D&D is a creative exercise first and foremost, and many of us come to this forum looking for inspiration and creative ideas, as opposed to rules discussions. When I am defining a character, I am always hard-pressed to invent personality traits that will resonate at the table and inform my character's decisions in interesting ways.
On another thread (http://community.wizards.com/forum/dungeon-master-help/threads/4125321), @Swede1985 mentioned a character who was a conspiracy theorist, a character who sees the dark hand of <<substitute your organization name here>> behind every significant event that occurs within the campaign, no matter how tenuous or implausible the connection. I can see this as the foundation for a very interesting and memorable character.
I am curious to hear from other people -- what are some of the most interesting and memorable characters you have encountered, and what sorts of personality traits or quirks did these characters have which made them so memorable?
In one of the few games I ran in 3e I had a player with a changeling character that self limited himself to three (i think) forms each with distinct personalities and personal goals whilst still being a contributing member of the group. It was an impressive juggling act.
Arawn76 wrote:
I try to give each character at least one defining characteristic, no matter how small. One (elf fighter/mage) is very impulsive; the group constantly has to rein in her sudden inclination to go off to do something (that may be exactly what's needed, but she doesn't need to be the first in line!). Another (dwarf fighter) is almost always seen with a beer mug, except in battle where it might get broken. Another (human cleric) is a bit of a pacifist -- she doesn't fight unless absolutely necessary, like it was when one evil guy was holding an even more evil dagger. Her single sword stroke severed his hand at the wrist, and she put the sword away; time to patch everyone up. And a fourth (human rogue) is very practical and has no real morals, and if the paladin says "I won't kill you if you talk," Fallon won't feel bound by his "I won't" and may or may not kill the prisoner after interrogation. This is where the Backgrounds can come in really handy: there are a number of traits and whatnot you can choose from, or to use as an example to make your own.
Not quite an answer to your question, but I've found that the traits/ideals/flaws/bonds that come with the backgrounds are a thought-provoking starting point for individual personalities, which then develop into something more solid when the characters in the party start interacting with each other in the early sessions. That is, personality isn't something intrinsic to the character, it's about how the character relates to everyone else. So if you look at the traits/ideals/flaws/bonds for all the characters in the party and rub them all together, they can start to get quite interesting even if individually they might seem bland or just quirky.
For my own amusement, I've been writing a blog about five characters with randomly-rolled personalities beginning to interact with each other. It's a sort of extended "meet up and introduce yourself" session as a precursor to working through some adventures. I like working out ideas like this. Maybe it will illustrate what I was trying to say above.
Well from memory
- There was Sin, a female swashbuckler with aspirations of pirate hood. Very humorous and flirty, was quick with a joke, quick to take offence but equally as quick to forgive. Always reminded me of Gina Davis in that awful film of hers but actually entertaining.
- Mordant(?? I think) Think Kiefer Sutherland as Athos in the three musketeers. Military man, skilled swordsman. Very, very serious and sombre unless drunk then quick to anger and not very forgiving.
- Silence, stone cold killer utterly without conscience or remorse but completely obedient to the warforged wizard (another party member). Was oddly less trouble than the other two. Can’t think of a quick comparison off the top of my head.
As I recall the character wasn’t suffering any mental disassociation that we ruled officially, the changes to personality were usually predicated on the adventure or situation they found themselves in. That said it did play a lot like the three were largely unaware of each other.
Overall it was a quirky group
Changeling Swashbuckler/Rogue (See above)
Jax - Shifter Ranger raised by Valenar elves who thought he couldn’t die. And played him that way…successfully!
Dante – Warforged wizard (Diviner) emancipationist who was built as a tutor for the children of Cyrish(?) nobles. Was lined up as a Professor X to the Lord of Blades Magneto (early) persona.
I'm trying to figure out how to recreate two characters from an old choose your own adventure book I once read. Throughout the adventure they were described as a warrior and his mother, he was escorting her somewhere. In the final few pages she was revealed to be a powerful witch who had dominated this man with magic.The old sod ended up killing us all after disposing of her "son".
My take is a young witch dominating a young knight, using him to get to where she wants to go. As I don't have the PHB yet I'm not sure how I'll work it, but I'm liking the idea of their personalities clashing throughout their journey together. Also looking forward to laying some breadcrumbs for the other player's characters, to see if they work out what's really going on before she disposes of the gallant young lad.
If you're interested, I'll post details (if I can get it all worked out).
BoldItalic wrote:
OrwellianHaggis wrote:
I find that for a basic concept, I tend to go with something expected with a twist. "This, but that."
Friar Griftheart: "He's a cleric of the god of luck, but a charlatan and card cheat."
Tiny Mankind: "He's a stone giant with dwarfism, but a champion of man."
Fumar Firebrand: "He's a typical dwarf, but he smokes heavily instead of drinks."
The contrast allows interesting questions to arise which gives birth to personality traits. As far as that goes, I turn them up to 11 because D&D's no place for subtlety in my view and at the table that 11 comes across as 6 to 8 anyway.
Arawn76 wrote:
iserith wrote:
It's all about the character. Class and race should always just be a frame to hang that coat on 
It's a pretty easy one, but I played a Malkavian in a Storyteller campaign who was a huge load of fun and probably "made" the game. For the unaware, Malkavians are insane vampires. The way this played out in game was that pretty much anything in or out of character that was said could be taken onboard and run with. There was a bit of "angel/devil" on the shoulder stuff that could happen as any of the players or the GM started debating courses of action. In a way the character was everyone's to have fun with as a result. In a scary way he was very effective at getting things done as well. Just, maybe in a messy way a lot of the time.
CorwynnMaelstrom wrote:
Pursuing another vampire who had been spying on members of the group as they chased down some information the character managed to get the drop on the mysterious stranger. At this point he had no idea who this vampire was, nor why they'd be shadowing him and his friends. Weapon at the ready and quarry cornered in an alley he began debating what questions to ask. With the angel and the devil, of course. The two started going back and forth in a generally conversational manner, and the Malkavian started asking questions, only he was asking them so fast that the cornered vampire didn't have time to really answer. Eventually the devil got frustrated and shouted "shoot him" ... so of course I pulled the trigger.
In the end it turned out that the vampire wasn't lurking for any good purpose, and after extracting information from the severely blood-depleted spy, our hero started telling him knock knock jokes...until just before the sun came up.
CorwynnMaelstrom wrote:
My favorite is the legend of Buck Falcon and The Duke. My friend and I were playing in an old West End d6 Star Wars campaign in which we were the only two PCs. He was Buck Falcon, a Han Solo type who was all bravado and charm until combat actually broke out. In truth he was a huge coward and would hide while I, The Duke, took out all the enemies. The Duke let Buck have all the fame and renown for a bigger share of the credits. The Duke was an unstoppable brute who constantly came up with clever one-liners that weren't so clever. His go-to threat was, "You mess with the Duke, you get the horns." Probably why his t-shrts never sold as well as Buck's.
In our current 5e campaign we have the following: 1) An eldritch knight with delusions of grandeur who sees the rest of the party as his gang of minions out to help him dominate the world. We constantly berate him and he plays it off as his friends having a friendly go at him. 2) A wizard who only casts spells if forced to. His father was a dragoon and he wants to be one too. He has a 10 strength and fights with a spear. He will jump from his running horse onto enemies and attempt to perform all kinds of daring and heroic martial maneuvers. 3) A tiefling bard who graduated from law school in Hell and has come to the PMP to do research on inter-planar law. We constantly consult him before enacting any plan to get an idea of the legal ramifications of our proposed actions. 4) A dragonborn battlemaster who is a laid-back hippie. 5) A ranger who will attempt anything if you imply he can't do it. 6) My character, Rich Dickens, a wild magic sorcerer who is a famous comedian on the run from the mob for unpaid gambling debts. He is a master of disguise and mimicry and is constantly changing his look and persona to make sure no one catches up with him. Whenever we go to a new town he will play a surprise show at a local tavern and become a D&D version of Jimmy Carr.
Then there was the halfling who swore he was a human who had been shrunk by a card from a Deck of Many Things, the blind elf who thought he was a human and his deaf human companion, the refined gentleman half-orc, the doomsday prepper ranger who believed the king was an alien from the Far Realm, and many more.
Leugren wrote:
In a 5e campaign I'm currently playing, my PC is a cleric of Avandra (goddess of luck, travel and personal freedom) who strives to free everyone he meets from any kind of social and legal constraint: you could define him as a zealot. The most interesting thing is that he doesn't realize (at the moment) that he's often limiting other people's freedom by forcing them out of boundaries which those people might like, or feel protected by. He doesn't understand that, to some, constraints are a form of safety, and not everyone has the strength of will to be "free".
I tend towards characters that don't fit in well with society (probably real life bleeding in.) I try to think of something that is really important to my character and then .think about skewed view.
Lanshi was a goliath that had a very matron like view of her tribe, but she was born without markings and was shunned. She tending to the dead of the tribe because the dead didn't judge her. Lanshi calmed the restless spirits and over time doing so left different kinds of markings to replace the onces she lacked.. Her view on fighting the undead was similarly to a mother tucking children in at night.