What questions to ask your players as a DM during character creation

[lostingeneral]

I ask questions that vary a lot. Usually once we have a sketch of the character's background I work with them to add it appropriately into the game setting, and then anything else I want to know, I ask. I tried those twenty question surveys, but we just found those tiresome, so now I try to keep it brief. Generally, there are three things I try to get from everybody:

Where do you come from? This is a broad question. I tend to get a rough description of origin (e.g. from a recent character, "port city, with lots of merchants but also lots of pirates") and familial/friendship ties, that sort of thing.

What is your motivation for adventuring? I think this is important. I've found in my games that a lot of times the players don't really have established motives for their characters, and so asking the players for a solid one helps them get into character. It doesn't work for everybody, but it works for most.

Give me two examples of people, objects or events from your past that might resurface on your travels. More often than not, these are conflicts, but occasionally are other things as well. This is just a sneaky way of asking for free quest hooks, that I work in later on. In Heroic, for instance, we're halfway through a series of two- to three-encounter adventures tailored specifically for individual characters, which I doubt I could really have done as well without this answer.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Like almost any question about tabletop RPGs, it depends on the system.

For FATE games (Spirit of the Century, Dresden Files, Starblazer, Diaspora, etc.), I run the players through character creation as a group. This generates all the information we could ever need about background, pre-existing connections and abilities.

For Mutants and Masterminds, I'll ask the players what their characters can do with their powers (mostly to make sure they've got powers that will allow them to do it!), what (if any) life their character had before becoming a super, how they got their powers, and if they have an existing nemesis.

For D&D, I'll ask the players their class, race, and why they're adventuring.

 

[Fifth Element]

"Are you ready to play?"

I don't generally take any role in prompting character or background development. Some of my players dig that sort of stuff, and they do it without prompting. Others are just there for the game, and that's cool by me too.

 

[Lanefan]

Interesting. What questions do you typically get asked?

A few that come up now and then: (note that my roll-up tables are entirely homebrew)

"I rolled <xxxxx> as my past profession, can I expand on it?" (answer is almost always "yes")

"I've hit a table entry that says STOP ROLL-UP HERE and see DM." (usually means they've hit something wierd, like rolled into the "other" race table or hit "nobility" as a past profession or some other oddity - often also means I'm in for a headache then or later)

"Can I buy [some random piece of gype that isn't on the equipment list]?" (this takes some doing, that equipment list is pretty long! answer depends on what they want)

"Can I play a vampire?" (no, this ain't that type o' game; though you can play a Necromancer whose career goal is to become one...)

There's been others, but these are the most common.

Lan-"to repeat for clarity, no you cannot play a vampire"-efan

 

[ThirdWizard]

I like a lot of your questions. How much detail do you ask of them in terms of how they want their characters story to progress or how they imagine they might achieve their goal?

That's a good question. I would say that I encourage them to give enough of an answer that I can use their answer as an adventure hook or write better encounters with them in mind. A sentence is fine as long as I can use it. Rarely do I get more.

Some answers I've had:

Goal - Build a mercenary army to help protect the land while becoming popular with the people as their protector.
Expectations - I'm playing a barbarian to the hilt. I'll charge in even when it is a bad tactical decision.
Expectations - I'm going to build a pole arm fighter that slides everything and knocks them prone {everything turned out to be everything}
Enemies - The priesthood of Bane. I oppose them being in power. {Bane was the main religion of the land in that game.}
Enemies - I killed a dragonborn who, whoops, was an emissary for a powerful dragon!

You can write whole story arcs based on this stuff. It's a gold mine.

 

[steeldragons]

I like to keep it simple (well, what I think is "simple" anyway. ).

1. Where do you come from?

This gets me a) a place of origin and generally leads the player to then think about things like b) societal status- was it a village, a farm, a well-known keep, whatever it happens to be and c) Were you poor, middle-class, rich/aristocrat, noble/title-bearing (which I generally will insist be in the rather low echelons of royal hierarchy so as not to end up with a party full of princes and dukes...but son of a knight? run-away daughter of the count? It can work.)?

2. What's your relationship with your immediate family?

This gets me a) Do you have a mother and/or father? Are they living or dead? Do you have any siblings (how many and what kind)? Do you get along with them or not? Over time the player generally will come up with names on their own...but I may prompt for them if I have some plot use/hook.

3. What led your character to start adventuring?

This will bring up things like "I want to be rich. I want to be famous. I want to avenge the brother I just created who was killed by so-and-so." etc. etc. ad infinitum.

4. How did you learn your current skills?

For most martial types, this is usually no big deal ("I'm self taught. My dad taught me. There was a retired soldier in town who gave lessons."), but for spellcasters, I do like to have an idea of who initially taught them (since magic-use/users are a normal aspect of the game world, but someone experienced enough to take on/teach apprentices are hardly a dime-a- dozen)...I also like to specify whether they (the PC) believe them to be alive or not. And if it gets the players thinking about fleshing out other figures from their past, romantic interests or classmates, that's great...though certainly not necessary.

5. What is it your character is looking for/hoping to accomplish by adventuring/their current path?

This harkens back to #3, but also forces the player to come up with some goal- as simple or conveluted as they like- for the character. I want to rich. I'm just in it for the thrills. I want to become powerful and take over the lands of the evil Baron who has oppressed (or slain) my family...etc. etc. ad infinitum.

I've found those 5 questions generally lead to players expanding on their backgrounds as much or as little as they want. As noted, some players like to go "whole hog" on this stuff, which I will happily review and 'ok' as necessary. Some are content to answer the 5 questions as simply as possible and get to the "hitting stuff" part of play. Both give me ample material to draw from/expand on for interesting plot hooks or NPCs as necessary.

Have fun and happy background checking.
--Steel Dragons

 

[Hussar]

I like to get the players to create their characters as a group, rather than an individual exercise. By the time we're finished with character/group building, the PC's should have at least one, and probably several, reasons for being together, built in relationships to at least half the rest of the group and probably a couple of stated goals that they share.

I'm so tired of the "random group of strangers thrown together by fate" type group. I like going the other direction - you guys know each other, you have history together and you have definite links between you and between you and the world.

I like focus.

 

[WHW4]

Some of you guys make me jealous! In our group, I'm usually the only one who writes a short story background. The most creative (background-wise) the entire group ever got was when we played M&M (2e), because everyone was really into Origin stories. I was still the only one who had more than one paragraph though.

Ah well, they're a good group of guys, not everyone likes to write I reckon.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I like my character creation quick and dirty --- 3d6 in order, pick your class --- so I've had to devise methods to keep lists of background details equally concise, so that the players can dash off something interesting and then get right to the role-playing. Here's what I did for my last two campaigns

PERSONALITY - Define your character's personality, as other characters might see you, in terms of one virtue and one vice. What's one really positive (or quirky) thing about your character, and one major flaw not easily overcome?

BACKGROUND - Give your profession and your problem. What did you do before becoming an adventurer? And what's the big problem in your life, the personal quest that will take an entire campaign's worth of adventures to solve?

CONNECTIONS - Describe your family situation and give at least one organization, institution, or entity that your character feels a strong obligation/duty/allegiance towards.

 

[RedTonic]

This is a longform generic bio template we sometimes use in my group. It's expanded or cut depending on what we're doing, but I thought someone here might find its contents useful. It's formatted in bbcode.

[hr]
[center][b]General Info[/b][/center]
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[b]Character Name and Nicknames/Alias:[/b]

[b]Name meaning:[/b]

[b]Affiliation:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b]

[b]Birthday:[/b]

[b]Family:[/b]

[b]Friends and Foes:[/b]

[b]Originally From:[/b]

[b]Race:[/b]

[hr]
[center][b]Physical Statistics[/b][/center]
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[b]Eyes:[/b]

[b]Hair:[/b]

[b]Height:[/b]

[b]General Appearance:[/b]


[hr]
[center][b]Personality Statistics[/b][/center]
[hr]

[b]Favorite Food:[/b]

[b]Least Favorite Food:[/b]

[b]Favorite color:[/b]

[b]Least favorite color:[/b]

[b]Favorite animal:[/b]

[b]Favorite fantasy animal:[/b]

[b]Likes:[/b]

[b]Dislikes:[/b]

[b]Hobbies:[/b]

[b]Talents:[/b]

[b]Inabilities:[/b]

[b]Goals:[/b]

[b]Fear:[/b]

[b]Inner Personality:[/b]

[b]General Personality:[/b]

[b]Any Extra Notes:[/b]


[hr]
[center][b]Historical Stats[/b][/center]
[hr]

[b]History[/b]

[b]Current Life[/b]