I don't think alignment is enough. I don't want anything restricting but my players just aren't playing their characters....their just playing to play. (if you understand what i'm saying). I was wanting to know how you have characters develop their personalities. I didnt want to just have them list a bunch of traits. I was thinking of developing a list of traits that covered almost every trait and gave characters bonuses in situations for playing their characters. (maybe on the lines of XP---or just in certain situations where their personalities apply). What do you think?
-
Please note that the rules of this community have been updated with a policy on posting AI content. EN World is a discussion forum for humans to talk to other humans. We are interested in what you have to say, not what an AI bot had to say. With that in mind, please do not post AI-generated content here (such as art or text), especially as a substitute for your own words. While an occasional example of AI content may be relevant and help illustrate a point when discussing the topic of AI, EN World is not an AI-content repository or sharing platform, and we have no interest in being so. Thanks!
putting a little personality into it
- Thread starter redwing
- Start date
Mark
CreativeMountainGames.com
Best way is to make that list of traits and use them as the DM with your NPCs. Leading by example, IMO, works better than imposing an artificial structure for the players...unless they have requested this. I played with a group once that enjoyed rolling characters completely at random, letting the dice decide everything for their PC, and having the other players make suggestions for the way a character would be played. Very challenging and lots of fun, provided everyone is up to the task. If your group is getting a little stale, playing a one-shot in this manner might be spark enough to get them out of their rut for the regular campaign. Hope that helps! 
the Jester
Legend
A long time ago, in about the second year of 2e, I started a new group and had everyone give me a list of ten personality traits for their characters. Could be as simple as "likes red" or "afraid of spiders", and they had no effect on the game except as a guide to rp awards.
It worked well, but 3e is less amicable to rp awards unless you either want really fast advancement or tinker with the awards for overcoming challenges, or have few fights.
It worked well, but 3e is less amicable to rp awards unless you either want really fast advancement or tinker with the awards for overcoming challenges, or have few fights.
Mark
CreativeMountainGames.com
redwing said:
I think these will do in a pinch-
http://members.rogers.com/wilson0246/DnD/
Scroll down to character traits.
No inconvenience at all.
Djeta Thernadier
First Post
Hmmmm.
My group sort of has this issue as well. Two of us have characters with history and personality, the other three just seem to play for combat. However, for our group this makes for a good mix. Personally, I think gaming should be an equal balance between role-playing and roll-playing.
When I created my character, I also made up a list of friends and family, gave her an interesting history (that the GM has free reign to play around with...so it could come back to haunt me....
) as well as just general character traits I wanted her to have. Her horse and her familiar have their own names and personalities as well...(and my GM has *hinted* that because my character treats her horse as more than just a means of transportation, this may pay off later on down the line... That's not why i did it. I did it because I truly enjoying creating characters, however, incentives are a good thing for the unmotivated... )
Perhaps asking your players to each write a brief history of their character and examine what their goals are. Or run a session that is light on combat and heavy on personality and see what happens.
Oh man...I sound like a guidance counselor...
But seriously, I found that I became much more into playing Djeta after I came up with her past. Made me care about her more. Ya know?
~Sheri
My group sort of has this issue as well. Two of us have characters with history and personality, the other three just seem to play for combat. However, for our group this makes for a good mix. Personally, I think gaming should be an equal balance between role-playing and roll-playing.
When I created my character, I also made up a list of friends and family, gave her an interesting history (that the GM has free reign to play around with...so it could come back to haunt me....
) as well as just general character traits I wanted her to have. Her horse and her familiar have their own names and personalities as well...(and my GM has *hinted* that because my character treats her horse as more than just a means of transportation, this may pay off later on down the line... That's not why i did it. I did it because I truly enjoying creating characters, however, incentives are a good thing for the unmotivated... ) Perhaps asking your players to each write a brief history of their character and examine what their goals are. Or run a session that is light on combat and heavy on personality and see what happens.
Oh man...I sound like a guidance counselor...
But seriously, I found that I became much more into playing Djeta after I came up with her past. Made me care about her more. Ya know?
~Sheri
Henry
Autoexreginated
Just make roleplaying a challenge, just like sneaking past the door guard is a challenge, or fighting the main villain of the night is a challenge. If the players give it their all in roleplaying, then they get an extra reward equivalent to their defeat of a CR challenge equal to their level. Just call it "the one that got away" if they don't succeed, and they'll be after that thing like a fly on honey. 
Similar Threads
Recent & Upcoming Releases
-
June 16 2026 -
June 16 2026 -
September 16 2026 
Arcana Unleashed(Dungeons & Dragons)
Rulebook featuring "high magic" options, including a host of new spells.
Replies (250) -
September 16 2026 -
October 1 2026 -
October 6 2026 -
January 1 2027 -
January 1 2027
