple and very generic questions:

1) What person do you care about most?
2) What about your character makes you willing to face danger?
3) How did you learn your skills?
4) What did you do the day before the adventure started?

Anything more than that I'd fear would be making assumptions about the character that might not be wanted. #2 and #3 above make assumptions about the characters, but I think they are necessary assumptions. That the characters are willing to face danger and competant to do so are generally necessary assumptions for an adventure, and I made the mistake back in college of allowing people to create whatever they wanted and got back character concepts that weren't willing to face danger or associate with others.

I generally like to talk with the player about what they want until I get some sort of firm concept that can be summarized in a few sentences. Then I generally send a suggested background that fulfills and expands on that concept in my campaign world, and if necessary, exchange back and forth until we have something that the player is happy with and makes sense for the setting.

When I was younger, I used to write 3-5 page backgrounds for my own characters mostly so that I would understand who this character was and what motivated them. As a DM I'm happy with 3-5 sentences in most cases, and would probably now consider a 3-5 page background submitted by a player to be excessive emo.

 

[Roger]

So, as a DM of any p&p rpg, I almost always find a issue with not getting enough personal info to work with, such as "You long lost brother shows up and is out for blood" or "You former martial arts teacher is with the bad guys" then "Ah, snap dog! you wore betrayed by the person who raised you"

So, you're finding it difficult to convince players to give you information about their characters that universally screws over those characters?



Cheers,
Roger

 

[Doug McCrae]

An alternate approach, instead of the players making lists of friends, relatives etc (which would be pretty long for most people), would be for the GM to simply introduce parents, sisters, former lovers, old karate teachers and the like as appropriate, even though they've never been mentioned before, as and when he needs them. Probably best to tell the players you plan to do this at the start. The introduction of such an NPC requires negotiation with the player.

This solution goes down in flames on contact with the old, "I'm an orphan loner" bit. But the answer to that is to ban orphan loners, ofc.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I made the mistake back in college of allowing people to create whatever they wanted and got back character concepts that weren't willing to face danger or associate with others.

I experienced the exact same thing at uni. It never happened when I rpged as a child. There's a particular kind of failed roleplaying that only happens at higher education institutions.

 

[Uber Dungeon]

So, you're finding it difficult to convince players to give you information about their characters that universally screws over those characters?



Cheers,
Roger

a couple of the people i play with have trouble with that sort of thing (think there imagination is broken or malfunctioning), most the players i play with have/come up with fairly interesting past's and story's.

 

[cmrscorpio]

So, as a DM of any p&p rpg, I almost always find a issue with not getting enough personal info to work with, such as "You long lost brother shows up and is out for blood" or "You former martial arts teacher is with the bad guys" then "Ah, snap dog! you wore betrayed by the person who raised you"

So, you're finding it difficult to convince players to give you information about their characters that universally screws over those characters?



Cheers,
Roger

Too true. Your players need to know that the effort they put into their character's background will be worth it in fun. It isn't fun if everything they provide is used against them. Be sure to make use of some background elements clear boons to the player in addition to the ones that exist solely to antagonize.

Here's my current character questionnaire:

1) What does your character look like? What do s/he wear in combat? What does s/he wear when s/he isn't planning on fighting?
2) Where is s/he from? What were the dominant geographical features of her/his home?
3) How did s/he earn a living before living the life of an adventurer? What occupation has s/he had the most training in?
4) List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
5) List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
6) Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
7) Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
8) Why did your character choose to live a life of adventuring, knowing full well that the most likely end for your character will be getting eaten while plundering a long-forgotten tomb?
9) What is your character's theme song? This song should reflect a fundamental aspect of your character's personality, background, or outlook on life.