Better Player #6: Quick Personality Generation

Been a while since I did one of these...

So, you're creating a character for a new RPG campaign. You've decided on the key mechanical aspects of the character, and have quickly fleshed out your PC's background. But what about personality? How can you quickly put together something that will give good results?

First up, I need to add a really important caveat: this is one way to quickly create a satisfying character; I don't claim it is the way to do it!

My basic rule of thumb is a "two alike, one different" method. What does that mean?

Well, first, think of two ways in which your character is like you, and then one way in which he is different. The truth is that most RPG characters will, most of the time, be pretty much like the person playing them. That's almost inevitable - very few of us are actors of a calibre where we can just sink into a character entirely unlike ourselves!

So, rather than try to adopt a character who is completely unlike yourself, it's probably more effective to think of one big way in which the character is different, and then really try to highlight that.

Similarly, I would suggest trying to think of two ways your character is like other members of his race, and one way in which he is different, and two ways in which he is like other members of his class, and one way in which he is different.

The goal here is to create a character who is both recognisably a dwarf (for example), but who is also not just like all other dwarves. So maybe he is indeed inordinately fond of his beard and is likewise loud and boisterous... but maybe he also never drinks. Or perhaps he's fond of gold and dislikes boats, but also hates going underground. Or whatever. (And likewise, we get the studious and bookish wizard... who also takes great care to maintain his physical fitness.)

Once you've got those three things done, you've probably got a fairly good picture of the character - he's like you, but not; he's like other dwarves, but not; he's like other wizards, but not.

Then, when the time comes to play the character, it's just a job of trying to remember these traits as often as possible. It's likely you won't be completely consistent, especially in all those areas where the character differs from yourself, but that's fine - people are seldom totally consistent in their behaviour anyway. But by being sure to emphasise both the ways the character is both similar and different, you should have something that will make for a memorable character.

(One last note: I'm very much a believer that even when "playing against type", a character should probably still be recognisably of the type he is working again. Although Worf is very much not a cookie-cutter Klingon, he's still recognisably a Klingon - his rebellions against the norm are very much Klingon rebellions against the norm, and that's a good thing. Simply ignoring everything from the race/class/whatever you've chosen and declaring that you're "playing against type" is unlikely to work very well - you'll most likely be assumed to be playing a human with funny ears (though, in fairness, Star Trek had plenty of those, too...). That's in my opinion, of course. And don't forget that it is also my opinion that it's you're right to 'roleplay' as much or as little as you see fit. So the above is relevant only if you care what your audience thinks!)