What about a book of "character development"?

[GhostBear]

I found the Aspect system of "Spirit of the Century" to be very helpful - the character's personality and background concepts directly affect what can be accomplished. As an exercise I used the concept in general to start my most recent 3.5 character out, kind of like an outline. Then, everything else was fleshed out from there.

Not quite the same as the "What are some good questions / book of character building" topic, but still relevant here I think.

 

[steeldragons]

I found the Aspect system of "Spirit of the Century" to be very helpful - the character's personality and background concepts directly affect what can be accomplished. As an exercise I used the concept in general to start my most recent 3.5 character out, kind of like an outline. Then, everything else was fleshed out from there.

Not quite the same as the "What are some good questions / book of character building" topic, but still relevant here I think.

I'm not familiar with the system...but love the "common sense" element of the characters "faults" dictating what can be accomplished.

Obviously, a drunkard wizard will have trouble learning/remembering spells. A rogue gambler will, very possibly, be barred from all guild activity involving the acquisition money...possibly with a reputation across a whole region! A masochistic cleric of the goddess of battle could find themselves without temple support or even divine inspiration (i.e. spells) Not just the PC abilities but the entire story could be affected by such logical reprecussions.

Excellent idea!

--Steel Dragons

 

[Bluenose]

Is this the sort of thing you're looking for? Or perhaps something like this? They're cheap enough to buy both. Disclaimer: I have not bought these products and have no idea how good they are.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

What I am suggesting is something to add a lot of details to your character to make them seem or feel more real/meaningful.

Conversely, I'm also looking for real/meaningful elements of the character that DMs can utilize (childhood enemy, scarred past, a character who actually has family members, etc).

I did a bit of research, and found a few examples of some of what I'm looking for.

Here is a pretty good explanation of why I'm after this:
Errant Dreams - How to Get Under Your Character's Skin When Roleplaying

And here are some questionnairres:
Errant Dreams - Character Questionnaire

Ash’s Guide to RPG Personality & Background :: The Guide

http://zioth.com/roleplay/PersonalCode.txt

http://zioth.com/roleplay/characterQuestionaire.txt

Character Background Ideas

 

[The Shaman]

My favorite character depictions are inspired by funeral announcements: "No flowers, by request."

Let this stuff come out in actual play.