Creating an exciting character in Dungeons & Dragons is not always easy. We provide you with 8 tips that will make every player in your campaign envious.
If you want to create a character in Dungeons & Dragons, you are already faced with a dilemma when filling out the character sheet. Over 100 races, classes, subclasses, spells, and weapons are available, giving you a huge range of variants and possibilities.
But even beyond your sheet and the hard facts, your character needs to be shaped because Dungeons & Dragons is primarily about storytelling, where you and your fellow players experience, write, and influence an epic story together. Like a play that takes place in your minds, you play a role that you have in your hands and develop throughout the campaign.
Especially for newcomers to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, this can quickly become overwhelming. While the character sheets give you a few points to fill in during creation, a good character usually consists of much more than what is written there.
Therefore, we provide you with some tips that aim to simplify the process and are important from our experience to make your character lively, epic, and exciting and to ensure many hours of gaming fun.
Who are you and what drives you?
This may sound obvious, but it’s often underestimated: Ask yourself who you actually want to be. Imagine your character as a second life. If you had to describe to someone else what your life has been like so far and what defines you, how would you do that?
Classic W-questions will help you feed your character sheet with information that has nothing to do with numbers or abilities. Here are a few examples:
- What do I actually look like?
- How old am I?
- Where do I come from?
- How have I gotten through life so far?
- Have I had a profession so far?
- What experiences have I made so far?
- Have I traveled a lot or stayed home?
- Do I have a goal or a big wish?
- Are there values, beliefs, or traditions that I live by?
Ask yourself as many questions as you would ask others about their character and what would interest you. It’s especially important to focus on what drives your character. What motivates them to set out and risk their life? What is important to them?
Especially regarding your motivation, it’s important that you are not too passive and become as specific as possible. For example, if you choose revenge as a motivator, you should specify who, why and how you want it. If you thirst for knowledge, define why you seek it or what exactly you hope to find. The more tangible your set goal is and the more it involves the world or other characters, the better.
The more questions you can answer beforehand, the easier it will be for you to step into your character and play them convincingly. First, gather all the ideas you have, and take them with you to the next point, as it often provides completely new directions.
